Making a living as an artist can be a challenging goal. It doesn’t have to be an unreachable goal. There are several different options for an artist that is just beginning their quest for profit. You could sell your art in the traditional gallery fashion. You could create art out in public on the streets, or set up your own medium online to sell your art. Here are a few extra tips about these methods that may help you to find more success financially from your creations.
Selling your art in the gallery
If you’re not familiar with the different types of galleries and how they work, here a little more information about each different setup.
Commercial Galleries: These are the types of galleries that set up contractual agreements with artists, and usually take a significant commission from the sale of your piece. Commission requirements typically range anywhere from forty to fifty percent. The benefit is in the customer base when it comes to this type of gallery.
Non-profit Galleries: These galleries are more suited for newer and more edgy types of art. They usually take some sort of commission, but not nearly as much as a commercial type gallery would. They usually top out at around thirty percent.
Co-op Galleries: This is a type of gallery run by several different artists who put their work together for a collective showing. This is a more relaxed and free-spirited medium for selling your original works.
Street art and creating live
If you live in the right city setting, there’s plenty of opportunity to make some scratch selling your original artwork on the streets. Some artist have even made quite a name for themselves selling and creating in front of a passing audience. People make quite a living day by day, but it’s a risky and unstable line of work. Being an artist, you’re probably familiar with that concept. You’re going to be somewhere creating anyway, so why not be “on the clock?”
Selling on your own terms
There are several online mediums that will help starting artists to set up a way to put their artwork out into the web world. If you’re specialty is arts and crafts, painting, knitting, or belly lint crafts… you can sell your stuff on Etsy. You can also market and sell your creations on Instagram and Redbubble. Ebay and Tophatter.com also work with thousands of independent artists to sell and market their original works and prints as well. Depending on the amount of time you put into getting your work out there, you can make a significant profit from this method of business. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.
