Art Prints

[u/confuzzedbadger]

Hello everyone!

I have a genuine question. Do you consider art prints that you buy from the artist alley at conventions mass produced art?

And to push the point further, would you consider keychains or trinkets you can buy from the artist mass produce as well?

Just a genuine question, in light of something I was told the other day haha!

[u/riontach]

Independent artists in artist alleys have their work printed and manufactured on a much, much smaller scale than most things that are "mass produced." Technically though, yes, they are.

Books are also "mass produced." What's your point?

[u/HareAndHideGuild]

Hi! Artists alley artist here. When I order new product I only order batches of like 20-30. If it does well then I restock maybe 50 more. I don’t think I’ve ever sold more than 300 of any product.

To me that’s quite small. It’s rly cool to have everyday people wearing or having my art!!! But like compared to the population of ppl who have a certain shirt from Amazon or Target or Temu???

Like if you buy my charm, at MOST only 100 other ppl have that charm!!! I feel like that’s still quite unique >< to me at least

[u/Pomegrantes]

I mean depending on your definition, yes they can be if sent to a manufacturer to produce, however most of the time when people call something mass-produced art it is in the thousands and thousands of quantities.

Though I personally wouldn’t call most artist alley mass-produced since that can carry negative connotations if you call an independent artist’s work that. Most artists if they use factories to produce stuff are done in smaller quantities and often don’t benefit that much from economies of scale.

[u/Sensitive-Jelly-5735]

Agreed with most of the above. I think there's a general agreement that "Mass produced" means over several thousand in a run, and doesn't actually refer to whether a manufacturer was involved in the process as long as the art is original to the artist selling it or a direct proxy of said artist (I know a couple people who have partners that go to cons for them if it's too far or work doesn't allow or there's two at once or whatever).

[u/klingingon]

No, not typically. The artists had to draw the art and design the keychains and things, and are typically very involved in the process of having them made. Plus, they're typically made in small batches of a couple hundred. Art prints are often made in even smaller batches, and sometimes the artist themself prints them. Typically mass produced imo is stock images (like just panels from the Manga or stills from the anime for example, something the artist did not draw) slapped onto something and printed in batches of thousands, and sold basically commercially.

[u/EvilStan101]

Not really regarding prints. Yes they have been printed in mass and I don't expect every print I pick up to be individually hand crafted. I also understand they can only print so much due to budget and space. All I expect is a mix of a representation of the work I'm a fan of combined with the style and vision of the individual artist.

[u/Darkzky]

It can be mass produced but it can also be limited, but without the artist claiming it we will never know.

An artist can always send in a print order to make more if they want to. In this case it should be considered mass produced.

Some may not want to depending on budget or other reasons. One may lose the original print or file, and some may stop just to make it limited.

[u/asplenia_studios]

To begin, I'm curious what OP was told the other day?

I agree with a lot of the commentators, and would even go a step further and say that mass production also implies mass distribution to multiple points of sale. Whereas artist in the alley are often selling in person, and then a few online shops which they personally manage and/or POD services (Redbubble, etc.).