How to turn art into a living

[TheRealMP]

Personally i would like to start earning some pay off my work and get some tips on how to advertise it better to earn some money; however, this isn't about me. i love reading peoples comics and seeing them write and draw. I would like it if everyone could post tips and ways for artist to earn money and make a living so that they never have to quite their passion.
Thank you everyone.

[PixyByte]

You'd might as well have posted "How to Win The Lottery". I don't mean to sound rude, but from what I've learned from my own experiences and others, making a living off of your work is near impossible. You have to be really good, been doing it for a very long time, have a lot of luck, and some magic. However, if you're simply wanting to get some advertising out there, I'd suggest FaceBook. Make yourself a FaceBook page, if you haven't already, then send page invites to your friends and start posting stuff. Eventually you'll get a following. You won't get a huge following right off the bat, but it's good for spreading words around. Plus, FB has this feature where you can promote your page for whatever amount you want to pay, and they will advertise it for you. I've had a little luck with it.
Good luck to you

[Marshminator]

I'll throw my two cents in... well, it may be a bit more than that. And of course, this is all my own opinion- everyone has their own way of going about this stuff.

If you want to make a living off of your art it's going to take a long time to establish a following that can actually support you financially. The chances of you being able to completely live off your art is very slim, BUT, it's worth it if you can pull it off (in my humble opinion haha). If you really want to do it, then you need to start preparing now. The earlier the better, because this all takes time.

With that comes a warning...
It's good to study some business and entrepreneurship. Learn how to write a business plan, manage a budget, write proposals, and overall improve and hone your professional appearance (virtually and in person). Study trends and see what's working and what's not. However, don't let your business side of things restrict your artwork.

I know in the first few years of starting my business I was too focused on following a specific style and look before I had really mastered my skills, and everything I made suffered for it. I didn't give myself room to experiment or try new things.

So I guess.... what I'm trying to say is: Don't worry about making money right now. Try to establish a following for your art. Create goals for the next year, the 5 year mark, and your 10 year mark. I don't know where you stand as far as your skills and how comfortable you are with them, but put your stuff out there and get critiques and feedback. Get honest opinions from people who aren't your friends. I know a lot of people who started selling their work because friends told them to, and then guess who never bought their artwork? The friends who told them to start selling it in the first place. So it's important to get feedback from people you don't know, to get a better unbiased perspective. However, don't lose sight of your own vision!

Start a Facebook, a Tumblr, a Twitter- get out there! Worry about the money once you've established yourself as an artist.

One nifty bit of info someone shared with me last year /I think?/ was related to Kickstarter, and it's something that's stuck with me since. They said it a lot more eloquently than I ever can, but here:
If you want to run a successful Kickstarter, assume that every follower you have will donate one dollar. So if you need to raise $20,000 - you should have 20,000 followers.

It's not an exact science, but it gives you somewhere to start.

[shazzbaa]

Spike Trotman, who does make a living on art, did an excellent comic about exactly this:

http://spikedrewthis.tumblr.com/post/64136324548/this-is-everything-i-know-a-24-hour-comic-about

[TennaShoe]

@PixyByte
Alil surprised by the lack of tips.

Anyway.

I've been doing freelance for 10 years, most actively for the last 3.

Find your audience. I don't recommend doing the facebook sharing with friends and family thing. That's what you do when you're doing it as a hobby. Unless your FB is full of LinkedIn people.

Your audience isn't meant to find you as much as you're meant to find them. A forum, art gallery website, etc is a good start. Its how I started. I started through GaiaOnline. I used to draw for the in game currency. It taught me about customer service without any real loss. I was in highschool, so it was fine when it went wrong or got a problem client. It also taught me how to juggle school, a job, and art at the same time.

As well, you could be networking all you want, but if you are doing it at a place that isn't as interested in your style or interests, you can't expect to find work. Do a bit of research.

