The Starving Artist

[Pinecones]

I am an artist by nature and have a passion for photorealism. It helps me focus and power through anxiety and other problems. I've tried for 14 years to market my art in different ways and haven't succeeded. I've been 'commissioned' to do several portraits and some band art, never once got paid. I've done fantasy novel concept art, didn't get paid. I used to make pennies doing graphic art/business design for friends who couldn't afford to pay more than $2-5/hour. I mean, I guess I'm not here to complain about that specifically. I actually run an online business and understand business very well. But art, to me, isn't business. I love it. I would LOVE to do it for money. But I also am happy to do it as a gift and service, so I never really cried about not getting paid. However, I would LOVE it if I could make money off what I love to do. I've tried deviant art, red bubble, etsy, local sales/consignment/art shows, craigslist, and others. I'm really not good with social media so things like deviant art and facebook never got anywhere for me. I've only made like 5 redbubbble sales over the years (woohoo, $1!) and stopped putting effort into it. Ultimately the problem to me seems that I specialize in graphite portrait work and people don't want black and white. They want full-color, characterized, and dynamic images. I've been practicing digitally coloring my drawings, but I've never been one for backgrounds, so that doesn't solve the problem. I've been working more in chalk pastels as a result, but it doesn't satisfy my 'photorealist' mind, it's not a precise medium.

A prairie falcon

Portrait of friend

A golden eagle

"Black Snake" inspired by the Standing Rock resistance

Character portrait for a friend (world of warcraft elf)

A great horned owl swooping down, inspired by the owl that was eating my pigeons...



Curious if anyone has ideas for sales/marketing/etc. Yes, I do digital design, web design, photo editing, and all kinds of stuff. But that's not really 'fun' or passionate for me. I want to DRAW! And in a fantasy world it would pay the bills!

I've recently been dabbling in some character portraits from World of Warcraft (I have a lot of friends that play it but they have no money to pay me). Thought 'maybe' I could do something along those lines. But photorealism is what I'd really like to do and make some income off of... Other problem is these portraits can take me 20-40 hours, and I usually only ask $10/hour, but that's still not within most people's reach.

A portrait of my neighbor's horses I did for her birthday

Fantasy concept portrait for a friend who wishes she has horns, haha

 

[Mia]

Was a working commercial artist for many years. Commercial art with a focus on illustration and design. I helped to put together a cooperative of different kinds of artists, and sold my own art and others art. It was enough to pay the rent on the studio and apartment and business taxes and a little more.

You need a portfolio to show, tear sheets to leave with clients. It's hard work to find paying clientele as well as effectively selling yourself. Initially I wore out a lot of pairs of shoes and boots pounding the streets of a city. Leaving tear sheets, mixed examples of my work on one eight and half by eleven glossy sheets. This is an example of a tear sheet that I pulled off the net, really it's an advertisement of your work.

Eventually after months, I received a few calls and began a few jobs. I started small, designing fabric patterns, logos, pamphlets, business forms. Also joined a design and illustrator guild, and had access to connections and jobs that way. Also met other artists that way and sometimes got access to jobs that they couldn't do in time.

Another thing that I did regularly was enter art contests, and won one or two. I also painted small landscapes and had t-shirts and cards made with art on them and sold them at fairs, artisan shows, pow wows, christmas charity sales. I knew what would sell at these venues and did well in those areas.

These were not things that I wanted to do at first, I simply wanted to sell paintings. But there was no real market for them. If you want to make money selling art, you might have to lower your expectations of how and what to sell. And start small, eventually you make yourself known over time. And as you manage larger contracts, you are able to do more. I know many artists, some do book illustration, digital, industrial design, business cards, sports logos, comics, and there are several artists on the site who have sold work.

One thing I wanted to suggest about your work. You've mentioned that people have suggested more colour rather than black and white's and grey's. It's true that commercially colour does tend to sell better. Have you thought about colouring pencils to add colour? Professional grade colouring pencils can be similar to use as pencil/charcoal/graphite or conte. And it will be an easier medium to integrate into your work.

 

[Pinecones]

Mia; thank you for the detailed reply. I was climbing that ladder years ago, fishing for design work; I made logos, pamphlets, brochures, menus, business cards, labels, banners, posters, and more for small businesses. I had a photography internship and also hoped photography would take me somewhere someday, too. But no luck there either. Anyway, I attended art contests in person and online, I sold a few prints at art shows. I made greeting cards and sold them at craft fairs and on consignment. I made t shirts. I did pottery too and tried to market that! It all barely paid for itself.

I’m pretty pessimistic about my work. I know I have the eye for photo realism, I know my skill and repertoire are good. Anyone who thinks they can’t do work similarly just needs a few thousand more hours of practice . But even back in school my art teacher shat on me constantly for not utilizing borders, backgrounds, and color. I really struggle with color. I don’t see it the same way I see black and white when drawing. I seriously can’t color in the lines. Colored pencils are my nemesis. I can do black ink, charcoal, graphite, and now chalk pastel, but colored pencils are a no go. Even with digital design I struggle with color, preferring greyscale works. I can’t coordinate color worth beans, in my opinion.

