How do you make money from your art?
This is a real question that deserves a real answer. I almost became an art teacher instead of a full-on artist in the beginning of my college career because I considered it a “real job”. I saw those other illustrators who paid rent with their art as magical wizards who lived in other dimensions far away from the one I live in currently. Then, throughout college, I saw MANY people make good money from what they do. I also saw people who tried, and were not as good at turning illustrations into cash.
I haven’t made millions quite yet, but I have had a constant flow of work that has slowly but surely kept me out of a 9-5 job.
Try a bunch of things. Things you like, things you hate. Find what you LOVE to do (this took me all my life and 5 years of college and I’m sure it will continue to evolve). This can’t just be “watercoloring stuff in general”. Animal anatomy illustrations? Decorative stationary patterns? Typography? Children’s books? Cute stickers of fruit with faces on them? Oil pantings of tuscan hillsides? Find out what you do best.
Practice everyday until your hand starts cramping and your eyes melt into your skull and you forget you haven’t eaten anything besides hot cheetos in ten hours. I went to the Academy of Art in San Francisco for 5 years. I learned from the best and the worst. I made getting good my #1 goal.
Figure out who would like your art enough to spend money on it. Market yourself to those people. Show them what you do. This usually means putting it on the internet.
Yes, that was supposed to sound daunting and abrasive. Think a print would be popular? Make it. Like a painting you just made? Tell Instagram it’s for sale. See a logo that needs work? Call them and tell them you can redesign a better one.
Tell people they need your ideas, then show them they do.
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
