Would you let your work be turned into hand-painted oil paintings?

[chrischen]

I probably should read through the whole thread to get my answer, but you have to understand that I'm lazy and also procrastinating doing my own work, so instead of reading the whole thing, I'm just gonna ask my questions (yay, run-on sentences!)

1. $100... for a hand-painted oil painting??

Sh*t. I charge $160 for a single high resolution image. You're not charging enough. :greenpbl:

2. I don't understand what the purpose of this would be?? Who is this marketed to?

Take me for example... I shoot portraits. How does that benefit me at all to have my photos turned into oil paintings? (This is a serious question... I'm not being passive aggressive. I'm genuinely curious about the thought behind this venture :sillysmi: )

1. Since it was so contentious, you don't have to assume $100/painting anymore.

2. The paintings are for the mass market. You can treat them like on-demand prints of your photos, except, they are on-demand painted.

You wouldn't be turning your photos into paintings, but offering people a painted version of them (in addition to prints).

 

[chrischen]

Ok, well like limr I was responding to the what ifs you yourself posted and frankly the purely hypothetical dodge to avoid answering direct questions really isn't flying, at least with me.

In order for this to work at all you would need to be able to crank them out quickly because your looking at shipping something fairly large and heavy from overseas which means a pretty significant wait time right from the get go, and no I will not imagine that these are being shipped in a week or two by magical unicorns.

So in order for this "reproduction of technical details" to occur either you are painting over a print or you must allow probably at least a month and a half for delivery at a minimum.



Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

The actual service already achieves under 3 week turnaround time (order to door), so it is not something that's magical.

I'm not dodging to avoid your questions. I'm "dodging" to redefine it... to pinpoint what type of conditions would make it interesting to you. I'm not here to argue. Perhaps a better way to approach this is to ask you what conditions would make something like this appeal to you?

 

[chrischen]

Chrischen with you not having been a member of this site prior to posting this thread it doesn't give people much info. about you to go on. You say things like it will be trustworthy and people shouldn't worry, but it might help to provide more info. about yourself or your company instead of asking users to ignore some of the comments and questions.

Designer - and this is somewhat OT but is from earlier in the thread - I was wondering if what you mentioned was a process used to color B&W photos before color film was readily available? There were pots of color used to be applied to portraits, I don't think those were used all that long before color film was manufactured. There are also so-called watercolors which are powder and come on perforated paper so you tear off a small strip and dip a brush in water then in the color and blend it into a B&W darkroom print.

But I think photographers/artists most likely would be doing their own work if they're working in hand-made photographic processes or doing any type of alternative photography. If I saw this somewhere online I doubt I'd be interested.

I agree artists most likely would do their own work, however I think most photographers don't know how to paint, or paint well. So this would be a good service to expand the values of their photographs beyond prints. I'm just here to check how such a service (which offered on-demand photo to painting) would be received.

 

[chrischen]

I'd kindly ask you to please ignore the what-ifs and accusations provided by other posters because *this service does not exist.* It is **purely** hypothetical, therefore the what-ifs are irrelevant for the purposes of my research.

Don't know about anyone else, but I was responding to all the "what-ifs" that you were providing, not other posters.

Every time someone says they're not interested, you are the one who introduces a what-if, such as, "What if the price is undefined?" as if the only reason we're not interested is because we don't know all the details. But when someone wants details, we're reminded that it's only hypothetical. It's quite the vicious cycle.

I'm here specifically to gauge interest in licensing photos for on-demand 100% hand-painting (just that, nothing more). Since the under $100 pricing brought so much arguing, let's just say the price is undefined. It will be set at whatever is reasonable to produce the 100% hand-painted (not oil filtered, not digitally printed, not child-labor produced, not slave labor produced).

Remember: hypothetical! If I'm being dodgy it's only because I'm trying to get you guys to answer the question I presented, and ignore the random what-ifs other people are introducing.

Once again, I don't know about anyone else, but I understand this is hypothetical, and I for one am saying I WOULD NOT be interested. That's the conditional tense. It's used for hypothetical situations in the present and future. I used the same tense in previous answers. This does not interest me, neither as an actual offer (which it is not, I understand) NOR as a hypothetical.

Most importantly, given the above, would you be compelled to explore this as a revenue stream if I was not soliciting from you? That is, if you saw this on the internet, would you be compelled to signup and try it out by your own will?

