I asked my professor: How do you make Money as an Artist?
Drawing Class at Pratt Institute
When I was an art student at Pratt Institute in New York City, I asked one of my professors "How do you make money as an artist?" He looked at me and smiled, but didn’t offer up an answer. It was the final class of the semester, and I left the class feeling frustrated and at a loss that summer.
It’s been 15+ years since then, I’ve since built a thriving art career, so today I’d like to “travel back in time” and offer up an answer to that perplexed art student I was. So, if you're a young artist wondering how to monetize your art, here are some ways:
1. You can do private commissions.
This is a broad area with a lot of opportunities, I'm going to list a few but there are many more:
Pet portraits
Baby portraits
Wedding Portraits
Family Portraits
Character Commissions for authors
RPG characters
House Commissions (You make a painting of people’s houses)
Again, these are a few - it's a broad area. Pick what you like to paint and advertise it as your service.
2. You can do client work / work-for-hire / illustration (Similar to commissions but now we're working with companies).
Again, this broad area, here are just some options.
Illustrate RPG games
Do concept art for video games
Illustrate board games
Illustrate Children's Books (Board and picture books)
Illustrate editorials for magazines
Illustrate Middle-Grade Books or YA Books
Illustrate Comic Books
Illustrate Tarot Cards
Illustrate fiction for adults
Illustrate cookbooks
3. You can run a shop. You go the indie-artist route and make art for your shop, create designs, and sell your products. These can both be physical or digital products, depending on your interests. Some product ideas:
Mugs
T-shirts
Printables (Posters, Cards, Bookmarks, Stickers, Journal Accessories, Homeschooling Supplies)
Art Prints
Pattern Design for Fabrics
Bags
Onesies for Babies
Journals,
Card Decks
Books and more
There's a wide variety of ways to do this from making everything by hand at home to using print-on-demand or finding companies to work with.
4. You can license your art out.
Again many ways to do this and many companies to work with. You can make stock art for products, merchandise, book covers, printables, and more. It's again, a massive area. A lot of options depending on what art you like doing.
5. Sell original art.
This one is self-explanatory. We can throw working with galleries into this option too.
6. Become an art influencer/ YouTuber / TikTok / Instagram.
It's a very viable option in this day and age. It takes a lot of work, but the payoff can also be great. You’ll have to learn how to build an audience and a thriving community, that is engaged with the art you create. Teaching and making tutorials can also fall under this umbrella.
7. Become an art teacher
Art teacher has many branches, it can be for a school, a college, or online, as a tutor, mentor, or creating your own courses.
These were just a few options from the top of my head, I'm sure there are more. Each one of these takes time and dedication, and if you’re first starting out there is so much to learn under each topic. Make sure to do your research!
