These art competitions sometimes charge $50 per entry, and they get 5k entries which is about $250,000 dollars and they award maybe 20,000 in awards. $230,000 in profit is quite an incentive to hold an art competition. Advertising in art magazines that are geared towards artists is also a waste of money for artists. If you are going to advertise your art, do it in decor magazines or magazines that cater to people who can afford to buy art.

I've had the exact same "anniversary present for my wife" request 3 different times....And, of course, they couldn't identify where they had seen my work. The first time, my question to them (about where they had seen my work) wasn't because I was suspicious, but because I work in a variety of mediums & styles, and so I was trying to identify which one they were interested in. But soon saw red flags. When a second scammer contacted me with the exact same story (a year or two later), I wrote back telling them to get a respectable job and to stop trying to take advantage of artists, who don't make enough money as it is.

The biggest art scam is stuff like "My 400k of subscribers can become professional online artists".

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Oh that's a good point, I see a lot of scam art coaches out there. Or even worse, people who coach artists on how to coach other artists on how to make a living from art, when none of them have actually made a living from art (hence the pivot to coaching).

@richardnolan3903

Ай бұрын

Milan Art Institute?

I see a lot of people charging for on-line "art lessons" who obviously have no experience education or ability. Seems like a scam too.

Another thing to watch for is exchanges where you ask "where did you find my work?" and they don't have an answer or say "I can't remember." Yeah that's a huge red flag right there.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Oh true, that's a great point.

Pay to play is an old scam that has been going on in the music industry for years. A club will force a band who wants to play there to buy tickets, which they then have to sell to try to recoup their money. A lessor scam is a venue will pay the band nothing claiming they will benefit from the exposure. I don't know why artists are the only group that is expected to work for free. I guess the one advantage of not being good enough to sell my art is I don't have to deal with a bunch of assholes trying to rip me off.

I got that weird commission and the way it goes is they will even send a photo (she sent me a photo of a girl she claims is her daughter) and then will say they will send the payment right away. I told her I’d accept a downpayment but she insists on sending the full and I got an email from paypal (was totally fake from the email ID, and it went to the spams). The funny thing is when I tried to act as if I haven’t gotten it, I got another email which just made it more obvious she was the one sending them. She was asking me to check the spam and that she sent it and it was a little over the price so she kept insisting that I send the excess back to her. I just stopped communicating with her but I do hope these scammers get the karma they deserve.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Ohh, so that's how it goes. Thanks for sharing, and sorry you had to go down that rabbit hole. These scams are so annoying!

@aerieee

Ай бұрын

@@christinakentart paying in advance with a bonus for an artwork that’s not even started yet is highly suspicious. I do hope you and whoever comes across this comment will not have to waste precious time on these scams. All the best and also thanks for always sharing!

I just had someone contact me about the NFT thing, figured it was a scam and blew them off.

Unfortunately I tend to get more scammers commenting than genuine people. Had to laugh at the one who asked to buy a painting that was obviously only half done.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

I feel you. They are so annoying!!

@seanfaherty

26 күн бұрын

I have made more than one painting that was better 1/2 done

@soarpurpose

26 күн бұрын

@@christinakentart had two scammers/bots this past week ask about paintings. I give them the benefit of the doubt initially & asked what country. They both gave a precise address. The exact same address (even though I didn't ask for an address). Puzzled why they target artists.

Thank you , I wasn't aware of it at all! I am so naive 😂

@christinakentart

20 күн бұрын

Glad you found it helpful!

Yes, I dealt with the Anniversary scam once. To be honest, there were quite a number of red flags when it happened, so I got wise and cut him off. Yes, I did get into one national show, and it was a good experience, but it also paralleled a major medical crisis, so I really didn't get to enjoy it. For now, I think I'll be recrafting my website away from sales, and purpose it more towards a portfolio. Sales is too much of a booby trap online. Alan

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Yeah, thankfully there are usually red flags with these scammers. Glad to hear you had success with a national show! Good luck with recrafting you website :)

This is why I don't post on IG as much. The NFT scammers are ridiculous lol.

I been approached with these scammers before! I tell them I only take Venmo if they don't want that then walk!!! Thanks for the video : )

Instagram art scam, this woman sent a picture for her "daughter" to me. She was smart, she followed me, liked some of my work and when she messages me she used one of my art work as an "example" of what we would like her daughters portrait to look like. Red Flags is we wanted 2 portrait in under a week, and of course could only pay via cheque.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Yep, big red flags there. Thanks for sharing!

My answer to the NFT guys is: NFT = no fu**ing time

@parisbreakfast

Ай бұрын

Just block them. I don’t answer anyone suspicious

The scam you mentioned for the child's birthday with their name and a random object is a cheque scam too, I know someone who engaged with them long enough to find that out.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

I see, thank you!

Thank you, Christina!

Huh… I got one of those “Can I use your image in my artwork?” over instagram recently. I thought it was a really weird question considering most of my pics are of 3d prints (painted and unpainted) on my kitchen table (the image in question was of a figure that could be literally be found EVERYWHERE ELSE on the internet) … suffice to say I just ignored the question and went about my day. Bullet dodged apparently.

I may have crossed paths with an nft art scammer on Facebook. Now I don't post any more of my art on that page. Thanks for this awareness

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Oh yeah, there are a lot of them on Facebook, unfortunately. Glad you found the video helpful!

@leotl4704

24 күн бұрын

I was scammed with 160$. They are really bad peolple.

The art market has turned into a swamp full of predator species. Besides all the scams mentioned in your video, look out for art galleries, which business is not to promote you or sell your artwork but money laundering. The art market sucks. If it wasn't by our vanity, all these SOBs would have to find honest jobs.

Requesting to communicate via Skype often causes scammers to vanish as if by magic.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Thanks, great tip!

Christina, thank you so much for educating us on this topic. This is so important stuff to know! Love listening to ya, and as someone who is aiming but havent still went into the monetization of my own artwork, its just fantastic to be able to learn this stuff beforehand!❤

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

For sure, I'm glad you found it helpful! :)

Very helpful, thank you.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Glad you found it helpful!

Probably works the same way over here 🇬🇧

NFT peeps are so very annoying. Not only is it blatant BS, the grammar is so very bad. Asking artists for money?! Ummm that seems moot lol

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Right?? So annoying!

I get nft scams once a week so annoying 😅

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Yeah, they are so annoying!

"And watch out for grammatical errors" ... Like "Paid by check" when it's supposed to be "cheque"

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Yeah, good point!

@Just4Gordon

Ай бұрын

Unfortunately, here in America (US America) that doesn’t hold true. Yes, I agree that spelling and grammar can be huge red flags but I don’t keep my spare tyre in the boot of my car. I keep my spare tire in the trunk of my car, here in Santa Cruz, Ca.

@DwarfDragonwulf

Ай бұрын

@@Just4Gordon I'm not american and I'm not sure what you americans are speaking. I speak English.

@lkd06

Ай бұрын

W​e speak English in the US, and it is indeed CHECK here

@DwarfDragonwulf

Ай бұрын

@@lkd06 No, what you speak in the US is whatever you decided on in the great depression way back in the early 1900's, not English. And in the rest of the world that actually speaks English, a financial cheque is not spelt "check".

I love listening to your content…but… please slow down your speech just a little bit.. great job though keep it up.

@lkd06

Ай бұрын

You can slow it own in your settings.

I've also sworn off these open calls from most of these small-player galleries. Many of them only offer online exhibitions so their costs to mount an exhibition are negligible. It feels like nothing more than a cash grab.

@christinakentart

Ай бұрын

Yes, I also feel like it is a cash grab on their part :/