How do I know if my artwork is something the market actually wants?

There’s an initial hurdle to figure out: have you sold your work before to people who aren’t family or friends? Family and friends don’t count—they’ll lay down in traffic for you, so of course they bought. You need feedback from strangers. If you’ve made some sales to people you don’t know, that’s the market telling you that you have a product people want. At that point, you just have a marketing problem, not a product problem. If you haven’t made sales to strangers yet, you need to get your work in front of more people and actually ask them. Show it, price it, and see what happens. Create opportunities for commissions—when someone says ‘I like your style but not this specific piece, can you create something else for me?’ that’s valuable market research. Keep putting work out there and listening to what people tell you. They’ll guide you toward what actually sells if you pay attention.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-08-21