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/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

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5078821 No.5078821 [Reply] [Original]

how do you make a living as an artist?

i don’t care about fame or being rich but i do want to at least be able to pay the bills and have a roof over my head

>> No.5078826

>>5078821
live off the grid

>> No.5078850

>>5078821
To live off of your art exclusively you have 3 options basically
>Be an actually talented artist as well as have amazing social skills to make connections and get hired by big companies.
>Draw fanart coom every single day
>Draw furry coom every single day

>> No.5078864

Find a niche that suits your abilities and personality, and promote yourself enthusiastically without burning out.

>>5078850
Truly high skilled traditional painters will probably always have a living, even if their work is mediocre as far as vision. Someone will always want original paintings of fruit and wine decanters to decorate the house.

>> No.5078915 [DELETED] 

>>5078864
>Someone will always want original paintings of fruit and wine decanters to decorate the house.
Sure, for like $30 from a thrift store.
The kinds of people that buy trash like that aren't willing to spend the amount of money a painting is actually worth.

>> No.5078923

>>5078915
Go to a resort town on the east coast and you will see multiple galleries chock full of pictures of sailboats, light houses, landscapes with autumn leaves, and so on. Often enough selling for 4 figures. Not the creative life I'd want, but the demand is clearly there.

Superimpose that for whatever niche you're in. Primitivist jazz crowd shots in New Orleans, sunlight reflecting off shitty glass buildings in NYC, and so on.

>> No.5079013

>>5078923
This.
There are still people out there who simply want simple things.

>> No.5079031

coom

>> No.5079098

Tattooing

>> No.5079191

>>5078821
why is so hard for this beglets to understand? look, unless you're Sakimicrap or Cutememerobutts or any of those fuckers, you would need to find another job.

>> No.5079205
File: 56 KB, 220x231, 1607957877205.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
5079205

>>5078821
I do freelance illustration for commercial clients (businesses, organizations, corporations, etc.), some editorial illustration, the occasional private commission, a little bit of motion graphics (After Effects stuff, basically making moving illustrations and other simple designs), sell prints/bullshit on PoD sites (Redbubble, Amazon, Etsy etc.)

I make around $45k/yr, and it's growing annually. Diversifying around different income streams, and thinking more entrepreneurially was essential towards getting to this point. Reaching out and cold-calling (email) different art/creative directors is how I got most of my freelancing gigs, by sharing a portfolio link (not a social media page) and expressing my interest in working with them.

>> No.5079244

>>5079098
This even shitty tattoo artist can make a living. Good ones make a ton. I paid 1000 EU per day for myne, Its a steep price but i wanted quality.

Also concept art and illustration, isnt that hard if you manage to get your fundies down and find your niche.

I'm making $85k a year as a senior concept artist.

>> No.5079251

>>5079191
who?

>> No.5079258

>>5079205
>and thinking more entrepreneurially was essential towards getting to this point. Reaching out and cold-calling (email) different art/creative directors is how I got most of my freelancing gigs, by sharing a portfolio link (not a social media page) and expressing my interest in working with them.
Can you go a bit more in-depth about those points, please?

>> No.5079268

>>5079244
how old are you?

>> No.5079276

>>5079268
27. Im just lucky with the job. Wasnt making nearly that much half a year ago

>> No.5079289

>>5078821
Get hired by studios like pixar.

>> No.5079529

>>5078821

gay furry porn is an easy 2k a month. without breaking a sweat.

>> No.5080497
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5080497

>>5079258
Sure. Here's a quick guide on how to freelance.

The gist of all professional freelancing is that you, as a non-employee, can provide something that the business needs or could use. Copywriting, photography, design, video, consulting, illustration, etc. - it's all the same method: put together a showcase of what you do (an animation reel, a resume+examples, a portfolio, etc.) and show it to those who could potentially use your services.

For 2D artists, this typically means an online portfolio featuring a gallery of your best pieces compiled into a cohesive body of work that showcases what it is you do. Think less of an Instagram page, and more like Squarespace, Wix, etc.

Once you have your portfolio, you can start emailing it to art / creative directors at place that you think could use your services, or that you think your work would be a good fit for. Find a good contact email (often just on their website) and reach out. Don't over complicate things, and don't bullshit. You're not a used car salesman. The goal here is to simply introduce yourself / make yourself known, drop a link to your portfolio, and explicitly express your interest in working with them on future projects. That's it. Short, simple and sincere is better than overly long bullshitting.