No. I would not pursue that as a revenue stream

I am not trying to be argumentative. This is an answer to your question. It's a data point. I think the other posters have also answered your question. It just isn't an answer you seem pleased with, that's all.

"...as if the only reason we're not interested is because we don't know all the details."

Like I said, this service is undefined. The details are not defined. I simply add new "what ifs" to see at what point such a [hypothetical] service would become appealing to you guys. Perhaps a better way to approach this is how would you structure such a program or service to make it appealing to you (if at all)? Though, it seems you're saying there's no way such a service would be appealing to you. Then may I ask, are you also opposed to selling prints (canvas or otherwise)? Because if so, perhaps you're simply the wrong demographic.

 

[chrischen]

I'm new here, and I'm just here to get general feedback and the general opinion on my service, anonymously. I'm not here to advertise so I will not reveal the name of the service.

Imagine a service that produces hand-painted oil paintings with 16"x16" ones retailing for under $100 to the consumer. Please assume the paintings are decent quality. You trust the service (some major society6-like or 500px-like site). These are also physical oil paintings on canvas, not digital. So think like selling prints, but something much fancier.

Would you sell your photography as reproduced oil-paintings and receive a commission?


What is a fair commission?


How compelling is this and would you signup to do this by adding links to your website?

If no, what are the terms you would do this by?


Thanks!

I thought I'd remind everyone of what you originally wrote. As much as you've been emphasizing this is strictly "hypothetical" it's pretty obvious that your original concept is to set up a painting from photo service competitive with the rings you accuse of price fixing. You want to offer a similar service but at a lowball price. "Paintings" for those who can't afford real art. When someone buys a "hand-painted" oil painting, they generally expect it to be original. Not just a copy of someone else's creative idea. I hope you'd make sure the consumer knows they aren't getting anything unique. So at this pricing, you're aiming for the Walmart/trailer park crowd. I think you'd have a problem with those of us who believe in fair wages. To paint a 16 X 16 painting that closely resembles the photograph would take some time. At less than $100 retail, the artist couldn't possible be making a fair wage, especially since in addition to them, you've got to pay for materials, shipping, advertising, rent, utilities, and make a profit. PLUS, pay commissions or for licensing the image. Do the math; at under $100 retail the "commission" won't buy you a meal at Denny's. Of course, since the business appears to not be US-based, if you end up not getting paid, how are you going to follow up on that? I'm an artist and a photographer, and I wouldn't do an original painting for under $100. and I wouldn't license an image for lunch money either. And commission... I'm sure they'll be willing to provide auditing at their expense. LOL.

Interesting...I'm glad you quoted the original post because I also just noticed something else that was written in it:

I'm new here, and I'm just here to get general feedback and the general opinion on my service, anonymously. I'm not here to advertise so I will not reveal the name of the service.

Don't these things suggest that the service already exists? So perhaps it's not so hypothetical after all. The questions about the interest were hypothetical ("Would you...") but the service seems to be established already.

You can ignore the $100 lowball price statement. Yes the service technically does exist. However, for the sake of my research, you can pretend i'm talking about a purely hypothetical version.

 

[chrischen]

Oh lord, did you look at some of those samples???

Yes, and that is when I edited my post to declare that I will not be using that service.

It's too bad the OP hasn't posted an example.

Thanks for posting the example link. You can assume the paintings will be around the same quality level as the link you posted. That site is most likely has the paintings done in China (despite it claiming it's made in the USA... the pricing just doesn't make sense).

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well like limr I was responding to the what ifs you yourself posted and frankly the purely hypothetical dodge to avoid answering direct questions really isn't flying, at least with me.

In order for this to work at all you would need to be able to crank them out quickly because your looking at shipping something fairly large and heavy from overseas which means a pretty significant wait time right from the get go, and no I will not imagine that these are being shipped in a week or two by magical unicorns.

So in order for this "reproduction of technical details" to occur either you are painting over a print or you must allow probably at least a month and a half for delivery at a minimum.



Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

The actual service already achieves under 3 week turnaround time (order to door), so it is not something that's magical.

I'm not dodging to avoid your questions. I'm "dodging" to redefine it... to pinpoint what type of conditions would make it interesting to you. I'm not here to argue. Perhaps a better way to approach this is to ask you what conditions would make something like this appeal to you?

