Selling a painting's a night mare!

I'm always looking at ways of selling my paintings. And in a recession, other ways need to be looked at.  That's why I've decided that I need to investigate more about making prints of my work. Because not everyone wants to buy an original picture. Sometimes you just want to buy a picture because you LIKE it, not because you want to invest a large amount in it. Not that my paintings are expensive for the work and expertise that goes into them. The prices are incredibly reasonable. But then I'm trying to cut out the middleman - the one who takes his "cut" out of the selling price. He's the one who puts the prices up. And the customer ends up paying for it. Having said that, some people believe that they've got a BETTER painting if they pay a lot for it. It's perceived value, for them. I understand that, and would quite happily put a nought, or two, on the end of every price if it would get me more sales.

Mmm..... Perhaps I should DO that............................ !!! :)


But at the moment, I'm concentrating on prints. And double checking the quality of the pictures on my website by putting them through Photoshop to enhance them. It brings out the colours that the original  photography in some cases has flattened and lost.

I'm totally in love with Photoshop at the moment, it is making some real gems out of some of my previous paintings. Take for instance "Nightmares". Its a painting I did a number of years ago and the original is now hanging on a wall in a far off land, near the Mediteranean, where the sun shines far more than it does in England!

Nightmares is three horses racing each other by moonlight. Hence the title, which I've always liked!

The original painting has some nice blues, and purples, greens, and deeper shades of burnt sienna and red in it. I've always liked this painting as it was painted using the "pour on paint" technique that I've always loved using with watercolour. The horses and the moon were masked with masking fluid, then the paper around them was wetted with clean water, and the watercolours poured on in various places and allowed to weave their own magic by mixing with each other on the paper, their colours staying fresh and vibrant. And just to add to the magic, I flicked some gold metalic paint on it too, to add to the movement of the horses, and to add a gleam of bright colour to the finished painting. The details of the horses bodies and faces was painting on afterwards, adding form and definition.

The movement in the paint adds to the magic air of the finished painting.


But it is with photoshop that all these lovely effects shown here have enhanced the painting and given it a new life altogether! The picture stays the same, but the colours have been brought out, or lessened, accentuating the magentas or cyans, pulling out the highlights or the shadows, tipping the colour balance one way or another. And just to add to the fun aspect, on some of them, I have added more artistic effects to them too. Making the picture look more painterly, subduing the colours, or adding an ink effect to them.

And just in case you're wondering, which is the original..... Its the last one.

But I think they all stand up as a beautiful painting in their own right.

So, which is your favourite..............?