The reason I gave up on design was how impossible the clients are. Non-artistic people want you to actualize the art in their head, but lack any way of portraying what it looks like to you. So I rack up hours trying to figure out what they want. Ask questions, whip up a concept, send it, get corrected, ask more questions, make a new concept... over and over. And the average person is TERRIBLE at communicating. It made it incredibly Unfun. I got good at it eventually, figured out what questions to ask and got better at nailing their vision. But at that point I was struggling to find anyone with a budget for decent art. I offered one guy a steal of $25/page for children’s illustrations but his budget was $10/page :/. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t work for virtually free.

I feel like if I could get an in with like... hospitals or something. You ever see the random art the put up all over hospitals? Feel good things to look at, detail to distract you with. Or doctor offices.

 

[Mia]

I feel like if I could get an in with like... hospitals or something. You ever see the random art the put up all over hospitals? Feel good things to look at, detail to distract you with. Or doctor offices.

I've noticed lots of actual realistic art, mainly animals, at Vet's offices I wonder where they buy their pieces from? Hospitals might be an interesting venue as well. Bidding on government office contracts too. There are actual sellers of specific types of art, mainly galleries that specialize. If, you can get them to sell your work for you.

Agree that it can be really difficult to compromise/understand clients. They get to dictate colour, subject, even placement on canvas and often know nothing about art. It can be aggravating, frustrating, even soul destroying at times.

Colour is one of the most difficult things I had to learn. It does not come easily, but that does not mean you can't learn it. If you were at art school you would have had to study it. I started with colour while learning to mix paint, then copying master's techniques early on. But I don't think you should let that stop you, or hamper you, you'll have to find your particular niche. Scientific illustration might also be something to look into as well. Another thing that's occurred, tattoo transfer's. Whatever the market will bear.

 

[Pinecones]

Haha, reminds me of my art teacher pulling he aside about a portrait project. My graphite was super good. My colored pencil one was... bad. Really bad. Really really bad. And she was like “...wth?”. She challenged me on color for awhile and then gave up and let me stay black and white.

Illustrations for anatomy and such would be super fun. I have no clue how I would get an in on that though? I may be a millennial, but technology and social media have evolved faster than I can comprehend. It seems like everything now is about social media promotion? Meanwhile I’m still checking craigslist and watching for flyers in town

I might dabble with the self promotion flyer. That could be a good way to make unexpected connections...

 

[Mia]

Home The Guild of Scientific Illustrators might be a starting point.

 

[Wolfnox]

You are truly gifted at this. Mind making one of a werewolf holding a red lightsaber at night? You know for science. Lol.

 

[Pinecones]

You are truly gifted at this. Mind making one of a werewolf holding a red lightsaber at night? You know for science. Lol.

That sounds amazingly fun. Id need more info on the werewolf vision though. The energy and emotion and backstory. I’ve drawn many a werewolf for fun!

 

[Wolfnox]

That sounds amazingly fun. Id need more info on the werewolf vision though. The energy and emotion and backstory. I’ve drawn many a werewolf for fun!

Black fur. Moonless night. The only light is from the lightsaber. Reflecting from his fur. As for the backstory and energy. An air of menace and danger emnates from him threw the force. He was neither a sith or jedi. But he was a natural force user. Wielding it in a instinctively. After the empire attacked and annihilated his pack. He embraced vengeance and forged the lightsaber. Now his fury guides him as he hunts the dark woods. For those who destroyed his life. He is vengeance and death.

 

[Mary Terry]

Wow! You are very, very talented. There are some great insights and suggestions from others here. Please don't abandon something you love and are so good at doing.

 

[Aspychata]

You are so passionate about your art. I always want to showcase work in popup galleries. LA has a lot of this, not sure where you are located. There are a lot of cafes that showcase and sell artist's paintings. Maybe look for your best designs and have posters made and sell at your beautifully designed website. Maybe get a traveling portfolio and offer it to smaller museums who rotate art. Get your name out there. Sorry if these are horrible suggestions but they may motivate to think of something else!

I am happy my mom loves my color pencil flowers, she has a graphic design degree from udub. She was impressed. l will put some on here at some point.

 

[Pinecones]

I do appreciate the suggestions! It helps inspire me to pursue it a bit more. Keep some kind of portflio handy, make posters or business cards, etc. Ideally I'd love to make art for others who are passionate about art as well ^_^ Who knows though.

