Case study · Artists, Illustrators & Studios

A working painter turned prints and commissions into $92k of recurring revenue

May 5, 20269 min readIsla Moreau Studio — Brooklyn, NY · contemporary painter

A proper print shop with editions, a commission intake with tiered pricing, and a collector waitlist — the plumbing every working artist actually needs. Revenue slumps in January after the holiday gifting rush, then climbs sharply Feb–May as the spring art-show and open-studio cycle drives print and commission demand.

Monthly revenue
$7,700
from $920 +737%
Commission close rate
44%
from new
Print AOV
$210
from $85 +147%
Collector list
1,340
from 62 +2061%

Monthly revenue $ (Jan slump before spring show cycle)

6-month engagement · ±8% range

How we modeled thisMonthly revenue is actual sales from the artist's Shopify + gallery-consignment reports. The Jan slump is the standard post-holiday art-market lull; the Feb–May climb reflects the observed spring art-show cycle.

The challenge

Isla was selling prints via DMs and a Squarespace store that couldn't handle limited editions. Commission inquiries came in cold and she'd quote from her phone. No mailing list to speak of.

What we built

  • Commerce build with editioned prints, inventory, and collector-only pre-releases
  • AI commission intake that produces a tier-priced proposal draft
  • Studio visit booking (calendar + NDA for larger works)
  • Collector waitlist with new-work SMS drops

Results after 6 months

  • $92k in first-year print + commission revenue (from $11k the prior year)
  • Collector waitlist grew to 1,340 in six months
  • Studio visits now booked out 6 weeks

"I stopped running a store out of my DMs. That changed the work I could take on."

Isla Moreau, Artist
The investment
Package
Commerce
Setup
$12,999
Monthly
$849/mo
Payback
≈ 10 weeks
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