Popsicle Stand: How to Sell Art Online

Every summer as a kid, I would organize neighborhood garage sales and set up a lemonade stand. I decided to recreate this enterprise in the form of an online popsicle stand. 

Materials & Tools:

- Cup of water
- Watercolor paper
- Watercolor paints
- 3-4" wide brush
- 0.5 Muji black pen
- Clear plastic art sleeve
- Phone or camera
- Internet
- Imagination

Step 1: Draw popsicle

Take your watercolor paper and draw a popsicle in the middle of it. Mine were about 3" wide. Include fun things like bite marks, dimensions, or whatever else you love about popsicles.

Step 2: Paint popsicle

Dip your brush in water, then dip it in your watercolor paint tray. Be sure to get a lot of color on your brush. Experiment with including multiple colors, if your brush can reach or if you can move the paint trays closer to each other. Really dig that paint in there.

In one stroke, brush from the top of the popsicle down to the bottom. Play with letting up on pressure in certain areas, and really let the colors bleed around.

Step 3: Name your popsicle

Reminisce about your favorite flavors. Make up new ones. Grape. Bomb pop. Superman. Raspberry Lemonade. Space pop. Come up with fun little stories for each one. Write the name and story onto a little card to accompany each popsicle.

Step 4: Set up an online shop

I went through Square Market, since it had the lowest fees and easiest setup. (Maybe also because I built it and wanted to test the product). Upload your images and descriptions, and price your paintings affordably.

Step 5: Ship it

Buy some plastic art sleeves, stamps, and envelopes. Tweet it, share it, like it, etc. and wait for the dough to come pouring in. Celebrate by eating a popsicle.