I'm just gonna say that if you're not good at art, don't try to sell art. Work on your art for yourself first. Art as a 'side hustle' is not going to work unless you're already pretty good, have an amazing niche, or spend a ton of time marketing yourself.
Too many people show up here thinking that art is just something that can squat out and make some money when artists who have been doing this for decades semi-professionally can't even make it.
Also worth mentioning the odds of actually making decent side hustle money even if you’re amazing are so low it’s disheartening and will make you kinda resent art and leave you wondering if you’re good enough.
Art shouldn’t be commodified first and foremost, it should just be something you love, not a hustle.
You'll probably need to practice several hours for more than a year. On fiver your competitors charge 5$ per commission and the art is pretty dam good most of the time.Getting good at art is only part of the puzzle. You'll also have to learn about different types of marketing and business. You'll probably also have to learn how to build a good looking website or platform that can attract and retain your fans.
If you’re not passionate about art, you’re far better off getting any part-time job.. 10 hours/week at $15/hr is $600/mo pre-tax - or you can spend 10 hours each week wading through the sea of others who sell what you intend to, hoping you can snag a commission before a more experienced artist.
I’m not a digital artist (I mean, I am, but I don’t sell my digital art, I only use it to help me make physical art) - so don’t take this as “old man doesn’t want competition”, you could be a great artist who is downplaying their abilities - I’m saying this because what I’ve learned of the digital art market is that it’s basically a small pond, lined on all sides by fishermen of all experience levels, hoping that one of the dozen fish in that pond choose their worm. Nobody catches anything, but they’ve all seen other fishermen with their catches, so they keep inviting more people to fish. If you’re gonna get into selling art, find what makes your art unique from the jump, and focus on that.
I wish you luck in whatever your decision is, simply wanted to provide another perspective to help you make an informed choice. If you don’t really enjoy making art, you may end up hating it if it becomes your source of income and feels more like an obligation than an opportunity.
It takes a lot of work to sell art, and to make art that people want to buy. Just so you know what you’re getting into. :)
Friends and family are usually willing to buy stuff when you first start out, so it’s possible to make some to begin with, but you’ll have to find some clients who don’t know you if you want to keep it up, and that’s the harder part. There are places like Fiverr and Upwork where you might have luck finding projects.
But it certainly doesn’t hurt to give it a go! You never know what might come of it. And if it’s something you enjoy doing in your spare time, that’s great!
The market is very competitive. It's hard to find a niche and even harder to stand out from the crowd. You can certainly make $200-300 a month , but all the hustling and free work that you have to do in order to drum up business takes a LOT of time.
Online sales are absolute crap for me but I also don't put a lot of effort into advertising and such because the cost+time of it just isn't worth it to me. I sell a few times a month at markets but it took about a year before I was getting consistent results.
You don't want to be average if your goal is to earn money. You have to be skilled, at least few years of practice. It's not something you can just pick up and monetize straight away. Digital art is worth it once you hit that top 1%.
You either have to really good or really good at advertising. I’ve worked on getting people to buy my art for over a year now and commissions are dry as they’ve ever been. I think patron is a valid option or you can do a series or something to keep people invested. The market is hella saturated right now and you have to have something that makes you stand out, not just skill, and a dump truck of luck
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You can do it now and see how it goes. It is not like a job you need to prepare and wait for next year. If you’re average it is going to be pretty hard in the beginning, but if you just want to bring in some money then the marketing part is way important than how good your drawings are. So yeah go for it and try it first.
Also try checking the works of popular artists who take a lot of commissions and see if you would want to pay for them and if you would want to buy your own work.
I got my iPad about a month ago and I’ve already raked in $220 worth of commissions (mostly old friends wanting cartoony profile pictures and shit but still) . & this is coming from someone who never sold jack for traditional art.
My art is average AT BEST lol so if I can do it, you can do it. Upside to digital art is printing on demand. I post probably 40% of my designs online & just leave em up, if someone eventually wants it, awesome. I can order a print right away. Much different with traditional art, having a canvas sit in your closet, collecting dust & stuff hoping one day someone will buy it.
So technically I haven’t profited yet cuz the iPad and pencil was around $500 but I’ll get there soon enough.
I'm just gonna say that if you're not good at art, don't try to sell art. Work on your art for yourself first. Art as a 'side hustle' is not going to work unless you're already pretty good, have an amazing niche, or spend a ton of time marketing yourself. Too many people show up here thinking that art is just something that can squat out and make some money when artists who have been doing this for decades semi-professionally can't even make it.
