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MFF / con Art Show Advice/Experiences? by Kittiara

Hey folks, I have begun to seriously consider entering the art show at MFF. I wonder if other fellow artists have done this con or ones like it and could advise me on how to get a spot, any tips and tricks beyond creating the art and matting or insider info on what the space is like?

I have never done a convention art show, though i did TONS of gallery-prep work in school. I guess that I don't know what to expect and I'm a little apprehensive. The MFF site does not yet have the 2014 info or any of the documents up, it seems; when does that usually open?

Do you find one space or more is useful? I am considering getting both a space in the General and Adult shows. Does soft erotica (what I would make) even sell or is it mostly the down and dirty porn that does? Any trends y'all notice about what sells in the show and for how much? This is obviously dependent on the artist, but Pricing art for convention audiences is something else I haven't yet had to do.

Any miscellaneous info? I'd love to hear it!

Thanks!

MFF / con Art Show Advice/Experiences?

Kittiara

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  • Link

    farorenightclaw

    How to get a spot: Apply when it opens. You'll get a spot if you're fast enough. It usually takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for the show to fill up. Watch the MFF twitter to know when it opens.

    Spacing is usually 2x4 panels. I would recommend getting one or two each in Adult and General depending on the amount of art you're planning on having and how big your pieces are.

    Soft erotica generally sells better that straight-up porn, I find, because this is stuff people are buying to put on their walls.

    Popular species sell well, but sometimes people like the novelty of rare ones as well. Orientation doesn't matter a whole lot; gay, straight, etc, when it comes to erotica, there's an audience for it all.

    Generally I would advise you to put your SB at the lowest possible price you'd be okay with the piece selling for. This may be much less than a commission of the same quality would cost. After all, there's no custom content. The lower the SB, the more likely there is to be a lot of bids. Once a certain number of bids are given, your piece goes to voice auction, where it has a much higher chance of going for a lot.

    Any other questions, feel free to ask! I've been doing MFF's art show since 2007 or so.

    • Link

      Kittiara

      Now watching MFF Twitter... good idea, haha. Not sure how much space I'll need... I'll measure out a panel on the floor and decide on size of pieces from there.

      Good to know re: erotica, thank goodness.

      Thanks for the advice; starting bids low makes sense; the prices I've seen in the art shows have always been low and even then often no dice. Let's hope I hit the sweet spot!

      Not sure I have more questions yet... just glad there don't seem to be any weird hoops to jump through. Thank you for taking the time to answer!!

      • Link

        farorenightclaw

        It's also worth noting that you are NOT ALLOWED to have glass in your art, so no glass frames. I found out why when I went to set up with a glass-fronted frame and the glass fell out and shattered all over the floor, oops.

        • Link

          Kittiara

          Thank goodness, because that raises costs fast.

  • Link

    Skulldog

    MFF has been pretty hit or miss for me.
    Have you done AC's art show? If so, compare that as the 'base income' for my comments.

    I've had years at MFF where I made a little under half my average AC art show income, not bad, but not always worth the effort of packing, traveling from NH and setting up. I've also had a few years where I made just shy of an 'okay' AC art show year.

    Is the costs of matting, framing and taking the time to set up worth the income of about half an AC art show year?

    Over all, it's not BAD by any sense, but not fantastic if you have to go out of your way to get matted/framed pictures there with too much effort.

    • Link

      Skulldog

      I fly to FC from NH each year, and trying to deal with matted/framed art is NOT AT ALL WORTH the bids, so take from that what you will, MFF is basically the mid point from AC and having to FLY with glass framed art.

    • Link

      Kittiara

      I've never done a con art show since it never seemed worth it for the trouble (I. hated. gallery shows. as a student), so I don't have a baseline to compare. It stands to reason that AC has the biggest turnout in just about every area though.

      I know I'll be doing it at MFF just to force myself back into the flow of artmaking, so it's not really a financial decision so long as I cut even (and not having to pay a price to get in the show at all is excellent). I can thankfully fit the size I plan to do in my giant fursuit suitcase so that's another issue down.

      Thanks for your candid advice!

  • Link

    ElrondDrakendil

    Looks like Fororennightclaw has you pretty much covered. I only did MFF once last year, but here's something you might want to keep in mind: they don't use the traditional 4'4' pegboard: instead they have these black wire panel… things. I had framed all my art and was able to hang them no problem, because I had a wire across the back. People who just brought matted pieces to hang from clips ran into problems, however.

    Basically, you want your piece framed with a wire to hang from, or matted with an equivalent.

    Seconding the no glass. Nope nope nope never glass. If you can get clear plastic, that works—it's lighter, doesn't shatter, and it just gives me piece of mind knowing my art is protected that way.

    As for sales… like I said I've only done it once so I can't talk about trends. But I did have a FANTASTIC time last year—sold 4 out of 6 and all four of those went to voice auction. But I think that was mostly luck.

    I will say, though, that I did better at that one MFF show than I have at the last to ACs combined. I don't know why, but the AC art show hasn't been very good to me. shrugs

    Good luck!