Making Money as an Artist

We’ve all heard how tough it can be for even the most skilled artists to make a living from their profession. However, with a little work and know-how, you can pull it off and develop a pleasant, steady profession while showing your talents. In this section, we’ll go over a few quick strategies to start generating money with your work.

Improve Your Skills
As the saying goes, practise makes perfect. Even if you are very gifted, there is always potential for progress and fresh knowledge. Using new tools, experimenting with various approaches, and putting in a lot of practise time all help you come closer to your objective of generating money as an artist since they all extend what you can show the public or deliver to a customer.

Carrying a sketchbook (or possibly a tablet) and practising everyday while on the move is a terrific way to get your practise in, whether you’re focused on new skills or polishing old ones. This way, you can be certain that you’re always developing your skill and growing toward mastery (especially if you follow the 10,000-hour rule!).

Determine How to Market Your Work
One of your key aims should be to understand how to advertise your work so that others can view it (and purchase). This may be accomplished via a website portfolio, updates on your own social media accounts, or even by commenting on social media and participating in activities such as competitions or courses.

Don’t be hesitant to make your work available to the world. The more people who view your work, the more probable it is that you will create connections that will help you further your career. You could even get a commission now and again. This is something you may do at festivals, galleries, and potentially even local companies with whom you have links. In fact, all sorts of artists—musicians, filmmakers, and even dancers—should strive for maximum visibility. You never know who will witness a film show at a neighbourhood gallery, a dance performance at a Sunday festival, or a painting in a café window!

Knowing how much your work is worth is another component of promoting it. Investigate what other artists charge for comparable work, what networks they use (such as Etsy) to distribute their art to buyers, and how they get paid. Don’t undervalue yourself, either. Consider everything you put into your work, such as time, materials, shipping charges, and so on. This gets us to our next subject, which is about expenses and money.

Improve Your Financial Knowledge
It’s also crucial to educate yourself on the financial aspect of operating a company, since that’s essentially what you’re aiming to accomplish as an independent artist. If you haven’t already attended college and want to do so, a liberal studies background will usually enable you to continue your passion in arts with some practical classes in accounting and finance. You’ll learn the fundamental skills required to conduct sales and handle funds appropriately. If, on the other hand, you have already attended school or do not intend to do so, there are several online learning choices available to you, ranging from one-time college courses to YouTube lessons.

Finally, a solid grasp of money and/or accounting can help you better arrange the financial aspect of your work.

Be Organized and Disciplined
This is an excellent suggestion for any freelance-style creative work that requires the artist or creator to handle their own schedule, marketing, finances, and other responsibilities. Simply said, artists and creators benefit enormously from having stable schedules—not just at work, but in life as a whole. Independent artists should plan their time wisely. Some people like to dedicate the first three hours of the day to producing and the first two hours after lunch to business and marketing. This should help you cover your bases while still leaving some discretionary time at the end of the day to spend as required.

Just be sure you leave room for some flexibility and downtime to prevent burnout. Creators often do not have typical employment and are prone to blurring the distinctions between personal and professional time. If you find yourself working around the clock, consider including a few breaks into your weekly schedule.

Think about Teaching
You have a valuable ability that others are ready to pay to learn as an artist. You may monetize your expertise by teaching people what you know, assisting them in practise, and providing feedback, in addition to selling your work. Meanwhile, another advantage of teaching is that we often learn about our own process, ourselves, and our skill while teaching others! When students question us about topics we haven’t yet grasped, it drives us to study more. At other instances, we silently discover that we’ve been doing things incorrectly while advising others. The more you teach, the more you may discover. Isn’t it cool?

However, as previously said, make sure you know how much to charge—in this instance, for your time.

We hope that these suggestions will assist you in getting your foot in the door when it comes to selling your art and expertise! It won’t happen quickly, but if you seek genuine expertise, learn to sell your work and handle funds, and come up with new methods to benefit from your knowledge, you can just end up with your own art company in no time.