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Make a Living With Your Skill Make a Life With Your Art

Web log / 2015 / How to Make a Living as an Artist

October 10, 2015

I wish I could say that all yous have to do to make a living as an creative person is to brand beautiful piece of work, but that isn't the case. The fact is that art doesn't take to be better than mediocre in order to sell. An artwork'south success lies, in big part, in the manner it'south perceived and in the context which surrounds the piece of work, which is why making a career as an creative person follows the four steps described here.

how to make a living as an artist, meme

  1. Make a lot of work.

    • Improve your skills.
      Information technology may not directly affect your ability to make a living with your art, only it's still a good thing to pursue as an artist. Creating a lot of work allows you to learn more than about your medium and your genre, helping you to become better at what you do.
    • Effigy out who you lot are.
      An artist'south manner develops over time. The more art you brand, the more quickly you discover new techniques and iterations on style, helping you to get ameliorate at being y'all.
    • Larn to understand your audience.
      Equally you make art, you develop your vocalisation equally an artist. You effigy out what you really want to communicate simply by communicating, missing the mark a flake (either for you or for the audience), and trying once again.
    • Make art in series.
      Equally you create, conceive of your work in series. This will help y'all to more fully explore your interests and also to connect with your audience in a new mode. When engaging with collections of related artwork, viewers go to immerse themselves more than fully in the subject matter.

  2. Prove the best of that work to a lot of people.

    • Larn to edit.
      When you only make three pieces, y'all're going to show all three of them, whether or not they're the best work you tin make. When you lot make 20, you lot can easily cut three of the weaker works and even so take a whole stack of potent works to show. Of course, this means getting expert at editing yourself, only the effort is worth it, considering it allows you lot to be confident in the work that you lot're showing.
    • Incorporate feedback in a healthy fashion.
      It may be difficult to get an honest critique of your fine art but seeking out those reactions and really listening to them will allow you to understand what makes your art special and what might get in ameliorate. For some artists, asking for feedback will be more than complicated than for others, because some artists view fine art more as self-expression than equally advice, only learning to motility between these ii modes is vital for every creative.
    • Document your art properly.
      Presenting the best of your art also ways merely showing your art in the all-time light. Since artwork is seen mostly in reproduction these days, learning to certificate your work well is crucial.
    • Be professional.
      This has nix to do with how much money yous brand with your art—or indeed if yous make whatsoever at all. Information technology's most the tangible forms that your delivery to your fine art takes, things like business cards and a website.
    • Act with confidence.
      More than any other attribute of presentation, your belief in your work will touch how people perceive it. Clients are attracted to the art but they're also interested in the artist and in supporting the artist's career in a long term sense.
    • Cull your words.
      In that location are multiple ways to frame any chat, and artists must always be on the sentinel for framings that cast them as starving and/or unsuccessful. For example, don't ever let yourself exist tripped up by the questions "where do you bear witness your work?" or "who represents you lot?" Respond honestly and without apology even if you aren't partnered with a flashy name-brand gallery. Say "I show in multiple venues and I represent myself." This won't impress everybody—because some buyers demand artists to exist associated with the establishment—but the message will get through to those who are open to it.