Oh... and while contending with anxiety this week I've had fun working on the werewolf idea. I like a strong character concept! This is like... 10% done at best. I only just started the basic face and haven't even finished sketching in the rest of it. I added some sloppy digital coloring to hint at my end vision here, with the lightsaber held out in front of him, illuminating him in red light, assuming the saber is red. I also had this fun idea of including bones and claws and teeth of his fallen pack into the construct of the saber, so that every time he smites an enemy, the hands and teeth of his pack would be exacting their vengeance as well. I dunno, this seemed very in line with what I imagine werewolf culture might be in this case

 

[Wolfnox]

All i can say is. Impressive. Most impressive.

 

[Wolfnox]

I think if there was a jedi version of a werewolf. It would be white furred with blue eyes. A blue lightsaber blade the hilt would be like a glacier blue color. Blue would reflect off its fur. She felt his pain threw the force and has come to turn him back to the light.

 

[Johann]

Hi. I want to preface this reply with you have talent as an Artist and I hope you continue to make Art!

I am an artist by nature and have a passion for photorealism. It helps me focus and power through anxiety and other problems. I've tried for 14 years to market my art in different ways and haven't succeeded.

That is great. It is a wonderful and productive outlet.

I've been 'commissioned' to do several portraits and some band art, never once got paid.

It cost you a tremendous amount of time and energy to be able to create works of Art and you should always be compensated for it.

I actually run an online business and understand business very well. But art, to me, isn't business. I love it. I would LOVE to do it for money. But I also am happy to do it as a gift and service, so I never really cried about not getting paid. However, I would LOVE it if I could make money off what I love to do.

The moment you want to make money from your Art, it is a business and you have to treat it as such especially because the government will.

I've tried deviant art, red bubble, etsy, local sales/consignment/art shows, craigslist, and others. I'm really not good with social media so things like deviant art and facebook never got anywhere for me. I've only made like 5 redbubbble sales over the years (woohoo, $1!) and stopped putting effort into it. Ultimately the problem to me seems that I specialize in graphite portrait work and people don't want black and white. They want full-color, characterized, and dynamic images. I've been practicing digitally coloring my drawings, but I've never been one for backgrounds, so that doesn't solve the problem. I've been working more in chalk pastels as a result, but it doesn't satisfy my 'photorealist' mind, it's not a precise medium.

You have to find a profitable market(people who are willing to buy your products and services at the price you are willing to exchange them for). Just think about people. A market is nothing more than a group of people who want to exchange money for something of value. Describe the exact person you want to sell your work to/who will buy it. Their age, income, life-style, personality-traits, etc. This is called market research. If you cant find a market, then create one. For example, one way to create a market is to place your work on an unconventional medium..like shoes.

There may be people who are both Art lovers and a specific shoe brand lover who want those two worlds to merge.

But first, it is important to really think about what you are selling. What are you selling exactly? This isnt an easy question. Let me pose a question: What do baby-sitters sell? If you responded with something like the time it takes watch the children, then you are selling the wrong thing. That is called a functional benefit. If you want to make more money, ask the parents: "how much is your peace of mind worth to know nothing will ever happen to your children while you are gone?. You are selling peace-of-mind. Or "after a hard tiring week, how much are you willing to pay to get total freedom from life's duties". You are selling freedom. These are called "emotional-benefits". The question is what are you really selling when you are selling your art beyond it's functional benefits.

If you love drawing realistic portraits, then you are selling something very personal. You could focus on a niche like child portraits but draw them relatively small and sell them the size of a small picture frame. You can offer an alternative to the traditional family picture that is placed on office desks. Think about every distribution channel(place) where one might want to have their child's portrait. Maybe they want it on a cellphone case because often people have pictures of their families as their screen-saver. Maybe, they want it in a small locket necklace. The possibilities are endless honestly.

Just look around you, everything that was made first had to come from the mind of an artist and is then translated into tangible products.

I am an artist by nature and have a passion for photorealism.

As amazing as your Art is already, there are some areas you can improve that I want to highlight for you. Study anatomy, kinesology, and physiology for the artist. No one can articulate visually what they dont understand cognitively. I can tell you lack knowledge in these areas.

There are youtube channels where you can learn... search Ron Lemen, Proko, Steve Huston, Glenn vilppu etc.,
Search for art atelier's like Grand Central Atelier, Watts Atelier, etc
Read books like eliot goldfinger human anatomy for artists, Struttura uomo. Manuale di anatomia artistica etc.



Good luck

 

[lateundiagnosed]

since im an artist ,i want to say that your art is great. ive had lots of problems over the years trying to sell or just have a career in this area. not that people want to help me or not, i cant seem to settle on my own style of art. mostly its just pen because its easy. ive tried most types, airbrush, pencil, pen, charcoal, oil and watercolor. art is easy ,selling is very very hard for me. anybody have that kind of problem and know an easy way to sell it, i mean professionally?. i hope im not stepping out of boundaries here. i think i have so many problems because i cant decide on a certain style.

 

[Moonhart44]

A place where i was able to make money doing traditional art is Upwork. there are people there who sometimes like that sort of thing.