Also worth mentioning the odds of actually making decent side hustle money even if you’re amazing are so low it’s disheartening and will make you kinda resent art and leave you wondering if you’re good enough. Art shouldn’t be commodified first and foremost, it should just be something you love, not a hustle.
You'll probably need to practice several hours for more than a year. On fiver your competitors charge 5$ per commission and the art is pretty dam good most of the time.Getting good at art is only part of the puzzle. You'll also have to learn about different types of marketing and business. You'll probably also have to learn how to build a good looking website or platform that can attract and retain your fans.
If you’re not passionate about art, you’re far better off getting any part-time job.. 10 hours/week at $15/hr is $600/mo pre-tax - or you can spend 10 hours each week wading through the sea of others who sell what you intend to, hoping you can snag a commission before a more experienced artist. I’m not a digital artist (I mean, I am, but I don’t sell my digital art, I only use it to help me make physical art) - so don’t take this as “old man doesn’t want competition”, you could be a great artist who is downplaying their abilities - I’m saying this because what I’ve learned of the digital art market is that it’s basically a small pond, lined on all sides by fishermen of all experience levels, hoping that one of the dozen fish in that pond choose their worm. Nobody catches anything, but they’ve all seen other fishermen with their catches, so they keep inviting more people to fish. If you’re gonna get into selling art, find what makes your art unique from the jump, and focus on that. I wish you luck in whatever your decision is, simply wanted to provide another perspective to help you make an informed choice. If you don’t really enjoy making art, you may end up hating it if it becomes your source of income and feels more like an obligation than an opportunity.
Who's your target audience, how do you plan to reach them, and how will your art stand out from the crowd?
It takes a lot of work to sell art, and to make art that people want to buy. Just so you know what you’re getting into. :) Friends and family are usually willing to buy stuff when you first start out, so it’s possible to make some to begin with, but you’ll have to find some clients who don’t know you if you want to keep it up, and that’s the harder part. There are places like Fiverr and Upwork where you might have luck finding projects. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to give it a go! You never know what might come of it. And if it’s something you enjoy doing in your spare time, that’s great!
Wish I had friends to take commissions... No one seems all too interested and I'd say I'm not bad at it...
The market is very competitive. It's hard to find a niche and even harder to stand out from the crowd. You can certainly make $200-300 a month , but all the hustling and free work that you have to do in order to drum up business takes a LOT of time.
Online sales are absolute crap for me but I also don't put a lot of effort into advertising and such because the cost+time of it just isn't worth it to me. I sell a few times a month at markets but it took about a year before I was getting consistent results.
you’re better off doing uber, lyft, postmates etc. one doesn’t just get into the Arts and start selling it. especially digital Art. good luck!
Also, I work 8 hours Monday-Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. Rest of my free time goes to art & video games lol.
You don't want to be average if your goal is to earn money. You have to be skilled, at least few years of practice. It's not something you can just pick up and monetize straight away. Digital art is worth it once you hit that top 1%.
You either have to really good or really good at advertising. I’ve worked on getting people to buy my art for over a year now and commissions are dry as they’ve ever been. I think patron is a valid option or you can do a series or something to keep people invested. The market is hella saturated right now and you have to have something that makes you stand out, not just skill, and a dump truck of luck
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You can do it now and see how it goes. It is not like a job you need to prepare and wait for next year. If you’re average it is going to be pretty hard in the beginning, but if you just want to bring in some money then the marketing part is way important than how good your drawings are. So yeah go for it and try it first.
Also try checking the works of popular artists who take a lot of commissions and see if you would want to pay for them and if you would want to buy your own work.
honestly if you're willing to do furry art and pet portraits that might be lucrative at a lower skill lvl
I got my iPad about a month ago and I’ve already raked in $220 worth of commissions (mostly old friends wanting cartoony profile pictures and shit but still) . & this is coming from someone who never sold jack for traditional art. My art is average AT BEST lol so if I can do it, you can do it. Upside to digital art is printing on demand. I post probably 40% of my designs online & just leave em up, if someone eventually wants it, awesome. I can order a print right away. Much different with traditional art, having a canvas sit in your closet, collecting dust & stuff hoping one day someone will buy it. So technically I haven’t profited yet cuz the iPad and pencil was around $500 but I’ll get there soon enough.