From there, if your work is a good fit, you'll be considered for upcoming freelance projects. Do a good job on that first job, and you might become a go-to freelancer and receive future commissions from that client with no extra effort on your end. Do this with 10-20 clients and start getting repeat work from them, and you'll have yourself a career.

All of this is tough to do at first. It's scary to reach out to people, and there's lots of rejection. But the more you practice, the better you'll get. Getting more published work makes landing future jobs significantly easier. The first few real-world jobs are the hardest to get.

>> No.5080746

>>5078821
you get a check from mommy and daddy every month

>> No.5080773

>>5079205
>a portfolio link (not a social media page)
Is Behance ok or is a dedicated website with a domain name better?

>> No.5080781

>>5078821
Fiverr is a good place to start. I'm doing an AI-related gig (not art) and I've already got job offers.

>> No.5080791

>>5078821
>depending on money to survive

>> No.5081480

>>5079205
>>5080497
thank you for this. you can begin to buy into all the cynicisms floating around here after a while, but all this seems very reasonable and doable if you put your effort into it and I'm definitely going to screencap for a later date. A sudden urge to go draw and realize my dreams of doing something I enjoy has once again struck me.

I would like to ask you one thing though. It's the thing I can't really wrap my head around. So many industry professionals say not to delude your portofolio, to keep it consistent and on point. I myself don't really see how it would be bad to have a few concept designs as well as a few full illustrations if you would be interested in both types of jobs. Not really a question, but if you have any portofolio tips that would be great.

>> No.5081527

>>5078923
They're not buying that art because they like it, they're buying it because its either a relative or a money laundering scam
Stop being a fucking rube

>> No.5081531

>>5078821
You're gonna hate this, but there's a niche market painting people's pets.

>> No.5081533

If you're not talented don't bother
No amount of skill can substitute for one ounce of talent

>> No.5081551

it's not too hard to make a modest living, but most won't because they are either not as good as they think they are and not willing to improve and think their trash is some sort of style. or they are skilled but are all about being some Artiste and not willing to view it as a business and do marketing for their work and self and expect people to just magically find out what an artistic genius they are and throw money at them. if you want to make money, you're a business so treat it as such and stop being so fucking precious and proud about stupid fucking art

>> No.5082656 [DELETED] 

>>5078821
Living in a country where US dollars are worth a lot helps.
If you're not black, then I invite you to come here, to Poland.

>> No.5082804
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5082804

>>5080773
Behance would be acceptable. Anything where you can create a curated gallery of your best work is suitable. I personally use Squarespace and it's well worth the money. I found the default themes to be the best, and updating and tweaking everything is very easy

>>5081480
That's a really good question and something that took me a while to grapple with. I generally agree with the concept of focusing your portfolio to be more consistent and cohesive across your body of work. However, I don't necessarily think it's needs to be super focused on one particular niche. For example, you could have work that's geared towards concept designs, while having more finished work that are intended for more illustration work, etc - all in the same visual language that is unique to you. Many freelance artists work on a variety of different opportunities for different types of clients / industries.

What's most important thing is that you maintain a stylistic voice across your entire body of work, which is essentially your brand. In other words, your entire portfolio needs to look all like the work of the same artist. That may sound obvious, but many people fall flat in this regard. They create work that is too all over the place and it just isn't cohesive. You achieve stylistic consistency while also working on a variety of different opportunities. I personally started having an easier time getting opportunities once I dropped certain pieces from my portfolio. Even though these pieces were well done, they just didn't 'fit' with the direction I was going in.

>> No.5082918

>>5081527
>or a money laundering scam

I don't care if they're buying it as a joke. I don't care if they're buying it because the grocery store is still out of toilet paper. Four figures apiece is four figures apiece.

>> No.5083771

>>5081551
>expect people to just magically find out what an artistic genius they are and throw money at them
Sums up /ic/'s view of social media in a nutshell.

>> No.5083781

>>5078821
Get another job.

>> No.5084818

>>5081531
Myself and a few others I know do this. It's not very exciting, but it's reliable money.

>> No.5084833

>>5082918
The artist doesn't get to keep that money
Their handlers do
Holy shit you fucking naive retard
you know what, you're right
just keep painting, maybe you'll sell a piece for 40 million and retire LMAO

>> No.5085105
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5085105

>>5084833
>>5081527
People like you never actually know how the gallery circuit works, or really anything about the world of fine art.

>> No.5085108

>>5085105
Please share with us your deep knowledge of the gallery circuit oh wise one
Please let me believe that its not a scam for gullible rubes and that I too can make 40 million dollars off a single painting if only I paint well enough
Share your enlightenment with those of us in the dark, we beg you!