Well to make this appealing to me first I'd have to deal with people who would give straight answers to straight questions. What you call redirecting is known as BS'ing where I come from, and I don't do business that way.

Second I would need to know that the product being delivered was just as advertised and of high enough quality that it was not ripping off the end consumer.

I haven't been convinced of either, quite the opposite in fact. So I am not interested.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

 

[limr]

Like I said, this service is undefined. The details are not defined. I simply add new "what ifs" to see at what point such a [hypothetical] service would become appealing to you guys.

The more I learn about this real-but-hypothetical service, the less appealing it is.

Perhaps a better way to approach this is how would you structure such a program or service to make it appealing to you (if at all)? Though, it seems you're saying there's no way such a service would be appealing to you. Then may I ask, are you also opposed to selling prints (canvas or otherwise)? Because if so, perhaps you're simply the wrong demographic.

Prints of photos are a whole different animal than cheesy paintings made from a photograph. But you're right - I'm absolutely not your target customer. I'm not going to support a service that cheapens labor - both mine and that of the painter - and creates something that I think is aesthetically unpleasant at best.

 

[chrischen]

Ok, well like limr I was responding to the what ifs you yourself posted and frankly the purely hypothetical dodge to avoid answering direct questions really isn't flying, at least with me.

In order for this to work at all you would need to be able to crank them out quickly because your looking at shipping something fairly large and heavy from overseas which means a pretty significant wait time right from the get go, and no I will not imagine that these are being shipped in a week or two by magical unicorns.

So in order for this "reproduction of technical details" to occur either you are painting over a print or you must allow probably at least a month and a half for delivery at a minimum.



Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

The actual service already achieves under 3 week turnaround time (order to door), so it is not something that's magical.

I'm not dodging to avoid your questions. I'm "dodging" to redefine it... to pinpoint what type of conditions would make it interesting to you. I'm not here to argue. Perhaps a better way to approach this is to ask you what conditions would make something like this appeal to you?

Well to make this appealing to me first I'd have to deal with people who would give straight answers to straight questions. What you call redirecting is known as BS'ing where I come from, and I don't do business that way.

Second I would need to know that the product being delivered was just as advertised and of high enough quality that it was not ripping off the end consumer.

I haven't been convinced of either, quite the opposite in fact. So I am not interested.

Sent from my LG-LG730 using Tapatalk

Lol... I really don't understand why (or what) we're arguing about. I told you I'm not trying to sell you anything, and will not. This service I'm describing is hypothetical so it is by definition **whatever you want it to be**.

I simply wanted to ask if having your photographs be ready to made on-demand into oil paintings is appealing to you.

"Second I would need to know that the product being delivered was just as advertised and of high enough quality that it was not ripping off the end consumer."

Yes. The product will be delivered as advertised. For the sake of argument, I will now reveal that Amazon.com is the one providing this service. If Amazon.com is offering this service for photographers to sell their photos as paintings (produced on-demand), would it be appealing to you? The paintings are fully hand-painted oil paintings. Amazon.com will not be telling customers they are buying iPads, and then sending them an oil painting of your photo instead. Why? Because I'm not interested in finding out if photographers would be interested in a fraudulent service. I'm interested in finding out if photographers find it really appealing to have their photos turned into on-demand oil paintings by Amazon.com, for a very affordable price.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Chrischen, I really admire your stick-to-it-ness here.
But you will never win with this crowd. Ever.

I have to add, after talking to my better half, who is a custom framer...he said he gets tons of portraits, family portraits, and pet portraits, that have been painted from a photo. Sometimes it's a local artist, but often it's not. Sometimes it's a full on oil painting, sometimes it's "remarqued" where some brush strokes are added to the print to give the illusion of being painted.

So this is something to offer customers as a portrait photographer, that people here just don't grasp how popular it is. Sure, being made in China may prevent a small portion of sales.

In my industry, jewelry, soooooooooooo much product is made overseas it's not even funny. Even popular American designer products are made overseas. The product tends to be terrible, thin, and poorly set. What drives that market is the price, not quality. Luxury goods, just like an oil painting, at rock bottom prices. People don't ask where their jewelry is made, and retail stores remove any tag that says so.

 

[photoguy99]

Well said.

I think you're trying to poll some notional 'typical photographer' on this. In the first place there's no such thing and in the second place to the event that there is this pace does not embody it.

