Tech

This artist makes a living 'flash-selling' his work on Instagram

Kim Renfro

2016-02-01T16:18:00Z

Instagram is known for many things — food porn, photography, celebrity cats — but few consider the photo-sharing app a place to buy and sell art.

Chris Austin is a Toronto-based artist doing just that.

His 8,000 Instagram followers wait each day for Austin to post a photo his artwork and declare it "for sale." Within minutes, he says, followers start emailing him. Whoever emails him first gets the piece.

Scroll down for more about Austin's Instagram strategy.

Four years ago, Austin quit his job working in a Wonderbread factory to move to Toronto and dedicate his life to his artwork.

had a blast painting Saturday night in Kitchener #thebrushoff #kitchener #live #painting #ipaintthelines #artist

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart) on Jan 27, 2015 at 8:26pm PSTJan 27, 2015 at 8:26pm PST

"My 'thing' is grizzly bears," he told Tech Insider. "But I started experimenting with other ideas and posting those to Instagram."

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Sep 30, 2015 at 4:20pm PDT

Austin makes a living from art commissions and an online store, but about 25% of his income is now generated through Instagram.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 19, 2016 at 11:37am PST

"I wake up at 9:00 or so each morning [to work]. One piece can take about 5 hours to complete," Austin said. So far, he's completed about one piece each day since the beginning of January.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Dec 22, 2015 at 2:30pm PST

Once finished, Austin snaps a photo of the drawing and uploads it to Instagram. He lists the price somewhere between $100-200, depending on the size.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Dec 15, 2015 at 11:21am PST

Then, it's a race to be sold. The first person to email Austin gets the painting. He then edits the caption on the photo to say SOLD.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Dec 2, 2015 at 11:08am PST

"It almost seems like my followers are waiting for the posts now, which is kind of crazy," Austin explained. "Within minutes, someone emails."

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 19, 2016 at 3:34pm PST

Austin told us he spends up to an hour each day responding to emails from followers who were hoping to buy the daily artwork.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 27, 2016 at 2:28pm PST

"Instagram is really neat because it immediately connects you to a global audience," Austin said. He's shipped paintings as far as Australia and Japan.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 5, 2016 at 6:49pm PST

Austin's favored hashtags are #gouache, #painting, #hotpressed, #archespaper, #art, #ink, and #drawing. He works with a paint called "Acryl Gouache," and considers his style "half drawing, half painting."

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Nov 9, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

Austin first remembers hearing about Instagram about 3 or 4 years ago, when a tattoo-artist friend mentioned the app. At first, he didn't post much art there.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 26, 2016 at 2:25pm PST

Austin has his first solo art show coming up in Chicago, where he'll display a new series called "Bear Necessities."

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Dec 4, 2015 at 6:16pm PST

He shares photos of his progress on other commissions as well, to give followers an idea of his range.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 23, 2016 at 9:14pm PST

With his follower count rising each day, Austin believes Instagram will become a much larger source of his income in the near future.

A photo posted by chrisaustinart (@chrisaustinart)Jan 23, 2016 at 11:32am PST

Instagram Art