Fish and wildlife art

Do any of you buy fish or wildlife art to display? If so, what do you look for in the art (what groups of organisms, natural scenes vs. scientific illustration, etc.). Are there organisms you wish you could find pictures of but cannot?

I'm considering painting some wildlife pictures and having prints made of them to sell, and I'm trying to figure out if there's a market before I drop all that money. There are lots of wildlife artists out there, but they seem to concentrate on a few groups of organisms. I don't know if that means that there is an unexploited niche, or just that there is no market for the other groups, e.g. non-game fishes.

By the way, I am not trying, and will not try, to solicit here, and I hope this post is not taken that way.

I appreciate any responses!

Customer here. I like art almost as much as I like animals.

I think paintings of non-game fish in their natural habitat would be nice, since all the fish paintings I see are largemouth bass, bluegill, etc.

Thanks, Fishlvr! Yeah, it seems like Joseph Tomelerri (I'm sure I mispelled that) is the only person out there selling non-game fish prints, and only a few of his are available. Most of the fish prints I see are also of the bass/trout/bluegill variety, and usually with an artificial lure dangling in front of the fish or already in its mouth. I just don't find that appealing at all, but I'm apparently in the minority.

Thanks, Fishlvr! Yeah, it seems like Joseph Tomelerri (I'm sure I mispelled that) is the only person out there selling non-game fish prints, and only a few of his are available. Most of the fish prints I see are also of the bass/trout/bluegill variety, and usually with an artificial lure dangling in front of the fish or already in its mouth. I just don't find that appealing at all, but I'm apparently in the minority.

It would be great to have more than one person painting non-game fish prints. Do you have any paintings you already painted(I know that was redundant, but whatever)? I'd like to see them if you do.

Edited by fishlvr, 27 April 2008 - 12:35 AM.

Nothing recent, but here are some I did a couple of years ago.

Those are nice! I like the eastern box turtle and the salamander the best.

Edited by fishlvr, 27 April 2008 - 12:46 AM.

Thanks, Fishlvr.

Any others?

Our own Dave Neely does amazing fish art. I have a collection of his stuff going. Also, Leo Long (another of our own) does great fish decoys. Of course there's Joe T., then there's Ken McKeighen (another NANFA member) - these are just some of the better-known artists.

I am ALWAYS on the lookout for fish art. Especially non-game stuff, which is, as you mention, harder to find.

Nothing recent, but here are some I did a couple of years ago.

Nice Illustrations, Newt!

Thanks, Irate! I just searched those guys and could only find a single picture of a Leo Long piece and none for the other two. Do you happen to have pictures of some of their art available? I'd love to see them.

Do you have any particular preferences when it comes to fish art? Are their any other wildlife groups you're interested in?

Look for some Dave Neely art here: (scroll down) to 2000 and 2001

http://www.nanfa.org/convention.shtml

It's a tough market out there.
Angler oriented art predominates for the simple fact that there are millions of anglers out there all looking for a nice trout print for their den wall. Also, there are far more outlets for sportsmen related art in the club dinners, society banquets etc where silent auctions and charity benifits move big money.
The non-sportsmen oriented groups like local river watchers, bird clubs etc often solicit art from local artists but usually are looking for donations, not purchases.
A successful artist has to be very aggressive in hunting down markets and will have to be willing to donate some pieces gratis in order to get some attention.
Another downfall I see alot is that many artists seem to over reach when pricing their art. Unless you can tap in to some upscale markets, you're just not gonna move a print of a frog or turtle for $500.00. Again, by letting some early pieces go for bargin prices, you get some exposure and maybe develop a following. As demand increases, you can price accordingly.
I came by these opinions from watching a good friend who is a talented artist fail to move a significant piece in all the years I've known him. He steadfastly refuses to donate anything and in the very few times he's had serious interest in any of his work, he refuses to haggle and stands by his exorbitent prices.

