I must say that I have a really hard time to find clients to work with, even with commissions. So seeing all your tips guys is really appreciated. 
I'm intruigued ; if people do conventions, how many do you do per year ? I think I'm going to attend some conventions one day all alone, I still have problems to do it.
Also, I saw some people talking about Patreon. I do have a Patreon too, I think it's a really nice way to support someone you like !
@getsuart I've done at most 2 cons a year - usually just one. Partly because there aren't a massive amount of cons in Sweden, and partly because of the expense and work involved; it costs money to book tables and print things and get to and from the con with all your stuff, etc. And then there's all the time it takes to get things printed and book the table and arrange transport and whatnot.
It's a whole lot of fun, but kind of exhausting! If at all possible, you should have someone there with you at your table so that you can take breaks. You'll need them!
Oh okay, I thought you were doing 3 or 4 cons, I was a little bit amazed !
Yes, usually we do only one con with my friends, but I think that if i want to hum... have more chance to be seen, I must do a lot more than one con, even if it's the biggest one in France. But yeah, it means a lot of works too !
That's also why I'm afraid to do it "all alone", with a booth only dedicated to my story ; I've always been in a group on a booth ! Maybe there's nothing to worry about, and just go and do it ! (and taking someone with me too)
Anyway, thanks for the tips again ! i'm going to check this topic often, it's really useful
Sure, I first made it big on the site by winning the TMNT challenge with this one:
Then I won the 'science' challenge with this:
And also got a print in the Simpsons challenge with this:
I also got a few other prints inbetween.
I started just taking part in the challenges because it's kinda like doing fanart, except it's legit. Where else can unknown artists legitimately get a chance to have a go at IPs like Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Spider-Man etc? But then I loved doing it so much I just started submitting to the regular, open challenge. I never really followed any trends, but I also never really try to 'break the rules' of tee design either. And I always endeavour to make tees that I actually want to wear. I've found I've had much more success with that attitude in every creative pursuit I've ever done.
As to your last question, I've submitted about 60, and got 5 prints, so about a print every 12 or so, which is pretty good I think, but nowhere near as much as some of the big Threadless legends. Here's my profile10 page, if you're interested in checking it out.
i got a 9to5 job drawing stuff for a childrens play manufacturer! Its pays for the mortgage and my whole way of life! This job is like unicorn poop ... very rare! And I'm very grateful. But of course i do sometimes to do commissions and the like to fund my creative projects since most on my wage is tied up in running a house and 2 cars
That's pretty awesome!
When I think of making money from webcomics, I do think of merchandizing as being one of the "no-brainer" options. Have you considered t-shirt designs for your comic that may be more, I guess, graphically focused as to being accessible for non-fans of your comics and putting it up on threadless?
That's great! I love to hear about creators with jobs directly related to their crafts. Do you ever find yourself burnt out from 9 to 5 that you sort of don't want to do your webcomics on certain nights? How do you deal with hand cramps? This is something that I've been thinking about more lately - it's kind of like how pro-athletes have a certain age where they're forced to retire since their bodies just can't handle the workload. There are certain ways to prolong a career, i.e. taking it easier, not playing that many minutes, stretching, and focusing on post game recovery. So are there any specific things that you do after your 9 to 5 that helps you keep going in terms of drawing longer?
It's an interesting concept - like, I feel as if the return on investment for most cons isn't REALLY worth it. It's definitely not scalable. BUT, I do think that brand awareness and just getting yourself out there and talking to people in person about your art/story/craft is a really important experience for every artist.
Sorry for delayed response, been busy and forgot I had a response to do for this thread.
It's hard to say, it's really dependent on how many conventions, what types of conventions, and what types of prints you plan on selling (is it fan art or original art) What worked best for me was just going to them, then I would know better next year what did and did not work or how much I would generally need. Finding a good printer to do prints is highly recommended though.
As for the prices usually the average is around 5$ for 8 x 11 prints, and 10 - 20$ for poster prints. (At least those are the prices on this side of my country, this could be different in other countries or and even in other parts of Canada)
'Your Character Here' auctions are basically when an artist will draw poses or scenes with characters, but the characters will not have very many features or look blank or kind of mannequin like. They'll then post these poses as auctions, and followers or people looking for commissions will bid for the pose (if they want it) and if they have the highest bid, will have them/their character drawn there. You need to have a pretty strong fanbase of people willing to pay for commissions to pull it off, but they are pretty good if you are able to get them going.
Yes, I do, which causes a problem for buyers and deters them from buying stuff and/or sending me complaints about shipping prices. This is especially true for customers in the USA who are used to 'free shipping' deals, or cheaper in country shipping prices. There nothing I can do to change shipping prices from my country though.
The devilry of being able to make money on my own comics are sparse. I've been published in a comic magazine, which helped a little bit, but that's a while ago now so the only money I make off my own comics are at comic cons/festivals. I'm also published on Comixology3, but that's only in the beginning, hoping it will grow. I've also just started a Patreon with my comic Zak&Ting.5 I hope that one day I'll be famous and loved by all! To be loved by all, I need to meet people and I do that by doing educational work in schools and libraries. Hopefully the awesome kids at my workshops like me, remember me and make sure to get a good job when they grow up, and buy comics. My comics.
Long term plan, anyone? 
I do some illustration work, but it usually pays pretty badly. I just turned down a contract for a childrens book because it was an absolute rubbish deal, just not worth the work. I make sure to have at least some integrety. I always ask myself: Will this be a thorne in my side to do for this amount of money?
