Making Money As An Artist: Tips For Art Entrepreneurs


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Most artist come in contact with a fair amount of friction when they share with their family or friends that they plan to make a living on their art.  It’s true that making money as an artist can be challenging, but anyone with the right drive and purpose can take steps to further their career with the right base of knowledge.  You really can do almost anything you set your mind to do.  Here are a few tips to get you started on your way to making legitimate money from your talent and passion.

Network with people in the industry

You can never go wrong with networking.  Become a social butterfly with other artists, people who work in art, and especially any buyers you may come in contact with.  It may be uncomfortable for you, being that artists tend to be a bit reserved and withdrawn, but you have to push through that urge to hide yourself away.  If you run a social media account and take advantage of tools similar to nitreo, you’ll also see great benefits as you can continuously share your art work with your fans and fellow artists. Word of mouth will sell your art faster than you think.  It’s also important to support other artists.  Buy their work, and spread their name.  They will return the favor.

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Promote yourself to different galleries

There are three specific types of galleries.  If you’re not familiar with this concept, here’s a quick summary.  Commercial galleries will usually sell an artist’s work on commission.  The gallery will probably end up with forty to fifty percent of what the piece sells for, but if you build an ongoing relationship with a gallery, you could make some pretty good money.

Non-profit galleries don’t usually enter contractual agreements with artists, but show younger, more edgy artist’s work.  They don’t usually take any more than thirty percent commission too, and that’s if they even take any part of what the work brings in financially.

The last type is a co-op gallery.  This is a type of gallery where artists work together to show their collective work.  These are the most nonrestrictive types of galleries.

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Sell prints of your work

Selling prints of your work won’t bring in quite as much income as selling original pieces, but it’s a good way to make a little extra scratch.  There are plenty of online host sites that will help you with the production of your prints.  Redbubble is one of these services directed solely to that purpose.  Instagram also has it’s own options available for you to order and create prints of your work.

Take your art to the streets

If you don’t mind the concept of creating art in front of real live people, then don’t hesitate to take your talent to the streets.  You should probably figure out what the local rules and regulations on street art are in your area first.

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