This is going to sound harsh, but if you want to work freelance, you are going to have to market yourself somehow. It's not my favorite thing to do either and I know a whole load of freelance artists to whom it doesn't come naturally, but still force ourselves to do it because it's necessary to survive. Personnally I try and do it in the ways that are easiest to me (make my own stories and illustrations and then sell products based on them online and at salons, which means that I can draw what I want and to my own standards, downside is it won't necessarily sell). Not wanting to get into social media because you can predict it'll negatively affect your mental health is a good thing to know but it does make freelancing really difficult.

There are alternatives, neither of which seem ideal from what you've said your values are.

One is to keep sending out portfolios to get a salaried art job. Work for an art company, i.e. artist at a game company, background painter for animation, on call illustrator for a publisher or others depending on your skillset and speciality. It means getting essentially a 9 to 5 but where you draw for other people all day. You've already worked in the industry and were well liked, but your issue was setting your boundaries. That's something you can learn and gets easier over time as you gain expertise and a sense of self-worth, so I'd personnally say that continuing looking for work and if you can, go to therapy to help yourself learn how to set and maintain a healthy work/life balance to see burnout coming and know when to rest to avoid it could be good for you.

The other is to accept that your values are solid but inflexible, you feel like if you try to bend them they will fracture, even in the case of the previous option. This means that in this current market, you cannot earn money from your art because that in itself goes against your core values. This means that to survive you'll have to find a paying job unrelated to art and keep art as a hobby you're very invested in (which is what many artists in fields like comic books do anyway because their field does not allow them to earn a living wage from that alone).

None of these choices are ideal, but in the current state they're the only choices other than homelessness and starvation.I hope you can do some soul searching and find what you really want to do and if you're willing to compromise for that. In the end, it comes down to you, your needs and wants.

Have you tried making art locally or for festivals? It can be very difficult to market and garner a space on the internet/social media especially.

But locally, you may be able to gain a following for yourself and produce the artwork you want and see who's interested in it if you're unable to put a price on your work (i suggest pricing work similar to the other artists). Of course, going the festival/convention route has its own challenges.

I agree with what @moontokkym. Many creatives aren't good with marketing or are very introverted, but they make it work for them in a way where they can be comfortable. Also, SEO marketing can be rewarding if you take the time to learn how to trigger it. I'm trying to learn that myself

Freelance artist making a living out of art. I'll try not to be harsh and provide advice.

Starting from pleasure, enjoyment or boredom to do art is not a bad start, it may be a bit dificult if your only motive is one of these things, because sometimes that means you don't have to be harsh on yourself, be strict and apply self-discipline, even more than the aids from outside (teachers, a boss, etc)

A common thing that I notice between creatives is this need to tell stuff that brings them emotion, that it has to be theirs, that they have to like it otherwise they cannot work on something, even if payment is involved. A lot are a bit way too stuck on their own ego that they rather end up doing nothing and wasting opportunities just because there isn't enough creative freedom for them.

Personally, I'm the type that says: If the client wants a pink elephant with purple dots, then the clients gets a pink elephant with purple dots.
No buts, don't care if I like the idea or not, if I'm getting paid then that's all that matters, client makes corrections, don't care if it doesn't follow my personal artistic values or knowledge, client is right if that means I finish early so I can get paid and move onto the next paid gig.

Don't get me wrong, is totally amazing to try to get your own brand out there, your own stories and all, but usually those don't pay the bills, responsability comes before one's pleasure. Because without money you can't buy the things that give you pleasure in the first place.

When you want to make a living in the industry there are times that you cannot be picky about types of work, ideas, personal interest, especially if you're not getting any stable income to begin with.Your values and believes mean nothing if you cannot even feed your stomach to think about them.

Work is no different from school, you have to do projects, investigation, tasks and many other things that you don't like, but they are your obligation, responsability, and there is an actual goal/reward compared when you do your own stuff but don't aim anything besides passionately finishing something.

Sounds to me, that you're the one that needs to reconsider or at least be a bit more flexible with your values and beliefs, if you don't think you can change, then, you won't change, and nothing around you will change nor improve your situation.

If you end up burning yourself then you'll need to reconsider the amount of energy you put in work, this is where things begin to shift compared to school.
Back then, all of us were told to aim for perfect grades, perfect scores and yadda yadda. But when it comes to work that's not necessary, doing extra work is a bit meaningless, is either being taken advantage of or simply people not realizing the extra energy you're putting into things. So of course, that means you need to moderate the energy, the focus, relax a bit and just do things until the feel right, not perfect.

Not knowing what to do and be conflicted doesn't mean you're not being an adult, just that you've cultivated an idea about things without realizing how things actually work. Which happens to everybody once they step on a new lifestage for the very first time.
I won't know what you mean by getting hurt, but just as you failed tests, homework, boardgames, etc. You stood up each time and learned, if you give up then welp, that's the end of the line and whatever you think would come next is meaningless if you don't want to try anymore, which is fine. A lot of people study something all their lives just to realize that in fact they wanted to do something different, or that their calling is not that specific thing.

