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Joana
Student
Merced, California
1
Question
Asked
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Creative artists all around, do you get to live your dream?
Im in highschool and I want to make money off of art and share my stories but I have been too scared. Just want to make sure Im doing something stupid that could impact my life if it doesn't work out.
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1 answer
Liam Rielly
Data Center Technician
180
Answers
Manassas, Virginia
Updated
Liam’s Answer
Everyone on this site and in your life really wants to say to you "LIVE YOUR DREAM! MAKE ART!" and then we want to buy something from you, put it on our wall or in our living room and show it off to everyone that visits. We all want art all around us and talented people like yourself to live, create, and share your works.
Then reality sets in. It is very difficult to make money as an artist these days. As I look at potentially buying art I really love I look at the five repairs I need to make around the house, my actual bills, the amount I have saved vs the amount I owe, and the fact that I want to create something, probably need tools for that myself. It drives me crazy when someone I know takes a moment to show me their wall hanging. They spent $50 at target on some nonsense that looks kind of like a photo, kind of like a painting, and is neither. That needs to be your showcase.
Myself and my girlfriend, others close to me in my life, spend a little bit more money on art than most, but not enough to support an artist full time. I hate to say it but we are the minority of people in the United States right now. There are people who spend more than us, but not many, not the general public. I think you know this already hence your question. I think you have had a painting you have put a price tag on, showed it off, got someone to snap a pic of it and walk away as if it is theirs now. You spent some significant time to make something that essentially no one wants, but they wanted it just enough to take a pic of it.
Let's reverse engineer this scenario. If your picture is good enough for them to look but not buy, we can either give it to them for free and think if it as advertisement, or we can give them something they cannot snap a picture of. Make art that people can look at for free. Make something, share it online, and put some watermarks on it, take a picture of a section, or take a picture of it off centered. They can appreciate your art but not have it completely, sell the real version of it. The second is to go Banksy style. Make something so big that it isn't something anyone can walk off with, or keep in reserve your art until someone pays for it up front, like a commission. Do murals, paint interiors, create sculptures, and landscaping design features.
The whole point to making money is to figure out where the need is for the skill or items you have. You ARE an artist now, you need to focus on the business part to make money as an artist.
If we look at the probability of how much you are going to make as an artist, vs how much you are going to make not being an artist, there is a low probability of you being a high paid artist that only works as an artist. There is a medium to high probability you work with dual income while creating art. Get a job that pays what you need to live but does not take up your free time. Get a job you are not passionate about, you do not have to love your work, pretend you do as much as you need to. When you are on your time, create a world that everyone wants to live in and be surrounded by! Being an artist does not require you to live an artists life, it just means you need to create art and be known for it.
I feel its unfair for me to give you the answer of " you will likely work at starbucks and be the best painter in town" so let me say the answer you came here for. Push hard. Work hard. Don't take no for an answer. If you master one style and its not getting you anywhere, reinvent yourself and start again. Trademark and copyright all of your work and creations. Know your best medium and work on a couple of other ones in addition to it. Network, network, network, and when you are networking network some more! Have presence and availability. Put a dollar amount on what you do (even if it is high, you will find that sometimes makes you desirable to some). Don't worry about the possessions you have, worry about the ones you can make for people. Be willing to travel, be willing to do large format work, be willing to do whatever for work! You can do this, you can make it, it will be difficult and take focus, but you are able to make money as an artist. Reverse engineer how artists get paid and then take that framework and apply it to what you do!
https://www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/financial-literacy - learn how to manage your expenses
https://earth.google.com/web/search/Distrito+Grafiti,+Carrera+53f,+Bogot%C3%A1,+Bogota,+Colombia/@4.62633498,-74.11215728,2555.40750979a,843.25205543d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=CqcBGnkScwolMHg4ZTNmOTk1ODEyYTA0NTI1OjB4MTgxMGViMWQ1ZDFhNjA5ZhlRqAJJM4ESQCGdSgaAKodSwCo4RGlzdHJpdG8gR3JhZml0aSwgQ2FycmVyYSA1M2YsIEJvZ290w6EsIEJvZ290YSwgQ29sb21iaWEYAiABIiYKJAkv4_BgWYMSQBF4nxaD8FISQBnMLFBmYYFSwCFhe7NNp4dSwEICCAFCAggASg0I____________ARAA?hl=en_US - a place I often look at online
Art + Original stories = really good children's books. Think about that as a medium as well.
Then reality sets in. It is very difficult to make money as an artist these days. As I look at potentially buying art I really love I look at the five repairs I need to make around the house, my actual bills, the amount I have saved vs the amount I owe, and the fact that I want to create something, probably need tools for that myself. It drives me crazy when someone I know takes a moment to show me their wall hanging. They spent $50 at target on some nonsense that looks kind of like a photo, kind of like a painting, and is neither. That needs to be your showcase.
Myself and my girlfriend, others close to me in my life, spend a little bit more money on art than most, but not enough to support an artist full time. I hate to say it but we are the minority of people in the United States right now. There are people who spend more than us, but not many, not the general public. I think you know this already hence your question. I think you have had a painting you have put a price tag on, showed it off, got someone to snap a pic of it and walk away as if it is theirs now. You spent some significant time to make something that essentially no one wants, but they wanted it just enough to take a pic of it.
Let's reverse engineer this scenario. If your picture is good enough for them to look but not buy, we can either give it to them for free and think if it as advertisement, or we can give them something they cannot snap a picture of. Make art that people can look at for free. Make something, share it online, and put some watermarks on it, take a picture of a section, or take a picture of it off centered. They can appreciate your art but not have it completely, sell the real version of it. The second is to go Banksy style. Make something so big that it isn't something anyone can walk off with, or keep in reserve your art until someone pays for it up front, like a commission. Do murals, paint interiors, create sculptures, and landscaping design features.
The whole point to making money is to figure out where the need is for the skill or items you have. You ARE an artist now, you need to focus on the business part to make money as an artist.
If we look at the probability of how much you are going to make as an artist, vs how much you are going to make not being an artist, there is a low probability of you being a high paid artist that only works as an artist. There is a medium to high probability you work with dual income while creating art. Get a job that pays what you need to live but does not take up your free time. Get a job you are not passionate about, you do not have to love your work, pretend you do as much as you need to. When you are on your time, create a world that everyone wants to live in and be surrounded by! Being an artist does not require you to live an artists life, it just means you need to create art and be known for it.
I feel its unfair for me to give you the answer of " you will likely work at starbucks and be the best painter in town" so let me say the answer you came here for. Push hard. Work hard. Don't take no for an answer. If you master one style and its not getting you anywhere, reinvent yourself and start again. Trademark and copyright all of your work and creations. Know your best medium and work on a couple of other ones in addition to it. Network, network, network, and when you are networking network some more! Have presence and availability. Put a dollar amount on what you do (even if it is high, you will find that sometimes makes you desirable to some). Don't worry about the possessions you have, worry about the ones you can make for people. Be willing to travel, be willing to do large format work, be willing to do whatever for work! You can do this, you can make it, it will be difficult and take focus, but you are able to make money as an artist. Reverse engineer how artists get paid and then take that framework and apply it to what you do!
Liam recommends the following next steps:
sorry for the long link! Its worth a look though!
Liam Rielly