  3. Be friendly.

    • Get your art seen.
      Because art that isn't out in the world isn't in any mode friendly.
      • Your platforms. Today, there are enough of essentially free means for yous to promote your art. Make these social networks and community sites work for y'all, just don't overlook the possibility of blogging or publishing a volume of your art. However you practise information technology, observe some style to love your art publicly and regularly.
      • Exhibitions. At that place's nothing amend than getting your alive artwork in front end of people. The choice of venue will determine who goes to the evidence—some people volition never set human foot in a gallery but they dearest to be surprised by art in their local coffee store. Whatever the space, there are a myriad of considerations earlier you load in a bear witness.
      • Openings. While nosotros're on the subject of showing the work in person, openings seem to be missed opportunities for likewise many artists. On the audition cease of things, it'south disappointing to go to a reception and not have the chance to speak with the artist, but for the artist it's a shame too. Openings are a great fashion to reconnect with by clients and encounter new people too every bit to learn about how well your work is communicating.
      • Advert. It's not something I cull to pay for, just information technology can help. For case, early on in my career, I connected with a local theater group which gave me full freedom to create publicity images for their 2004-2005 season. In other words, their marketing budget ended upwards plastering Portland with my fine art. They say it takes 3 hits before a potential customer notices a product consciously, and the theater group helped make the first striking happen for much of the city.
      • Press. When someone else talks virtually your work, it's a stamp of approval; it is social proof of your identity as an artist. Press releases should be brusk, but they should also make clear to the journalist that it will exist piece of cake to tell a compelling story about your work. For more details most how to write a printing release, get to this article. I get into the nitty gritty of getting printing in this video.
      • Alternative venues. Exhibitions aren't the only option for getting your piece of work seen. You might participate in charity art auctions (though I don't), speak at conferences, or apply for grants. That last i will not merely earn you some coin, but information technology will besides get your art in front of a new audience as the granting body will nearly certainly promote the artists it helps.
      • Leads. Where to transport those press releases? What grants to apply for? A good way to answer these question is by raiding the résumés of all your favorite artists.
    • Keep in impact with clients.
      Echo customers and referrals tin be an important source of income for an artist, so nurturing those relationships isn't just dainty, it besides makes sense for your business concern.
    • Play with your paywall.
      All artists utilise the paywall to make a living—even those who don't know what I'chiliad referring to. For more than well-nigh paywalls, check out this talk about how to free your art which uses examples to actually dig into the concept of a paywall.
    • Give away art.
      Information technology may not seem like the savviest marketing move, but making your art a gift can work wonders. Family and friends are often an artist'due south best cheerleaders and giving them something personal to cheer about doesn't hurt. Doing public giveaways of your art tin can help bring new involvement to your art while also cultivating your connection with longtime supporters.
    • Take donations.
      Many artists hate this idea, but the fact is that plenty of people desire to support artists but don't necessarily want more stuff. (I accept donations on Patreon).
    • Cost your art properly.
      The monetary value yous assign your art will not only touch who can buy your work simply also how your work is viewed. This article gives more than details virtually pricing art.
    • Avoid the hard sell.
      If you lot're really being friendly, yous tin can leave the buying to your clients. You should never accept to be so edgeless or ambitious as to ask patrons to buy your work, propose that it would look great in their homes, or use whatsoever number of other sales-y tactics equally long every bit you make sure that people know what y'all're up to and who's written well-nigh you lot.
    • Protect yourself.
      Being friendly isn't the aforementioned equally being a doormat. This video explains some of the scammy stuff that happens, and this article gives pointers about taking someone to small claims courtroom. Of course, those posts merely scratch the surface of this topic. The fact is that artists are ripe for the rip-off, because virtually of us were raised to believe that creatives either don't brand money or that they shouldn't. Some of us were even told that artists are worthless individuals! In other words, some office of us thinks we deserve no amend, but we absolutely do. (I didn't recognize the style these negative associations play into artists being duped until I ran across this excellent Tumblr mail service.)
    • Sign contracts.
      Written agreements are a part of inspiring confidence in clients: it lets them know that you value your piece of work and your career. Since I'd never ask someone to sign a contract total of legalese, I've written my own sales understanding and model release.
    • Practice commission work only if yous're prepared for the challenge.
      Either love it and embrace all of its complexities or avoid working with clients in this way. Learning to ready good boundaries with patrons can aid you to love commission work.
    • Put your fine art in the public domain.
      The friendliest thing an artist tin do is to release their art from the constraints of copyright, just, fifty-fifty if you're non ready to go all the fashion by renouncing your copyright entirely, there'south lots of room to improve over the traditional copyright via Creative Commons licenses. The fact is that your copyright makes it illegal for people to share your art on social media without asking you outset, a demand that is every bit damaging to your career as information technology is to creativity.

  4. Repeat.

    • Persevere.
      The departure between the people we know as artists today and the people whose work has been forgotten is not talent: it'southward hard piece of work and persistence. The artists are the ones who didn't give up.
    • Recognize your weaknesses and notice means around them.
      A lot of artists have the passion and the piece of work ethic to succeed, but they're bad at another part of fine art business. Perchance they can't freelance to relieve their lives or mayhap they're painfully shy. Whatever it is, acknowledging the problem and dealing with information technology are essential.
    • Embrace rejection.
      Because, if you want to make a living as an artist, y'all're going to need to become used to hearing "no" or, worse still, not hearing annihilation at all. I'thousand constantly applying to venues, grants, and, in a sense, prospective clients, which ways that I'm e'er making myself vulnerable. It isn't fun. This is how I deal.
    • Own your successes.
      None of us makes information technology on our own and acknowledging those who've helped u.s. is a adept idea. That said, a certain way to end up flailing is past failing to take the reins when opportunities come up our manner. If you don't figure out how to make those big breaks really yours, you might finish up twiddling your thumbs while waiting for the next i and lose whatsoever want to proceed creating.

Making money from your fine art makes you a amend artist. That's not to say that the fact of making money from your art automatically means that your art is better. Rather, the human action of making a living (or function of a living) while doing what you love will help you to invest in it more fully. After all, if making art makes you coin, you will probably make more than fourth dimension for it. What'south more, when people are willing to spend their difficult earned coin on your art, information technology tin't help but build your confidence. This ways you lot volition be in a better place emotionally when information technology comes to criticism of your art, and that will ultimately help you to make amend art.

You can download my eastward-book about art marketing, and, if y'all're interested in the concept of uncopyrighting, bank check out my book about copyright. Yous can also hire me equally an art guide!

Maybe this post made you lot think of something you want to share with me? Or perhaps you have a question about my art? I'd love to hear from you!

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Source: https://gwennseemel.com/blog/2015/1001-make-a-living/