So, yeah, I don't make a lot of money off the art/comics itself so my confidence is a bit so so at times 
but when I'm telling stories I'm having fun at least.
Ah, well we have 2 illustrators are working so the workload is shared. Plus a lot of my work is paperwork, and copy and paste from old themes I've done.
I actually do a lot of office exercises naturally and get up and walk, thou I have got repetitive strain once or twice then I take breaks and do some graphic design or other office jobs.
As for creative burnout, I learnt to avoid it at work years ago by doing two projects at once and flitting between them, also a lot of my work is production based graphic so its quite varied to my own private illustrations.
What I think is the best way, if you do digital art, is stock art. You can sell illustrations, photographs, vectors, videos, music and editorial photos doing this. Some only give you a commission of 25 cents, but this means it can be sold many more times and can get you exposure in the art community.
Well I guess I'm sorta lucky. I get paid by an art organization to draw for them. Last month I drew peoples portraits for an event. Its localised to where I live so I guess I'm lucky that way.
For commissions, well that's pretty dry to be honest. People say I charge to little, but when I charge more they don't want to know. I guess its my own fault for not promoting more... Oops
Generally you've got to try to scramble together money from multiple sources of income so generally take into account that small things can amount to a lot. Personally I make most of my money selling commissions on art hosting sites via paypal which is relatively simple to get going if you have a small following (and don't worry paypal is pretty easy to use too) and through ads such as google adsense and on other sites! I would definitely advise looking into getting a donations box via paypal or even a patreon!
GOOD LUCK AND CONGRATULATIONS!!
Awesome topic! I was lloking for a tshirt site like Threadless for a while. We had a french one called La fraise who closed last year.
I'll be trying that because it's an easy way.
Otherwise I haven't made much money with my art so far apart from ads of course!
Quietly begging and subtle guilting.
Really though, there are a variety of ways I have dealt with generating money off my work. Every now and then I might present a physical copy of a series in limited quantity and sell them. Other times I'm found out by others via my constant slamming into various communities like a meteor spam which is turn leads to me being requested on projects or personal commissions. Most of the time I am just given donations.
Granted, monetizing off my work is not my end goal so I'm not as driven to go out of my way, set on ad revenues or contact publishers actively. Still, every now and then it is pleasant just passively being given an offering. The main point is it's just me being active and finding the various ways to just raise my arms high enough in the crowd to be seen now and again.
Wow, great thread, so many good ideas!
Here's my two cents...
The most of the money I've made with my art were gigs I landed in sites like Upwork12 (the old oDesk).
There you can search for jobs that interest you (say, for instance "children's book illustration") and apply for them. Once you do a good job, people will recommend you and and raise your "grade" and you'll get invited to a bunch of stuff and so on.
Of course, there is the bad part: it is hard to get reasonably well paid. Most of the clients are interested in cheap jobs, and since they can choose, they'll be likely to choose the cheapest. Since I was living in Brazil, where the currency is weak compared to the dollar, that was ok for me then - because when converted I'd get twice the value. But you might have to accept some very poor offers at the beginning, so that you can build a name.
The other big thing, if you're a beginner, is: you will not get to draw what you want. In fact, most of the gigs I landed weren't remotely fun to start with. For instance, these drawings I've made for a rug shop:
There were, like, 16 just like this one. Were they fun to make? Nope. Am I proud of the result? Not really. Did I learn anything with them? Possibly not.
The payment was decent, though.
And this is the really nice thing about this work-for-hire experience: you learn how to behave professionally.
It's not always fun and rewarding. It's a job, like any other, but one you happen to be good at, and let's face it, no matter how boring the drawings you have to make are, they're still better than many other jobs.
At the same time, I have a comic7 here in Tapastic that gets me almost no money at all. But I love it so. It is so rewarding to talk to my readers and to see this story I'm telling be unfolded, a page at a time...
What I mean is that you need this part, too. You need to find your balance. I guess we are all searching for the same thing, huh?
Nice article . If you wish to get the best way to make money online from home without any investment , then you have to take a look this link : http://bit.ly/1RsAEWO6 .
When it comes to art, most of my income comes from adoptable on DeviantArt (a sort of you design the character, people buy the character and use it for their story/needs. Here be my DA8 in case you want to check how that works) It's a very fun way to exercise your design ability I love doing it for the sole reason of designing character one after another. Although it can be a long process till you can get noticed in the adoptable world to actually have people buying your things. This is also the same with commission, which is my other way of making money off of my art.
I don't use my comic as a mean of making money (not to say I'm quite new in the comic community). I do it because I love telling story and love getting reaction out of people when they read my story. Also comic is a mean for me to get myself out there and get to know more people : " )
This topic is so important for artists and creators. How do you make money off your art? It is a question that needs to be continually addressed because the answer varies greatly from artist to artist and is constantly evolving. That's why ArtSpark is excited to launch an online course supporting artists and creators to discover their own path to success. We invite artists and creators to become part of the ArtSpark community and develop business skills that will support creative activities so that YOU can makes a living on your own terms. Learn more and spread the word! https://www.patreon.com/ArtSpark4
I use Patron and online stores like Redbubble and Society6 to make money, though I don't make much. I am going to start selling merchandise in a different way soon, like going to comic cons and selling original stuff at a storefront site like Tictal or BigCartel, also zines and contest!
I have a lot of ways! Here they are!
And I'm going to start streaming on Twitch soon too which can be monetized I hear. Doing everything at once can create a pretty strong income if you work constantly and really hustle. >w<)/
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