Pitching, not the belly-itching kind.
#goals. One of the goals with my little art business is to license my artwork, whether illustrations or repeat patterns. Licensing means giving permission to other businesses or manufacturers to use my art on their products to sell, such as fabric, wrapping paper, mugs… you get the picture. And I, as the artist, would get compensated (usually in royalties) based on the quantity of products they sell.
Welp, this means I have to get my art in front of the art directors of these businesses. And the act of doing that is what they call in the biz “pitching” your artwork. That is what I finally started doing this month. It is NOT easy. It’s wholly time consuming. And kinda scary, like any act of vulnerability is. It takes all of my brain power to work on pitching.
It’s been a long process to get to this point. So I’m pretty proud that I’m actually at this stage. First, I finalized my portfolio (different and separate from my website). That’s been a year in the making! There are so many options in creating a portfolio. And choosing what artwork to include… aack… so hard!! Then, I researched companies I would like to work with. It’s important to me that I work with companies that are eco-friendly and create products sustainably. It’s also important that I pitch to companies in which my artwork will fit their aesthetics. Otherwise, there’s really no point. Third, conducted tons more research to find contact information for art directors (you really have to put on your detective hat for this one). Often, you cannot find names or direct email addresses. So I send my pitch email to the customer service contact info. Not sure this is the best course of action, but it’s worked so far. Drafting the pitch email is the easiest party. Hitting send, not so easy.
The good news is I have contacted eight different businesses. EIGHT. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot. But it is for me! At least five of them have responded. And that alone is so exciting! Several even had positive feedback of my artwork. Nice to get that kind of validation for sure! However, no one so far has agreed to licensing.
No big deal. You shouldn’t give up at the first sight of rejection. I expected it. And I expect more rejection in the foreseeable future. Licensing is a long game. And I suspect I will have to pitch to many, many more companies (repeatedly) before one of them says yes. And one of them WILL say yes. Putting it out there in the universe!
In the meant time, I will continue developing my Spoonflower and Society6 shops. I will sketch, doodle and draw to create more illustrations and repeat patterns. And I will keep on pitching!!!
If you happen to be an art director, send me a message and I’ll send you a link to my portfolio! Let’s talk! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