Art Auctions – Buying and Selling Art

By Donovan Gauvreau

Buying and selling art can be a lucrative profession as well as an enjoyable pastime. Attending art auctions can be profitable, entertaining, and a great place to meet fellow art enthusiasts. There are tips and tricks to enhance your buying and selling experiences in the art world. Not only are there several types of auctions, but there are also several types of art buyers. Whether you are an art collector, investor, or dealer, art auctions give you the opportunity to procure pieces that will appreciate over time.

Types of Art Auctions

Auctions can be broken down into three types: estate, consignment, and mixed. They can be held at a person’s residence, which is usually the case with small estate auctions, at a person’s place of business, in the case of consignment auctions, or in storage warehouses where items are often sold in lieu of unpaid rent. Interesting art pieces can be found at any one of those events.

The goal of an estate auction is to sell all remaining items of a former residence. An estate auction will normally not place any reserves on items (a reserve is the minimum amount for which an item will be sold). Hence, estate auctions are ideal for finding bargains as everything must be sold no matter how low the offer.

Conversely, at consignment auctions, fixed minimum prices are set on specific items, and if an item does not recover the set price, it will not be sold at that particular time. Consignment auctions will usually hold weekly sales, with the lowest prices being offered mid-week. Mixed auctions will sell items from smaller estates and will accept consignments as well.

Finding Art Auctions

The easiest way to find art auctions in your area is to do a search online. Simply type in your topic and your city and you should be able to find a list of the auctions being held in your vicinity. Another avenue is to check the local newspapers and dailies. Nearby antique or art stores can be useful resources as they often carry pamphlets or fliers advertising regional art auctions and sales. Lastly, explore online auction sites such as eBay, where you can purchase articles without leaving the comfort of your home.

Preparation

Before attending an auction, it is wise to confirm the date, place, and time. Be especially savvy by attending the preview, where potential bidders can examine the items to be sold at their leisure. Some auction sites will have previews a few days prior to the auction, while others open their doors only for a few hours preceding the auction. Upon arrival at the preview, you may register as a bidder. Be sure to ask about premiums when you register as some auctioneers add 10% to the highest bid or take commission from the selling price. It is important to know which policy will be used in order to avoid paying more than you bargained for. Bring a note pad and pencil with you to jot down the details of items that are of interest. Also note the item’s code so you will know the item when it goes up on the auction block. Art auctions can be fast-paced, and one can easily get caught up in the excitement, so decide beforehand what your top offer will be on your chosen items, and do not allow yourself to go above those set amounts.

Types of Art

In accordance with its use, artwork can be divided into three categories: decorative art, collectable art, and investment art.

Decorative art is used to enhance spaces. It is often thematic and will add flair and personality to a setting. The art pieces are rarely originals by famous artists and generally possess little intrinsic value. Decorative art does not usually appreciate in value, and therefore is not a lucrative investment.

Collectable art refers to art pieces that are bought based on the assumption that there is already an existing market for them because there are other interested parties. It is unwise to hold on to collectable art in the hope that it will eventually become more valuable. If it is a handsome piece, keep it, but if it holds no strong interest to you, sell it. Collectable works are not long-term investment worthy.

Investment art will almost always become more valuable in time. This type of art is recognized for its quality, rarity and uniqueness, and therefore will always fetch a handsome price from an avid art collector, investor, or dealer.

General Tips on Art Auctions

There are exceptions to every rule, but here are a few guidelines to consider when buying/selling items at an auction:

• Horizontal pictures are better-liked than vertical ones
• Works featuring girls are more popular than those featuring boys.
• Landscapes prove to be more interesting than seascapes.
• Pictures depicting images of life are more appreciated than death scenes.
• Domestic animals or those in a docile setting are more desirable than wild animals.
• An artist’s experimental pieces are not as valuable as those from his/her main body of work.

Art Historian, Donovan Gauvreau lectures about art therapy with a focus on creativity development. He believes we can learn from the great masters in art to communicate ideas and feelings through painting. He provides content to Aaron Art Print to educate and inspire people to take a glimpse into an artist’s life to better understand the meaning behind their work.

Article Source: Donovan_Gauvreau
Art-Auctions—Buying-and-Selling-Art

Beginner’s Acrylic Painting – Paper Painting Surfaces

By Catherine Calder

What You Need to Know

Have you ever gone in to buy some paper for painting and been overwhelmed by the choice? You would think it would be a simple thing to buy a sheet of paper, wouldn’t you? Well, it can be if you know what the different choices mean and how it can affect your finished painting.

A Beginners Guide on Acrylic Painting Paper Surfaces

Manufacturers have created a whole range of paper products for the artist. So many choices that unless you know what some of the terms mean it can be very confusing.

When you want your painting to last for a long time always go for acid-free. This is the type of paper used in archives.

Different Textures

The next thing is the surface texture of the paper, whether you want a fine texture or rough. You may be asking “How do I know? I’m just beginning with acrylic paints and I want something to paint on!”

The texture you choose will depend on your style of painting and the kinds of paintings you like. If you like to have a lot of detail in your paintings you will need a smooth textured paper – in which case you want one that is ‘Hot Pressed’.

If you use a lot of watercolour (or watercolour style) washes then the paper you should choose will be ‘Not’. That means ‘Not hot pressed’. It has a bit more texture than Hot pressed papers.

If you paint a lot of landscapes and/or like granulation (which happens when the colors separate while they dry) you will probably like using Cold pressed papers. These have the roughest texture.

Papers are sold in weights. This affects the thickness of the paper. Papers that are less than 300-lb or 640gsm (grams per square metre) will need to be stretched before painting. If you don’t stretch the paper it will buckle when wet making painting difficult and the paint will dry in the hollows giving a disappointing result.

Painting Tip

Stretching paper needs to be done in advance and the paper allowed to dry before you use it. You will need a clean drawing board, some 1½ inch wide gum strip, and water to soak the paper in (the bath is handy for this).

Soak the paper in the water until it is saturated, this will take less than a minute. Place the paper onto the board and smooth it out from the centre to the edges.

Cut pieces of gum strip to fit the length and the width of the paper, plus a couple of inches. Dampen the gum strip and use it to stick the longer edges of the paper to the board, and then do the shorter edges. Smooth out the paper and the gum strip and leave it to dry naturally and on the horizontal. Do not place it near a heater!

If you just want to paint without needing to prepare the paper, there are pads of ready stretched paper that save you having to do this yourself. These pads have the paper glued around the edges and you paint on the top of the pad. Once you’ve finished the painting and it is completely dry, a knife is inserted at one of the edges and moved around the sides to cut through the glue and free the top layer.

It is a good investment to buy good quality paper. It is much easier to use which is important when beginning with acrylic paints, and gives a better result.

Next time you need to buy paper think about how you like to paint, and it will be much easier to decide on the type of paper to buy.

Look out for other Beginners Acrylic Painting articles on buying the rest of your painting supplies – palette and brushes, and acrylic paints.

About The Author
Catherine Calder is the author of the Acrylic Painting Course. The simple step-by-step way to learn how to paint Quick and Easy. Check out ‘Painting Surfaces – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly’ In The Special Reports section at http://www.learnanddo.com/acrylic.asp