Sister satellite fairs Red Dot and Art Now kicked off on Thursday, and the majority of collectors and exhibitors seem to be first-timers — which is not surprising, given that both fairs are also relatively new to the scene. (Red Dot made its debut last year during Armory week, while Art Now had its first run during Art Basel Miami Beach in December.)

“It’s baby’s first art fair,” joked Fiora Boes, director of the Los Angeles–based Ghettogloss Fine Art Gallery, which primarily focuses on street and urban art and also rents out pieces for Hollywood films. Mr. Brainwash, who moves in the same art world circles as Banksy, and the up-and-coming Danyi Deats are two artists whose works are displayed in the gallery’s room at Art Now, which runs through Sunday at Hotel 30/30 at 30 E. 30th Street. Another of the gallery’s artists, Yarrow Earth Hock, traveled to New York with the dealers and is exhibiting his dreamy acrylic-on-canvas landscapes. This is his art fair, too. “It’s a great place for my internship,” he said of the event.

Lisa Cooper, one of the founders of the New York–based Elisa Tucci Contemporary Art, which just opened in November, also said Art Now offers a comfortable experience for galleries new to the fair circuit, with a less intimidating atmosphere than the larger booth fairs. “It’s kind of like getting your first job,” she said. “You can’t get into the others unless you’ve already done one.” Works in her room include Rosalind Schneiders glittering mixed-media pieces created by layering ink, resin, and glass beads on digital prints of stills taken from her video works. They sport price tags ranging from $400 to $4,250, a good deal considering Schneider has been shown at major museums including the Whitney.

Baiba Morkane, of the Riga, Latvia–based Gallery Bastejs — also new to Armory week — echoed other gallerists in saying that, just a few hours into opening day, it was still too early to talk about sales. But large, ornate female nudes by Latvian artist Normunds Braslinds, priced at $3,500 to $10,000, were garnering interest. Morkane said the artist’s process includes wetting thick paper, applying ink splotches, and letting it dry before drawing on it in pencil, pastel, and charcoal.

Another gallery making its fair debut, the Los Angeles–based Found, which opened a year and a half ago, had already sold a few of New Orleans–based Keith Perellis figurative drawings and layered mixed-media and oil-on-paper paintings, unique works that cost anywhere from $400 to $7,000. The gallery’s director, Jonny Coleman, like many of the other first-timers, said he had experienced his share of challenges, including dealing with the tight time frame (there was less than a day to set up) and the hotel’s restrictions on how art could be installed. Coleman seemed to be ahead of the game, though, given that several other galleries were still frantically installing works, and some even had their doors closed, when ARTINFO visited around 3 p.m.

At Red Dot, running through Sunday a few blocks away at the Park South Hotel on E. 28th Street, both traffic and sales seemed to be moving at a steadier clip, with gallerists reporting a rush at the fair’s 11 a.m. opening.

“People have been running around, jotting down room numbers, and taking cards,” said Jeanne Vadeboncoeur from the Palo Alto, California–based Bryant Street Gallery. The gallery participated in its first fair, the Affordable Art Fair, last year. “We had a good experience there, but we were looking for something a little more selective,” Vadeboncoeur explained. She couldn’t report any sales as of yet but said she expected New Orleans–based artist Miranda Lakes encaustic-and-mixed-media collages (ranging from $750 to $1,800 in price) to sell, as well as paintings by California artists Michael Cutlip and Elise Morris.

Philadelphia’s Projects Gallery has returned for a second year at Red Dot. “We came back because we had a very successful year and a wonderful experience last year,” director Helen Meyrick said. She added that the gallery had already made a few sales, including one of Alex Querals sculptural heads carved from phone books. Projects did well with works by the same artist last year; they were priced at $750 each then but will set collectors back $1,100 this year.

The Provincetown, Massachusetts–based Rice/Polak Gallery also brought consistent performers, including Seattle artist Larry Calkins, who creates quirky clothing out of paper, cloth, wax, pigments, and soot. The clothing is hung from handmade iron hangers, and the works are priced at $1,600 to $3,200. Director Marla Rice had no sales to report as of yet, but she said Calkins's sculptures sold out at Bridge during Art Basel Miami Beach in December, and she expected them to go quickly this week, too. Rice said this is her first time at Red Dot: “I visited last year, and I thought the quality was good, so I wanted to be a part of it.”

As with most new fairs, though, the quality at both Red Dot and Art Now varies wildly from room to room, and visitors will have to sift through their share of duds to get to the most desirable works. But finding those affordable gems is the main thrill of attending smaller fairs, and there are plenty to be found between these two. San Francisco–based Buenas Artes gallery has several lower-priced works that ARTINFO admired, including Mexican-born artist Caleb Duartes charcoal-and-acrylic paintings on drywall over wood, priced around $800 to $2,000. “He has these very subtle, very tender characters living in this super-rough world, which is very realistic,” gallery director Paula Blacona said.

Hollywood-based Tinlark Gallery also boasts high-quality, affordable pieces, with perhaps the lowest-priced works at the fair: a set of playful, hand-painted coasters by emerging artist Katherine Siy, which cost just $15. Tinlark had already sold some of the coasters, as well as several of Brooks Salzwedels graphite, tape, and resin landscapes, priced between $275 and $1,600. “It’s all affordable,” gallery director Cris McCall said. “Carefully curated, affordable art—that’s what I do.”