Possibly/probably OT but since the Art Theory forum has had 4 new message posts in the last 3 months and this forum is active in this subject matter at the moment...I'll try here. Anyway... Kind of an art theory sort of question. Suppose a person were to be really good at drawing (or otherwise making somehow) anime-style art for, say, posters. What are the chances (in your opinion) that anyone would buy such art since all the ones I see for sale seem to be from movie and book charas that enjoy some success in a worldwide market? In other words, I'm thinking no matter how really good a piece is, it would likely not sell considering the people who buy such things are mostly interested in getting posters (etc.) of their favorite book and movie charas. What do you otaku think? apologizes to those who read this and consider it to be in the wrong forum

Really depends. If it's an utterly breathtaking example, I think it would sell. If it's cheescake or even more risque I think your chances are even better. ^_^ Your best bet would be to try to sell at SF/gaming/anime cons in the artist's alley. You can probably sell stuff to people who are dying to spend money before the dealers room opens. :D (trust me I've got enough dirty pair buttons to choke a horse.)

BTW tailor your subject matter to your audience. If you are gonna sell to a D&D type crowed make D&D type anime pics etc...

I know some people who sell their art through ebay, so there are definitely people out there willing to buy. Of course if it's not a known artist/character, chances of it appealing to someone does go down. Definitely it would depend on the quality of the pictures and on the price. Make something cheap enough, and there will be a market for it. That goes for anything really, but I guess the important thing here is whether that "cheap enough" price justifies the time and effort to produce said product. And yeah, I think cheescake would probably find a pretty good sized market. That's why I'm gonnna put a bunch of scantily clad babes on anything I sell. ;)

Well, you two have pretty much confirmed what I assumed. I was just wondering if there were two kinds of people: (1) The Otaku who have favorite charas and collect things about them and (2) those who just have an appreciation for the art form (like me) and don't really care if it's a known chara or not.

btw known characters need to exist first as new/unknown one to begin with.. i is all up to the author to DEVELOPP their character, bring them to life, and such.. i am trying to write a very classical/stereotypical shojo story illustrated with poser, and i already begun to desin the characters (some of them) give them background, personnality, and the like... some of the basics are found in my gallery with Erin and Sayuki. I intend to make them a bit more living, but unless you are very talented (cause i am not), you ned more than one pic or a serie of pic to bring a character to life anyway i saw the tenten maid serie somewhjere on the gallery that carried more than individual pics... sometimes, it really does not need much to transform a simple render into a real character that can appeal people. of course it is better to tailor your art to the audience.

Riddocum, hehe, when up mention that, you are requiring a person to have TWO gifts: (1) artistic ability AND (2) creative writing ability (smiling). I salute anyone who has the nerve! After all, it seems to be a very competitive business. A look in Media Play (movies and books store) will show the novice that there are just about as many anime movies as there any other genre (drama, action, etc.)! And there are books and magazine subscription galore. For the otaku out there, who may have a really good feel for this area, I suppose it might be easy (easier?) to come up with something that can compete. But still, hard! Perhaps one could make it web-based and work that way. At Dragon*Con this year, I went to several book publishing/writing seminars and publishing a book is a nightmare (from what we heard and talked about)!

well... not necessarily both... Writing and imaginary skills are the core of it, and the most important thing... Drawing or any visual art skill are a plus, definitly one, but only an extension of the writing or the mind, just a way to enforce the message you send can be understand more faithfully to your own initial idea without error. Web offers the opportunity to publish one self art or writing (or both) at low cost, and many software packages are just tools that can ease up the process...

"Web offers the opportunity to publish one self art or writing (or both) at low cost, and many software packages are just tools that can ease up the process... " This is true but not without problems. Art is easy to show on the web and to print on demand (posters of different sizes, etc.) if that is your goal. But calendars, mouse pads, and stuff like that take an investment (for a production run) and some confidence you can sell them. Writing (with illustration) are easy to provide on the web but people can just read and leave (sort of). So, in order to make some money, one needs print a book. Either you self publish (and self promote) or you try for a small publishing company (according to what I learned at Dragon*Con, the big companys won't even take a submission from you and won't even take a submission of yours from a small publishing company unless you have some success to show already). This is the short version...hehe. And I certainly don't mean to try and talk anyone out of pursuing their goal/dream. Not my intention at all. Just do some real world research first.

i sometimes make personnal tshirt out of rosity art (or even mine when it is decent quality) i wear them in public, and when people ask me, i tell them where it is from... maybe it is the first step to sell: advertising/sample

Yep! Every little bit helps. That's a good idea!