We've all been there: some artist you followed just posted about their work in World Market, Target, or Trader Joe's.
HOW DID THEY DO IT?! After the initial bout of jealousy passes, I know your gears are turning.
😤Mine were the first time I saw someone collaborate with Anthro.
I was so incredibly envious I spent three days straight researching and obsessively looking at content to decipher their secrets. I am a secure enough artist now that I can admit, I have many faults and I do suffer from jealousy from time to time.
It's an area of growth ok?!
Back to what you really want to know: art licensing is not as difficult or as complicated as you'd think. You allow companies to make money, they actually need your art to make their products. Once you believe that you are a necessary part of the operation, you'll begin to cultivate the confidence to reach out and pitch your work.
It's not as complicated as it looks.
To get started, you need a developed portfolio, high resolution digital copies of your work, and a licensing company or agent. If you move through each of these items, you've got steps one through three down and you'll begin to see your work developed and in the commercial market!
But since I know you want some concrete direction for how this all works, I'll detail my journey so you can stop DM-ing artists over on Instagram hoping eventually they'll respond with something less cryptic and more... helpful.
🗺️Start Here: you can either research who you want to work with or you can develop your portfolio. It doesn't matter which one goes first, it only matters that each one is completed before you reach out and pitch your art.
If you need to develop your art:
Determine your commercial style: mine focuses a lot on florals and landscapes, occasionally animals. I develop 20-30 paintings with similar brushwork and color palettes before pitching them. This allows me to have a large body of updated work that coordinates. If you aren't sure what makes your work your work, ask friends or collectors the three main things that they notice repeating in each new piece.
Make sure you own the copyrights: if you are still learning how to make your work, created pieces heavily influenced from previously made paintings, or used images from Google search or Pinterest... I wouldn't recommend licensing them. It's important that you can confidently say, "Yes, this is my work." before you sign a contract.
If you want to find a potential match:
Google, "Artist Licensing Companies (insert state or country)." Browse each company and their list of artists, the work and where it's sold, and begin to see how your art fits in with their products. Work that looks similar to what is already licensed is a great indicator for whether or not your portfolio will be of interest.
Choose 2-4 to reach out to. Do you best to find a direct contact (like an email) or request one via a contact form. DO NOT PITCH IN A CONTACT US BOX.
Wait until your portfolio is ready before reaching out.
❌ Portfolio Presentation Dos & Don'ts ❌
DO:
Make sure you have an updated document/PDF of current and available work
Create a webpage gallery of quality photos for viewing
Categorize your work by subject if necessary
Title each piece and provide details if able
DON'TS
Don't send your contact to a social media profile
Don't pitch artwork that has no high resolution digital copy
Don't upload blurry or inaccurate photos of your work
Andy J. Pizza has a great section of his website homepage dedicated to client work.
Ettavee has a whole page of licensed artwork shown on products (or mockups)
Taking Great Photos of Your Art
High quality photos of your artwork is vital to being able to reproduce any painting or illustration on manufactured products. Without these high resolution photos, you won't be able to create large prints which are often necessary in the commercial scene! I use a Canon Rebel t6i DSLR to capture most of my paintings. Anything that is too big will need to be photographed in sections and stitched together digitally.
I am lazy and incapable of this task so I hire professionals to do that.
Lighting: Use natural light to enhance colors and details.
Background: I use a white canvas or backdrop to photograph my work on.
Editing: Photoshop is a great place to crop your image, tweak colors, and stitch together any large pieces of work.
You and your portfolio are ready... now what?
If you know who you want to reach out to, send them an email with a link to your images. Be direct, concise, and address them by name. Try not to sound entitled or clueless in your pitch, you're asking them to work with you! Art licensing is a relationship, it's best to be personable right off the bat. Make sure you know how you'd fit with the company and how it'll benefit both of you to work together.
P.S. It will be incredibly obvious if you didn't do your research.
📨 SAMPLE LICENSING PITCH:
Hey Lucy,
I’m Rachel and I’m a figurative painter with a focus on pop art landscapes. My body of work is full of brightly colored, modern takes on forests and fun scenery. Some of my most popular works tend to be of the Midwest, flowers, and jungle animals. I know my work would be a great addition to company and would love to connect more with you about being represented!
You can see more available work here: link to really cool work.
Looking forward to talking with you!
Rachel
Please be persistent! If you haven't heard back in a week, follow up on a Monday in the same email thread: Hey Lucy! Did you have the chance to review my work? I would love to talk to you about it!”
I usually reach out 3-4 times before pitching again in another few months with new work. In that time, I'm open-minded about who I could work with and continue to share new work on social media and reach out to others who might be ready to work together now.
Understanding Licensing Contracts and Royalties
I'm not a lawyer and honestly, I'm surprised I've learned to understand a contract as well as I have. I read a lot of Google answers for, "what does this mean" and that's really helped decode legal jargon.
The most important terms inside your contract will pertain to: exclusivity, copyrights, royalties, duration and/or terms. Knowing what you need to be able to bring to the table (copyrights) and what your licensing company is asking of you (your artwork) is vital to having a working relationship that works for both of you and isn't a legally binding death trap.
Royalties: This is what you will be paid. It can be anything from 4%-10%
Duration/Term: How long the contract lasts
Copyrights: Who owns what? Who keeps the copyright?
Exclusivity: Is it non-exclusive? Can you still license your work elsewhere?
Termination: Make sure you have an out in the contract if you need one. In most cases if either party is in violation of the agreed upon terms, you can cancel your contracts without issue.
Unfortunately I have had to cancel multiple contracts before with a licensing company for breech of contract. It's frustrating and it did not end well. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you maintain the rights to your work and protect your art at all costs!
Make art licensing your 2025 goal!
YES! It is possible to make headway into this lucrative side of being an artist! While it may take a few months (or even more than a year!) to get the ball rolling, it will build up steam and you will have the amazing experience of seeing your art out in the wild.
I promise, your persistence will be worth it!
Be patient and do your research, better your artwork and work to understand the larger, commercial market. All of these components are part of making licensing work for you.
If you are still looking for more insight into this topic, check out my Art Crisis episode that goes into it even more in-depth.