Build up samples or a portfolio on what you'd like to do. Having a clear cut idea of what a client will get is best. Neither of you probably have a lot of time to discuss art "what ifs". Don't only choose your 'best work' but what you feel you can do on a day to day basis. One major flaw of some freelance artists is they offer commissions and their portfolio is all stuff they spent 20+ hours on and its their own OCs or whatnot. They won't have that much heart in something they don't own. Doing a few art trades can build a proper sample page.

Make loyal friends and fans. Not friends you already have. New ones that fell in love with your new freelance self. Never expect old friends to invest and advertise for you. They aren't getting paid. This is your job.

Be the person you want to be remembered for. Draw what you want people to remember you for. If you turn your tumblr, facebook, or whatever into your business, if you're going to post personal stuff on it, be a bit more careful. Don't annoy your watchers with spam.

Price yourself well. If you're getting a huge flood of commissions, chances are, your too cheap. If you're not getting enough, you might be too expensive. Being too cheap could also mean you don't have confidence. Its a bit of a gamble. Just average yourself on a per hour basis or what you would pay for your own quality of work. You can change prices whenever you want. Just not on someone that you're already working for. They don't like that.

Communicate with your clients. Ever buy groceries and have awkward silence for the whole transaction? Don't do that. They're spending money on art. This is a blessing to you and for them. Help them feel good about choosing you over the countless artists out there.

Create a terms of service. Don't let people cheat you out. Create a brand of yourself.

I built my audience through GaiaOnline. I then moved to two freelance forums. One was more business (like web, advertising, business card work) and the other was FAF. I get a lot of my work through Twitter now. Hashtags are important. Who you follow is important. Ask for RTs when you open for a commission type.

I make roughly 5-10k a year on commissions. I could make more, but I need breaks. I already have other work to do and freelance is part time by choice.

An artist could burn themselves out. Its also very important to keep up with in person social skills and moving around. Not making it full time has kept me from becoming unhealthy.

[iamABLE]

@TennaShoe awesome advice senpai

[iamABLE]

Good read and... so true

[cedric]

I began doing freelance illustration while still in art school. After graduation I held down part time jobs for another 2-1/2 years before going full time. That was over 15 year ago. If you want the simplistic bare-bones answer, I think it comes down to mastering three basic things:

1. Skill (or talent, whichever term you prefer). One thing I think all successful artists have in common is that they excel at their craft. Not that they aren't still learning and improving, but they have reached a level of consistent quality in their work.

2. Business skills. You don't have to start wearing a tie but you do have to educate yourself about the basics of marketing, networking, financial planning, time-management, self-promotion, etc. Not as hard or intimidating as it sounds, but very necessary. Also, many artists fear it will be smother their creativity but I've found the opposite to be true. In my experience as you get better at these things it frees you up to spend time being creative.

3. Persistence/Patience/Time. Most likely it will take years before you reach a level where you can draw pictures for a living full-time. Unless you are exceptionally talented, or take a staff job somewhere, I don't know of any overnight short cuts to making a living as a self-employed artist. It's a slow build.

I hope that helps. If you will pardon the shameless plug, a couple of years ago I did a webinar called "Freelancing Tips and Tricks" where I shared a lot of the things I've learned over my career. You can watch it here for only ten bucks: http://taughtbyapro.com/course/be-your-own-boss-freelancing-tips-tricks/

Cheers!

[PixyByte]

Hey, I gave my opinion and some tips. I haven't been at this for a while so I'm still searching for tips myself. Just trying to help someone out, sorry if I didn't have enough tips to share.

[TennaShoe]

It was slight sarcasm because lottery, luck and magic were involved.

xD

[kambreapratt]

I am going to point out something here. Look carefully at who you think is "making a living" on comics. We've found that a lot of people are "making a living" and publicly going on how they do it full time, but when you look into it you find out they have a spouse or a partner who has a good job and pays most of the bills. So they do make comics full time, but that doesn't mean they are making enough to live on. I know some "big" webcomickers have flat out said their spouse had a good job and they lived on that while they built up their comic. I know of one person who had a spouse that had a very lucrative career and that creator now does art full time, but they can because they convinced other people to follow and support them on the assumption that the creator was poor and making a living from comics. It wasn't true.