People on TPF are mainly gear-heads.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Well said.

I think you're trying to poll some notional 'typical photographer' on this. In the first place there's no such thing and in the second place, to the event that there is, this place does not embody it.

People on TPF are mainly gear-heads.

And not business people.

 

[robbins.photo]

Lol... I really don't understand why (or what) we're arguing about. I told you I'm not trying to sell you anything, and will not. This service I'm describing is hypothetical so it is by definition **whatever you want it to be**.

I haven't "argued" about anything. I did you the courtesy of answering your questions, despite the fact that you were so incredibly discourteous as to never provide a single adequate answer to my own.

I simply wanted to ask if having your photographs be ready to made on-demand into oil paintings is appealing to you.

If I thought for one second that it would be a quality product and worth the price you'd charge the end consumer then yes - but from what I've gotten from you, no.

Yes. The product will be delivered as advertised. For the sake of argument, I will now reveal that Amazon.com is the one providing this service. If Amazon.com is offering this service for photographers to sell their photos as paintings (produced on-demand), would it be appealing to you? The paintings are fully hand-painted oil paintings. Amazon.com will not be telling customers they are buying iPads, and then sending them an oil painting of your photo instead. Why? Because I'm not interested in finding out if photographers would be interested in a fraudulent service. I'm interested in finding out if photographers find it really appealing to have their photos turned into on-demand oil paintings by Amazon.com, for a very affordable price.

Amazon.com sells plenty of cut rate Chinese products of very low quality. And you know what, that's fine - there must be a market for it or Amazon wouldn't sell it. But when it comes to photography - well if the end product isn't going to be a quality product then yes, Amazon may find a market for it - but no, I still wouldn't want to be involved with it.

 

[vfotog]

The actual service already achieves under 3 week turnaround time (order to door), so it is not something that's magical.

I'm not dodging to avoid your questions. I'm "dodging" to redefine it... to pinpoint what type of conditions would make it interesting to you. I'm not here to argue. Perhaps a better way to approach this is to ask you what conditions would make something like this appeal to you?




Lol... I really don't understand why (or what) we're arguing about. I told you I'm not trying to sell you anything, and will not. This service I'm describing is hypothetical so it is by definition **whatever you want it to be**.

I simply wanted to ask if having your photographs be ready to made on-demand into oil paintings is appealing to you.

"Second I would need to know that the product being delivered was just as advertised and of high enough quality that it was not ripping off the end consumer."

Yes. The product will be delivered as advertised. For the sake of argument, I will now reveal that Amazon.com is the one providing this service. If Amazon.com is offering this service for photographers to sell their photos as paintings (produced on-demand), would it be appealing to you? The paintings are fully hand-painted oil paintings. Amazon.com will not be telling customers they are buying iPads, and then sending them an oil painting of your photo instead. Why? Because I'm not interested in finding out if photographers would be interested in a fraudulent service. I'm interested in finding out if photographers find it really appealing to have their photos turned into on-demand oil paintings by Amazon.com, for a very affordable price.

There would be less contention if you were being straight-forward right from the very beginning. Instead you have contradicted yourself repeatedly. It's hypothetical. Oh wait, it's your service. It's meant to compete with those nefarious price-fixers. At much lower pricing. Now it's not about that at all... It started out as the photographers only involvement as letting their images be used as the actual creative part of the work that is being copied and sold to consumers; the photographer only getting commission. And a small commission at that. Now it seems you are instead talking about using this as a service you are marketing to photographers to sell to their clients instead of prints. Entirely different ideas. First it was YOUR service. Now you are saying "AMAZON.COM is the one providing the service." I don't believe that for a minute. You are saying Amazon is hiring artists, etc. uh huh. Sure Amazon would be interested to hear you're saying THEY are the ones doing this. They're a huge corporation; they're not going to be doing market research on this forum. LOL. There is a huge difference between something being sold BY Amazon and something in their Marketplace. Like the guarantee. And who the seller of record is. If a company is selling through Amazon, then Amazon is not providing the service anymore than eBay is the seller because an auction is located there. You also talked about links to the photographers... and you're going to do that on an Amazon page? uh huh. Some of us have been in business for decades and know what actually makes sense. You would have gotten a better reception if you had kept your story consistent and believable.