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Can you make money as an artist?

Discussion in 'Art' started by Hova, Apr 20, 2018.

  1. Hova

    Hova New Member

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    I think most people might think of an artist as somebody who paints away canvases but In the wider sense of the term, artists are all sort of things. Musicians and writers are also artists. Art is a way of life really, a way of thinking and can you make a living out of it?
    Within the art world there are millions of creative jobs out there for all sorts of people who are creatively minded. What are your thoughts?
     
  2. Cessnavie

    Cessnavie New Member

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    Last May 05, 2018, I, being the staff-in-charge, conducted the National Awarding Ceremony on Poster Making Contest. I was amazed that a 11-year old child can already make a perfect and wonderful painting to depict the meaning of adoption to the public. All the entries from different schools were perfectly made. However, only three (3) were given cash prize. At the age of 11, these children (winners of the contest) are already earning money using their talent in arts. They are already considered artists.

    One of the judges in the Poster Making Contest used his talent in arts to finish college education. A government agency used his masterpiece in advocating the children's rights. He is now illustrator of one of the government agencies.

    Because of this event, I believe that beinv artist is a noble job and can earn money because not everyone has this skill.
     
  3. Pure Grace

    Pure Grace New Member

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    This topic is so emotional for me. All my life I tried making money as an artist, by photography and many other art things. However, we need a platform to earn from our art. Finally, I had to use my professional education experience for earning online. It is not so easy to earn from our art. Sometimes, I could win only points, but could not earn any money.

    Life of an artist is really though. The art does not let us go away and it does not even help us live our daily living. My passion for art almost drowned me. My heart used to always ask for art and I could not earn money from it. People started blaming me for the same. Now, I lost the touch and the creativity, but still somehow I earn very little from the photos I capture.
     
  4. ShiningRose

    ShiningRose New Member

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    The life of an artist is often a life of sacrifice. You renounce the safety of a regular - and probably boring - job for a burning passion that may or may not amount to anything. But how do you know if it'll ever amount to actually anything? By keep trying, and therefore keep sacrificing. Your family is usually the first one to tell you to not pursue your passion, because they're worried you may end up homeless when you're older. I always say to plan ahead in case things go awry in the future, some sort of safety net has to be made before fully indulging into your real passion because you never know what'll happen.

    If you ask me, I think that you can make money out of being an artist, but it's not for everyone and it's very hard to achieve. You need to keep putting yourself out there: let other people judge your work, especially if they are part of that industry that you're trying so hard to be a part of. Let's say you're a person who draws, what are the best ways for people to notice you? Keep practicing, build a portfolio, develop a unique style, put your work on the internet and let people analyse you critically. There are just a few suggestions that I can make, but I could make more. Sometimes you might need a little help getting more exposure, sometimes you have to make up some crazy idea to get everyone's attention, if it all sounds tough and kinda vague it's because it is. It's like we're trying to write the recipe for success, and no one knows exactly how that is made. I mean, not even famous people know how they got there sometimes.
     
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  5. Joanna Deus

    Joanna Deus New Member

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    Yes, an artist can make a living out of what he does. However, having this as a main source of income is very risky. To succeed in this field, one needs to be a master of his art; to be able to let an audience see and understand, and as well as appreciate what he does. One can be very successful he does these right, but one can also be neglected or underappreciated. Taking this route is a test or patience, perseverance and hard work.
     
  6. Madmanx

    Madmanx New Member

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    Coming from a family of artists, it is definitely possible to earn money as an artist, however it's not one of the best careers nowadays. Selling your ideas is a hard task, mainly because it has to be done on the internet and to do so, you need a platform that allows you to show your art. The hardest part about everything is that, it's hard to generate traffic to your work, because there's big competition out there.
     
  7. xXCrimsonskyXx

    xXCrimsonskyXx New Member

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    An Artist can infact make money off of their work, but that is often difficult to do as a artist just putting themselves out there. Sometimes, it takes years for artists to receive their first commission. An artist, especially new ones added to the thousands of talented human beings who are competing to sell their work, can become what's called a "starving artist" due to the fact they are not popular enough at the time, so they do not receive commission requests and so on. This causes it to be risky if others want to drop the more "normal" jobs and pursue their passions.
     
  8. honeylina

    honeylina New Member

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    Of course!

    You can make a living out of being an artist, it just depends on your skill level, your dedication and how much time you spend on it. Think of it this way - if you're an artist, you're basically like an inventor. If you make something unique and you have the time & the capability to do it, you'll earn a lot. It is hard, of course, however, with enough dedication I'm sure that being an artist can give you a normal income that lets you pay the bills and have something to eat.
     
  9. chi92

    chi92 New Member

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    It is really hard since nowadays everything revolves around money and materialism, so when an artist needs to worry about that it leaves him with almost no artistic freedom. Almost everyone is going to "sell" him/herself for more money, and once that happens, in my opinion, the work of that artist is no longer art, but a product made for money. This, of course, does not have to be necessarily true for everyone.

    So you can make a living out of it, decent living I would say if you are really good at it, but in order to become a millionaire and famous all around the globe, you have to do what everyone asks you to do. Follow the trend, be the same as others in your line of work, and lose the artist inside of you.
     
  10. kineticpower

    kineticpower New Member

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    yup!

    You can sell art on sites like Fiverr or twitter but it really depends on what you are selling.
    if you are selling paintings you can sell it on ebay.
    personally I would start my own business and get fame by collabs and looking in what people want.
    You can also start by working with another small company.
     
  11. monaobispo

    monaobispo New Member

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    I envy people who are artists. I really have great admiration for artists because they have talents. They create and they earn from it. Music composers earn royalties by just creating songs which pop up from their mind. Painters earn through their paintings. Even an unknown painter can earn money and feel the satisfaction of seeing their paintings in one's gallery, homes, or buildings even after how many years. Hobbyists love what they do and still earn money selling their stuff on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook Etsy, and other art websites.
     
  12. nwa1

    nwa1 New Member

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    I do think it's possible to make money as an artist, but the road to get there is one that's difficult and takes time. In this era of widespread communication, it's much easier to gain and audience than in the time pre-Internet, so your work is much more widespread now. It's also possible to bypass the keepers of what is considered "high art", so someone drawing, say, anime style art or someone who writes parody songs can easily find those willing to pay for their work. Whether you can make a living off of it, however, may be a matter of how good you are at networking in addition to your skills as an artist.
     

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