It is a cliche but true that one must love what they do and not be looking for a way to make money. Many artists get caught up in the “starving artist” trap and end up quitting their day job to pursue their art only to find that money is still hard to come by.
But there are other ways to skin the cat, so to speak. Professional artists have been working successfully for many years so perhaps they have something to teach us. I recently had an opportunity to talk with some of these professionals and ask them how they manage. You can read the original blog here: How Do Artists Make A Living?
The first thing you need is a day job. If you want to make a living as an artist, then you must plan on having a regular source of income even if you are doing nothing but creating art. Having extra time and money will allow you more opportunities for success and more time for creative endeavors.
This means that you will need two jobs, but it does not mean that you will be working twice as hard or twice as much!
Artists can turn their day job into tools for making art, such as using their cubical at work as space for brainstorming or painting at work when it is slow or
Artists make a living by doing what they love. In order to do that, artists need to know how to market themselves, which means they have to know how the art world works.
I’m a professional artist who has been making a living from my art since I was 25 years old. I have a BFA in 3-D design and have worked as an artist for over 30 years. I’ve also had shows at NY galleries such as Haunch of Venison and The Gallery at Hermes. My work has been featured in many fine art magazines.
Tropicana Products commissioned one of my paintings for their corporate headquarters lobby in St. Petersburg, Florida, and they also included one of my paintings in the Tropicana Collection of Prints from the Whitney Museum of American Art.
I don’t want another struggling artist to think there is no hope for them. I want all artists to learn about how the art world really works so they can make a living from their passion and creativity.
There are many great artists that have made it. They are not just a few, but many. The number of fine artists that have made it is many times greater than the number not making it. Just because there are more people trying to do this does not mean that there is more of an opportunity for failure. To be a successful artist you must be able to make a living with your art, and that means that you must make your art pay for itself, and sometimes even more than just paying the bills.
There are a number of really good ways to make money as an artist. They all require that you not only be an artist, but be organized and disciplined about your art. This is why artists don’t always make a living. They are artists who are not organized and disciplined about the business of being an artist.
There is nothing wrong with being an undisciplined or lazy artist, but it limits your options. The best option for the successful artist is to make a living by selling your art for cash or barter. If you want to be successful at selling your art, you need to do something else besides make art. You need to figure out how to get your art in front of the people who will buy it.
While the internet provides more opportunities than ever before, it still takes effort to have an online presence and promote yourself effectively. However, if you are interested in learning more about this topic I recommend checking out this site:
http://www.entrepreneurartistsolutionsllc.com/
This blog is all about how to make money as an artist and other creative people. We will be discussing topics like making money as a creative person, how to start a creative business, and how to be successful in the arts. We will also be reviewing books and products that can help you succeed.
In my years of working with artists, I have read a ton of information about the “make a living as an artist” issue and here is what I have learned.
It is not about finding a new audience for your art. It is about finding a new way to monetize your hard work. If you are interested in learning more, please contact me at jennifer@proartacademy.com or call me at (805) 467-8135.
We make the living from our art. Obviously we do it in a different way than by selling pieces, but we’re not trying to sell all of them anyway. We’re selling a few each month, and some of them are on commission.
Titling this blog “Making Art Profitable” would be misleading, because that’s not the point. Also, I don’t believe that making art profitable is necessarily a good idea. Making an income from art is just one option among many; I think it should be pursued, but only if you love the income more than what you would do with the time otherwise. And even then it might not be worth your while to get into the business of making art more profitable than it needs to be. But this is my blog, so I get to set my own agenda…
We’ve been working on this blog since December 2015, and haven’t updated it as frequently as we’d like. We are going to change that starting January 2018!