Local Artist Offers Portraits For Tips
11/20/2008
For Immediate Release
Samson Colborn, a Digital Portrait Artist from Pompton Lakes, NJ is experimenting with a new method of payment. Instead of charging for his digital portrait services, he is accepting tips. Borrowing the idea from Robert Woodhead of SelfPromotion.com, Colborn hopes to ignite sales of his digital portraits by allowing clients to pay for portraits based on what each client feels the artwork is worth.
Samson Colborn creates digital portraits form ordinary snapshots.
The artist may be taking a risk, but to reduce the risk, clients must still pay a fixed price for the actual manufacture of the digital print. For example a 11 x 14 portrait on watercolor paper could cost as little as $75.00 for the actual print. While a large Giclée print on canvas may cost considerably more with stretching and framing additional. What customers are tipping for is the actual creation of the artwork. Colborn comments, “Since the artwork exists only in the computer, there is no real material cost to creating it, just my time and effort. And people will have the opportunity to decide what that cost should be. It’s just like tipping. The customer gets the service first, then based on how happy he is with the service, he can leave a tip to show his appreciation.”
If asked, Samson Colborn will provide a “suggested” tipping rate. “That way, customers can tip over or under that amount to indicate their level of pleasure or displeasure.” Of course, you don’t have to tip any amount if you don’t want to. “If you don’t like the artwork, and you don’t purchase a print, the art is destroyed and no one, except perhaps my ego, gets hurt,” says Colborn.
How long will he be accepting tips as payment? Colborn answers, “At least through the holidays, or as long as it works. Sure this is experimental, but I think my customers will be very pleased with this arrangement.” He adds with a smile, “If I can’t get customers to pay me what they think the art is worth, I’ll never get them to pay me what I think it’s worth.”
A Little About Digital Portraits
Samson Colborn creates digital portraits based on ordinary snapshots provided to him by his clients. With the popularity of consumer-level digital photography, people are taking more pictures than ever. However, there is a disparity between the amount of pictures taken and the amount of pictures actually printed. In addition to shoeboxes full of old photos, there are also CDs full of digital photos that may never see the light of day. Colborn takes these photos and evaluates them for suitability of becoming a portrait worthy of being a family heirloom. For an additional fee, a customer can also schedule a photo-shoot if an acceptable snapshot is not available.
Once a photo or series of photos are chosen, he scans them into the computer to use as a basis for the portrait. If necessary, in order to save time, Colborn will trace the outline to guarantee a good likeness, but it’s all hand-painted from there. Depending on the treatment Colborn is going for, he will use different digital paint programs and brush settings to produce a digital painting that, when printed on watercolor paper or canvas, will have the look of a traditional painting.
Colborn does all the work himself, including the printing onto watercolor paper or canvas. As owner of PrintingArtwork.com, he has access to a large-format professional printing system capable of printing museum-quality Giclée prints.
Colborn’s background is in digital photo-manipulation. “There’s a lot of digital magic that can be done with photos these days,” he says. He invites anyone to make any special requests, as he specializes in the impossible. Because his images show very little or no traces of being retouched, his work tends to often go unnoticed. “That’s okay,” he says, “Not being able to see my handiwork is the best compliment I can receive.”
Other services Samson Colborn offers besides digital portraits include, photo repair and restoration, compositional photo editing, and digital photo-to-fine-art treatments as well as art consulting and fine art printing. To see his online gallery, visit his website at www.EM-ARTS.com.
Art, Press Releases
Hello Samson.
I am writing because I also want to do portraits, but not as you do them. I want to do quick sketches, either in pencil or colored pencils. I am no where near getting this off the ground, however.
I have some questions for you if you would please answer:
Do you have enough work to make a living on this?
How did you get started - what pr, etc did you do?
What do you do now to keep your business going - especially when the economy is not good?
thank you for any info, or just a reply to acknowledge my message to you.
Sharron Evans
HI Sharon,
If I were to rely solely on portraits to make a living, I would be flat broke by now. In order to make a living as a portrait artist, you have to be exceptionally good. Moreover, you have to be exceptionally good at promoting yourself. The absolute best way, and least expensive is by word of mouth. You have to get those few portraits under your belt and get those happy customers to praise you up and down. Get them to write you a testimonial and use them in your marketing.
I primarily make my living building Web sites and photography. I only occasionally get asked to do a portrait. I’m hoping that that will change as I am about to put more effort into promoting that part of my business.
As far as PR is concerned, I mention my portrait work whenever I get a photography gig shooting people. That’s all I’ve done so far. But, in the near future, I intend to place ads on craigslist. Don’t know if that works, but it’s worth a try.
As far as keeping my business going in these hard economic times, I accept just about every job that I get regardless if it’s a small job or a job too big for me to do. If I have to, I’ll recruit other professionals that I trust to get the job done. I think the most important thing I’ve done, is to establish long-lasting relationships with my clients. Some I’ve had since I started my business in 2000. I also make cold calls and walk in on businesses too. I once visited 10 businesses on one street and came away with 3 jobs. That success gave me the encouragement to continue with that method. I also visited local trade associations and met a lot of people.
But as for you, I would suggest you continue working on your skills. Maybe sign up on one of those online art forums where you can get feedback. I have an account on GFXArtist.com. For marketing, I would keep it simple. I always tell people to become the big fish in a small pond — not a small fish in a big pond. So for you to do that, you have to stop marketing yourself as just a portrait artist. You need to be more specific. Maybe you can market yourself as the best colored-pencil portrait artist in your geographic area for under $500.00? You’ll have to research other colored-pencil artists in your area to see what they charge. As you pick up clients in your area, you can start to expand your “pond.”
And don’t play games with price. Pick a fair price that works for you and charge everyone that price (unless you run specials). If someone thinks that they are paying more than others, that will ruin your credibility.
I hope these pointers will help. Feel free to email me anytime.