Original Sculpture Marketing

[smashtoad]

Hi All,

Just curious if any of you sell sculptures as originals, and if you do, do you sell them in the medium of polymer clay?  Is there a market for OOAK originals?  I am working on a couple, and have a few more in mind.  My issue is that I have several mediums I work in, and if I spend countless hours sculpting a critter, I need to know there is some possibility it could sell.  I would rather do that than try to mold it and cast several replicas, especially after reading the recently posted rundown of expenses in the casting process.  Just thought I'd try to gather some thoughts.

Also...I am going to put a new head on Nessie and re-paint her.  I will still use glass eyes though, because they just give the piece a realism that cannot be sculpted.

That said, would you guys look at her body and tell me what plesiosaur species you think her dimensions mostly resemble?  I sculpted her purely by eye and did not reference any anatomy specs.  Her rear flippers look somewhat mammalian to me?



Here she is in an earier paint scheme

[Halichoeres]

I buy OOAK pieces sometimes, but I can't afford to buy them often. I've definitely seen a few others sell on here as well, and they seem to sell quite regularly on Yahoo Auctions Japan. What piece will strike a particular collector's fancy is pretty idiosyncratic, so it may take some patience to sell an individual sculpture. But the forum admin is a fan of plesiosaurs, so....

[nwfonseca]

I have a few one off sculptures that I have done, but I become too attached to them to sell ha-ha. The difficulty for me of selling OOAK pieces "or anything for that matter" ends up being the final cost. How do I price the model? How many can I make in a year and how many do I need to sell to make the amount of money I expect to make, in that one year. Just think of how many models a seller would have to sell to make say, $2,000 dollars in a year. Let us assume for a minute that a model would sell for $150 that is with a 50% markup (assuming you can make a sculpture for $75). At $150 a seller would need to make about 26 models to put $2,000 in their pocket. Now lets assume I want to make something approaching a living from sculpture. If the seller wanted to take home a low $20,000 salary (around $9/hr) they would need to sell around 266 sculpts at $150 That amounts to about 5 sculptures a week! Of course we know you cant make a good sculpture for $75 dollars or 5 in a week. 75 dollars would probably really only cover materials. We never factored in the time it takes to make the model, the cost of tools, rent, or to ship the model. Of course all of this is pie in the sky as we aren't guaranteed to sell even one model in a year. Just thinking about it hurts my soul "if I had one" I can't do sculpture as my main source of income for this reason. I often hear people remark on how expensive models are, but these are the factors that affect the final cost of the models. Even the mass manufactured toys share the same costs but they can churn out exponentially more toys in a year. And that is still a risk if the toy doesn't sell. They might put a 200% markup on the toy and if it doesn't sell well, it probably moves down the supply chain until it reaches the bargain bin and or they take a loss. I would argue that a lot of paleo artists struggle to break even in a year. That requires us to supplement our income with another vocation and do the art avocationally. That leads to less time to perfect our craft and thus being less competitive and being perpetually trapped at a low price point. If the seller had the cache of being well known a seller could sell the same sculpture for a much higher price. I hate economics I don't have a mind for numbers. I just like to create.

[nwfonseca]

Oh, and sculpey should be OK for a one off. There are caveats to that of course. I would consider a strong armature and the big one, shipping as shippers toss stuff around like mad. The body of the sculpt looks like a Cryptoclidus to me. Looks good, nice sculpt!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I have a few one off sculptures that I have done, but I become too attached to them to sell ha-ha. The difficulty for me of selling OOAK pieces "or anything for that matter" ends up being the final cost. How do I price the model? How many can I make in a year and how many do I need to sell to make the amount of money I expect to make, in that one year. Just think of how many models a seller would have to sell to make say, $2,000 dollars in a year. Let us assume for a minute that a model would sell for $150 that is with a 50% markup (assuming you can make a sculpture for $75). At $150 a seller would need to make about 26 models to put $2,000 in their pocket. Now lets assume I want to make something approaching a living from sculpture. If the seller wanted to take home a low $20,000 salary (around $9/hr) they would need to sell around 266 sculpts at $150 That amounts to about 5 sculptures a week! Of course we know you cant make a good sculpture for $75 dollars or 5 in a week. 75 dollars would probably really only cover materials. We never factored in the time it takes to make the model, the cost of tools, rent, or to ship the model. Of course all of this is pie in the sky as we aren't guaranteed to sell even one model in a year. Just thinking about it hurts my soul "if I had one" I can't do sculpture as my main source of income for this reason. I often hear people remark on how expensive models are, but these are the factors that affect the final cost of the models. Even the mass manufactured toys share the same costs but they can churn out exponentially more toys in a year. And that is still a risk if the toy doesn't sell. They might put a 200% markup on the toy and if it doesn't sell well, it probably moves down the supply chain until it reaches the bargain bin and or they take a loss. I would argue that a lot of paleo artists struggle to break even in a year. That requires us to supplement our income with another vocation and do the art avocationally. That leads to less time to perfect our craft and thus being less competitive and being perpetually trapped at a low price point. If the seller had the cache of being well known a seller could sell the same sculpture for a much higher price. I hate economics I don't have a mind for numbers. I just like to create.

