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There's a difference between what artists have to offer and what someone will pay for.
Who will pay for it, is just as important.
Despite a lot of compliments, encouragement, and a name for myself in the BDSM scene, I could not get my artwork to sell. People would actually come up to me and say "I love your work. I wish I could afford it."
The first thing I had wrong was, I was selling art in the wrong place. Because my artwork was fetish, I was trying to sell originals at BDSM events. That's not where originals are going to sell for big bucks. If you want to sell original art for original art prices, you sell at a gallery, because galleries have lists of people with big money who want to spend big money on art.
In the art world prices vary based on media. Paintings sell for more. Watercolors, inks and sketches sell for less. Digital prints vary wildly.
Online, my artwork was hit or miss. In 1995, only a handful of artists would do fetish artwork out in the open. I had a series of calendars that would sell through the internet, often sight unseen. Now there's a lot more competition online. My work sells much better in person, often as stickers and greeting cards. They're impulse buys.
As for selling adult content online, Looking to existing content erotica sites like Slipshine and Filthy Figments. They already have the traffic and play well with others. You may have to switch to a comic format or create narrative art, but this is what keeps their fans going.
One last bit of advice. Keep in mind there's a difference between what you love and what you sell. Great when those two things cross over, but if you don't have to rely on what will sell, you'll be more comfortable. It's been easier for me now that I don't have to "hustle," to keep the lights on.
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Publicist and owner of HighOctaneHeart.com, FetishArtist.net and FetishForLife.com
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