Honestly... This is going to hurt but you won't always be able to put love in your work, sometimes, in order to get pay, in order to deliver something, you'll need to follow instructions and finish the work, you don't have to love nor like every piece you make. And that's the real way to be useful, because when you're working for another which would be the case most of the time if you seek this as a career, people want the product of the service you're providing, that doesn't mean that you'll only be stuck doing works for others, adults multitask and artists too, so you can have both works you love and works that require you to be professional.

I wonder if you apply this mindset to everything you do... not trying something out of fear to do it badly. From success you may learn, from theory you may have an idea of what may happen, but only by trial and error you get the real answers to later use as resource to enhance the next time you try.
And about the human value, that is an overexaggeration. If it is man-crafted then it already has human value, don't let your personal views of what an artist should be get in the way, because that means you also consider other people's work of less human value based on your personal preferences, morals and such.

I don't understand the fear of social media either, I have never related to that fear. Those are individuals who only give visibility to your content, without attention you can't expect others to care about your work and pay for it. Sounds to me that is not like you're unable, you simply don't want to. There is people who are themselves and there are others who build up personas, not everyone has an incredible active and parasocial community, some people have healthy or distant followers, the only thing they do is like and share and sometimes leave a comment.

It is weird, feels like you have self-steem issues but also assume that you're somehow going to blow up in popularity at the point of everything being out of your control, which in the mayority of cases is not what happens. You're filling your head with scenarios and stressing over them, instead of focusing on the now and improvise something creative to solve your current problems.

I don't know how it's the mindset wherever you live, but where I am from is all about making sure to make a living to live. Many don't straight up send themselves into creative careers because not for a reason they are known for not being successully immediate. Many had plan A, B and C planned. Be it already having a part-time job while studying, studying a career that guarantees more chances of being hired and so on.

Right now your focus should be getting a new job, continue to apply or study a fast career that gets you a job the second you get the title (Like hairdressing, cleaning services, babysitting, elder assistance, gardening, etc).
If you're desperate for money then you'll need to figure out a way to set a price and do commissions because otherwise you'll end up without cake and without bread.

This guide I made about pricing commissions may give you an idea.

I echo what a lot of people have said if you want to make money doing any type of art, you have to market yourself. I know its hard for introverted people, but if no one knows about your work - they won't pay for it.

The biggest piece of advice that I've learned in trying to sell my writing is to have a plan. You can't rely on one source/platform to earn an income. I have my work on several platforms plus have a couple of t-shirt shops for merch. Different platforms have different rates of pay and different audience traffic. If your work isn't suited to the platform's niche, you aren't going to make fast money.

But above all - you have to remember that earning money online and building your brand takes time. Sometimes, all you will earn for the month is coffee money, but the next month, you'd earn more.

Around where I live, they have these huge old warehouses converted into tiny art studios, usually a couple dozen artists working under the same roof. The studios host regular events and activities to entice shoppers to come and check out the art. A lot of the artists there apply to every grant imaginable, try to do shows and galleries, probably supplement some of their earnings with art classes. It feels like a lifestyle that's a lot more similar to what you would want, because most of them just create these weird works of art that are obviously just a product of their fancy. Sculptures out of drift wood, articles of clothes pressed into resin, paintings of landscapes that use the texture of the wood they're painted on as part of the image, whatever. It doesn't feel like most of them do a whole lot of online marketing - I mean, obviously having a huge instagram following is the dream, but they obviously make do without. Going there during events is always fun because all these people want to do is talk about art and their process; it's clearly something that consumes them.

I'm wondering if this is something you can explore and see if it's more to your liking? I assume this sort of lifestyle is very precarious and probably involves having to develop a VERY easy-going attitude about your future. But every artist I know who toils in one of those studios absolutely loves the life choice they made.

My other artist friends and myself just hold down like 3-4 part-time jobs. Finding auxiliary/on-call work is actually great because you can piece-meal your schedule to make the bare minimum to survive, and then focus on the art to make up the difference in the quality of life. If your art work dries up, you can lean more heavily into the on-call stuff, if you get a huge lucrative art project going, you can back off from the other jobs. Look of government (any level) work because they usually pay the best and have an interest in giving their on-call staff work experience, so you can expect at least a couple days a week of income. So you don't feel completely beholden to selling art just to survive; but the art is still an important focus of your life.

The goal of art for profit is to make whatever sell and the goal of art as craft what you personally love, and often times, the two are in opposition.

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I spent a decade of my life studying and working in the fine arts field because I loved the arts and wanted to be a curator. I did pretty well-- curated and exhibited at a few large spaces. But I also really hated it. I was burnt out, I was angry, and I had imposter syndrome from constantly thinking people are "judging" me/my work. Once I started working on my comic and made some unrelated life changes, I just dropped out completely. I'm so much happier doing my little comic and working at a random job on the side because I know Im doing it for myself and no one else.

