One of the best pieces of portrait marketing advice I ever got was written by our own Cynthia Daniel right here on the forum, a couple of years ago. She wrote that if you want to sell to wealthy people the subjects in your samples need to look wealthy.
That means having attractive people dressed in classic (not necessarily formal) clothes, posed in a setting that connotes wealth or at least classic taste. This could be as informal as a boy in a white polo shirt and khaki shorts posed in a nearby garden. On the other end of the scale it could be a beautiful woman in a formal gown sitting in a fancy chair holding roses.
Check out the kind of portraits displayed on the websites of the well established (and high priced) artists who show their portfolios on SOG. Look at what the people depicted are wearing and what the background is.
Debra, your work is wonderful and I know I couldn't create portraits as lush and rich as many of the things you have shown in the "open studio" threads. I think it's just a matter of marketing at this point, and yes, painting the right kind of samples.
|