My point is. Look into it because a lot of times it isn't so simple, but it really isn't impossible.

My biggest piece of advice is have multiple income streams. Advertising, Patreon, Shows, Freelance, etc. It can totally be done (FOR REAL) but don't put all your eggs into one basket.
I also 100% agree with having some business knowledge. Take a class or get some books out of the library. Give yourself some kind of edge.

Or you could always draw porn. That seems to pay better.

[RewindLabs]

I think at the end of the day, the most logical option is to get a stable job for income, comfortability, then focus on my personal projects when I get back home. With time management skills and efficiency, your workflow rate would be a lot higher.

[TennaShoe]

I know of one person who had a spouse that had a very lucrative career and that creator now does art full time, but they can because they convinced other people to follow and support them on the assumption that the creator was poor and making a living from comics. It wasn't true.

This.
Most creative jobs are like that. Even things like theater. Even the most steady contract freelance still can result in just being temporary.

Making a living off your art is a stretch, but you can most certainly do it part time much easier than full time. If single.

+1 to business knowledge, or at least have worked in customer service, because freelance is basically customer service. Except you make the product instead of find it on the shelf.

[StevenDacasin]

Or you could always draw porn. That seems to pay better.

Hmmm...seems plausible.

But i highly agree with you. In a oversaturated market its next to impossible to make a living solely on comics. That's why other means of income need to be taken in when trying to "make a living off comics". Seriously the standard of living just keeps getting higher and it almost seems like you have to focus on a full time job 100% or you will starve.

[Doubtcent]

This is great advice. I mean, really great advice.
I personally have just started working on my art for a year and have just recently gotten to the point that I can say "Hey, maybe I can start doing commissions!"

However, even yesterday, I've told myself to wait another year before actually asking for work because I really don't have that much of a following, and it'll be some time before it becomes anything close to profitable.

I believe having a goal ahead of you is useful in starting an art career. Right now I tell myself, "I'll give it another year before I can earn 20 bucks a month from this." Currently, I'm doing my best to get better in many different art fields, with animation, comics, writing, podcasts, animatics, etc., just so I'm not a one-trick pony and begin increasing my range and professionalism.

So my art journey that I've planned so far is something like this:

Freshman year - completed. Earned $0 - skill has improved. 175 subs.

Sophomore year - current. Earned $0.01 - skill has improved, growing slowly in social media presence. Current Goal: Earn around 300 subs by the end of the year.

Junior year - planning. Hope to earn $100 total. Skill should improve. Have proper work schedule and increase social media presence. Earn around 500+ subs. Create Patreon.

Senior year - Earn $30+ per month. Have 1000+ subs.

Graduation - Start commissions. Earn anything. ???? subs.

[TennaShoe]

Somehow the whole earning per month thing reminded me...

You gotta add a whole new form of taxes once you start making money off of your art. I think the amount starts at 200 or 500$ for that year. So if you did make 100$ total for your junior year, I don't think you have to file taxes. But once you start earning 30$ per month, its tax time.

So, an addition to business knowledge, understanding how self employed do taxes is another thing to add to the list. The only nice thing is that you can add work related purchases as deductions. Including internet bill.

@vincentprendick
Even if you don't have that much of a following, you can build it by doing commissions. When I started at FAF, I only had one follower from dA. In a way, it was kind of liberating because it was a whole new slate. I'd not completely abandon the idea.

Subs don't always translate to potential clients is why I say this. They sub because they like your comic, story or art. They're used to getting to read your comic for free and its a gamble on weather or not they'd become a patreon or future client. You could have 10 subs and get 6 clients, or you could have 900 and still only have 6. Depending on how fast you work, this could be a good or bad thing.

I built a following in a couple places, but it was incredibly difficult to get those loyal people to support for currency. I learned never to expect that out of them or anyone and it made it much easier for me.

I've built over 900+ followers and I always have a full list of 8+ clients. I would say its possible to do the same. Just got to find the right place the would adore what you do.

Ex: Posting human art on a furry gallery site. Posting non game art on a game forum. Posting furry art on a non furry site. These things don't easily mesh.