I've always thought a good outlet for a talented artist is magazine illustrations. I believe the best way would be for somebody to write, illustrate and provide photos for their own articles. I've got several such articles myself, stored "upstairs". One of these days I'll get some motivation and drag 'em out.

Look for some Dave Neely art here: (scroll down) to 2000 and 2001

http://www.nanfa.org/convention.shtml

Thanks, Irate. I could only look at the thumbnails, but it looked very nice from what I could tell!

The best place to get fish art is at the convention. You will want to be a member if you wish to attend one of these things

It's a tough market out there.
Angler oriented art predominates for the simple fact that there are millions of anglers out there all looking for a nice trout print for their den wall. Also, there are far more outlets for sportsmen related art in the club dinners, society banquets etc where silent auctions and charity benifits move big money.
The non-sportsmen oriented groups like local river watchers, bird clubs etc often solicit art from local artists but usually are looking for donations, not purchases.
A successful artist has to be very aggressive in hunting down markets and will have to be willing to donate some pieces gratis in order to get some attention.
Another downfall I see alot is that many artists seem to over reach when pricing their art. Unless you can tap in to some upscale markets, you're just not gonna move a print of a frog or turtle for $500.00. Again, by letting some early pieces go for bargin prices, you get some exposure and maybe develop a following. As demand increases, you can price accordingly.
I came by these opinions from watching a good friend who is a talented artist fail to move a significant piece in all the years I've known him. He steadfastly refuses to donate anything and in the very few times he's had serious interest in any of his work, he refuses to haggle and stands by his exorbitent prices.

I've always thought a good outlet for a talented artist is magazine illustrations. I believe the best way would be for somebody to write, illustrate and provide photos for their own articles. I've got several such articles myself, stored "upstairs". One of these days I'll get some motivation and drag 'em out.

Thanks, Mike. I hear you on the market. I am hoping to fill a niche, but it may just not be there to fill.

I'm not looking to do this as a career, just a little something on the side. My plan thus far is to simply sell prints through a website, for about twice the price of printing. That should be pretty affordable; I think it will run me about $40 after shipping to get a giclee print a 12X18 on rag paper, and so it would only be $80 for a customer. Smaller prints would of course be less; I might even have postcards made and sell them in sets for a few bucks.

The paintings in the link above were from a show I had at a local gallery; I had about 45 pieces, and sold almost all, but I was selling them dirt cheap; they ran from $5-75, depending on size; I lost some money, but I just wanted to have the show and get rid of all the art. So I'm not one to try to gouge the customer. Nothing makes me angrier than going to a gallery and seeing a poorly executed painting that some fool wants three or four grand for.

I'm all about donations, too. I've been doing gratis T-shirt designs for the local chapter of the Wildlife Society and donating photos to some environmental auctions.

Being aggressive, though....that's going to be hard for me. I'm not a natural salesman. I guess I'll have to work on that.

Doing magazine illustrations is a good idea too. I'm just worried about not being able to meet deadlines and so on, if I'm illustrating someone else's article. Herpetological Review solicits line drawings of herps; I've been meaning to submit a few to them. No money, but at least some exposure. As far as articles go, I'm not sure I'm qualified to write many.

The best place to get fish art is at the convention. You will want to be a member if you wish to attend one of these things

Heh. It's coming; I've just been strapped for cash lately. Student loans and gasoline are killing me.

You might do better to sell originals. $80 for a small print is a lot unless it's something I REALLY want.

Anyway, have fun with it and good luck! Be sure to donate something to the NANFA auction - that's what ALL the up and coming artists do!

Do you spend much time in art galleries? $80 for an 18 X 22 print is a steal. This is part of the reason I don't own much art except what I've traded my pieces for with other artists. I likely will sell the originals as well, but I'll ask considerably more for them. I do actually want to make some money this time around.

I will be happy to donate to the NANFA auction. I probably won't have anything in time for this year's meeting (which I won't be attending in any case), but hopefully I'll be able to contribute some pieces next year.