Very well put...not really much of anything I could add to that.  I'm of the same mind.

[Kayakasaurus]

  I would rather do that than try to mold it and cast several replicas, especially after reading the recently posted rundown of expenses in the casting process.  Just thought I'd try to gather some thoughts.

The reason I started mold making was because I would be to attached to sell an original one of a kind. Mold making can get expensive, but if you put a lot of work into your sculpt, it's really worth it to have the copies. My Hylaeosaurus mold was made with a $25 kit from Smooth-on. Then you need clay for damming the mold, and a mold release. All those costs are payed for if you are commissioned to do the sculpt. I've only been learning how to do this for the last year, but it's been worth it. As far as making money goes, I made around 662% on each 2oz pour of resin, and 925% for the painted ones (not including cost of paint). When I post new models available they usually sell within 1 to 2 days. I'm selling a model on the smaller side and with a low price point, so the margin may be dramatic but I'm not making a whole lot, and I've only shipped 12 models so far (cuz I'm slow). Really what those percentages show is that the resin doesn't cost to much.

Anyways, This is just what I would have told myself last year. 10 years everything plastic will be 3D printed though so who cares   

[nwfonseca]

  I would rather do that than try to mold it and cast several replicas, especially after reading the recently posted rundown of expenses in the casting process.  Just thought I'd try to gather some thoughts.

The reason I started mold making was because I would be to attached to sell an original one of a kind. Mold making can get expensive, but if you put a lot of work into your sculpt, it's really worth it to have the copies. My Hylaeosaurus mold was made with a $25 kit from Smooth-on. Then you need clay for damming the mold, and a mold release. All those costs are payed for if you are commissioned to do the sculpt. I've only been learning how to do this for the last year, but it's been worth it. As far as making money goes, I made around 662% on each 2oz pour of resin, and 925% for the painted ones (not including cost of paint). When I post new models available they usually sell within 1 to 2 days. I'm selling a model on the smaller side and with a low price point, so the margin may be dramatic but I'm not making a whole lot, and I've only shipped 12 models so far (cuz I'm slow). Really what those percentages show is that the resin doesn't cost to much.

Anyways, This is just what I would have told myself last year. 10 years everything plastic will be 3D printed though so who cares   

I haven't attempted molding and casting of any of my own sculpts at home as I know I couldn't produce high enough quality molds and casts; that and possibly destroy the model in the process and ending up with nothing in the end. I am fairly competent at mold making but something as complex as one of my dinos is a little above my comfort zone. In addition, the chemicals are just not something I want in my house in general. I became sensitized to urethane resin and silicone rubber while in college. I get terrible rashes even if I am near the stuff. It occurs even if I have a respirator and gloves on. It is not to pleasant. And bigger than that, I have 2 small children in the house and I don't want to expose them to the stuff.

Well, I for one wont be trading my sculpting tools away for Z-Brush anytime soon. I love 3D printings we had had a 3D printer in 07 when I was in college and it was brilliant, "I studied industrial design" but they just aren't the same as a sculpture created by hand. I am very conflicted when it comes to digital sculpting. I'm not saying I don't accept it as art but, there is something to be said about holding an object that bears the mark of its creator on it. I also prefer the constraints of working in physical media. There is no control+z to fix a mistake or a back save when you are going to take a risk. That lack of a security net makes the risk feel all the more rewarding to me. It is the constraints within media that makes you innovate, as you need to think creatively for solutions. When anything is possible you don't have to think as deep, you just do it. It reminds me of the Star Wars prequels, with the digital media anything was possible and the end result felt uninspired. Some people think of restraints as shackles or roadblocks but that shows they don't really understand constraints as it regards design. Constraints are good, they provide an impetus to create.

[Kayakasaurus]

Just thought I'd mention 3D printing doesn't require digital sculpting. Right now you can digital sculpt and 3D print it, then mold it because injection molds are efficient, some of Schleich is done this way. But when 3D printing is cost effective for mass production, it can replace injection molds. You will still be able to scan physical sculpts and then print them, in fact I've scanned dinosaur models before, except now they will be produced locally on demand instead of in China.

[Halichoeres]

Relevant, I believe, to this discussion.

http://techaeris.com/2016/02/20/mattel-bringing-home-3d-printing-to-kids-with-updated-thingmaker/

The one thing it lacks is a scanner, although I'm sure it won't be long.