Art doesn't need to be your career. It's ok to make what you love and not make any money or get famous off of it. It's also ok to freelance now and then for a little bit of money. The only metric of success is ultimately whether you're happy.

But if you do want art as a full-time career, you will need to practice a lot, market yourself, and make sacrifices. You shouldn't have to, but thats the way the system is. The only way to not feel overwhelm is find/start a supportive community; I have a few friends in the animation industry and the best part of the job for them isnt the actual drawing, but the people. I felt the same when I was doing the fine arts stuff. In addition, it's very empowering to join/form a union at work and in general advocate for your health and pay.

Overworking yourself is sometimes an issue of undervaluing yourself as well. You feel like your work isnt good enough so you keep pushing. Try to remind yourself that your company hired you for a reason, that you are skilled.

Portfolio
+ offline local customers
+ connect / network with local illustrators
= 100% success

When it comes to working professionally, you'll often have to make a hard decision between spending all your time drawing what clients ask for and seeking clients... and getting some sort of well-paying day job and being your own patron so you can draw what you want.

I've personally done both. I started as the former and did it for a number of years, freelancing as an illustrator and games artist... and then I switched to the latter because I just couldn't take the sheer stress of constantly seeking clients, managing finances, and never getting to have creative control of what I was making. Now I work in edutainment part time to pay my bills so I can make a comic which isn't extremely lucrative, but that I enjoy and that allows me to develop my work as a storyteller and my personal brand.

There is a holy grail of making your own stuff and making money off it, but I know only a handful of people who are able to do that, often people lucky enough that the thing they want to make happens to be something very fashionable that they got in early on on just the right platform, and they constantly feel financially precarious, worrying at the slightest downturn in readership, or fretting that while their current project may be popular... can the next one be the same? Are they pinned to a single genre or series? They also spend a huge chunk of their time marketing and selling their work; even the ones with agents and publishers these days, in the social media age, are expected to promote their stuff themselves as part of the agreement. So it's not necessarily the perfect life people think it might be.

The first important thing to always have as a mantra is "I am not a failure". Not making a lot of money off art is normal, and you have to bear in mind that for the sake of getting clients and not having clients underpay us, all professionals have to talk like we're more successful and making more money than we are. Realistically, most comic creators I know who make money off their comics, like even the ones who are pretty popular and up in the tens of thousands of subs, have a part-time-job. A lot of them do things like supporting on other comics, working as designers or art teachers, doing admin for comics companies etc. Or they at least do a lot of commissions on the side. So when making goals, be realistic about what normal "success" looks like, or what's an actual achievable goal.

Second important thing is... if you want your art and comics to make money, you have to market them, and you have to do market research and make something that'll appeal to the platform you're aiming for and market it in a way that highlights how well it suits that readership. If you absolutely don't want to do that, you should get a day job to pay the bills and do art as a passion project. It sucks... but the people who succeed are usually either people with a knack for selling things, or people who have (often grudgingly) learned that marketing skillset. If doing it just makes you miserable, you are not a less valid artist, or a failure, for choosing a lifestyle where you prioritise making art in a way that makes you happy.

Final important thing: Your life as an artist will be long, and it'll go through ups and downs. It's not as simple as you break in in your early twenties and then boom, become a full-time pro, and if you don't, you've failed. If you need to do a job for a while, there's no shame in it. Take on small art jobs, build a network of small clients and a reputation in your community, try things out and do what you need to survive. Don't compare yourself to peers who might have a big job right now; the wheel of fortune is always turning, and I've seen people who got some massive high-profile comics job at an early age hit rock bottom immediately after it because they did nothing but work on that huge job for a few years, thinking it would just lead to more work naturally, not interacting with smaller clients at all... and then they finish it and there's nothing, they're just cast adrift. Some people are just small potatoes until their thirties and then suddenly get a big graphic novel contract. These things happen, so just go with the flow, keep going and do what works for you. It's not a competition, so think of pro artists as friends and allies, not rivals to be jealous of.

The starving artist is a trope that benefits those who want to discourage others from making, creating and inevitably discovering and pushing boundaries. It upsets the status quo if too many people think they don't have to 'work hard to survive'.

Socialist theory aside, there are many avenues to being a successful creative - when you take a step back and have a look at what 'success' means to you. Is it working less days and more for other hobbies, or is it not having to worry about the 'business side' of things and paint 7 days a week, or is it to be a famous artist making millions? These all require different skill sets and approaches/resources.

Take some time looking at artists you admire, do similar things to you, or respect, and see what they're saying about their goals/sacrifices for their dream - maybe they're full time, maybe art is the hobby to their other career, maybe they only make commission work and have no time for their own art so they can pay the bills, maybe creating their own art means they have to also take on all their own business responsibilities as well.

Others have listed good ideas to think about, like graphic design, portrait commissions, pets are also a high demand area if you like doing animals. Art licensing is also something to look into - someone out there drew/made the art on your bedspread/tshirt/stationary/picture books - not every company uses in house artists, they outsource.