You Have to Exist to Sell Art
With the ever increasing struggle to join the art industry, be it due to lack of jobs, or an individual’s lack of a network, many artists have turned towards self employment. On the surface, this sounds great! You are your own boss, you get to choose your own schedule, and so on, so forth. However, there is a bit of a misunderstanding. This route of being an artist is objectively more work than working what’s essentially a 9-5. Yes, you don’t have to report to anyone, but that’s because, for the most part, you’re the whole team. From the art production, to marketing, sales, and customer service, it’s generally all one person. Granted, some artists have employees, or agents, but realistically, the average self employed artist isn't going to have those.
I myself have been looking into marketing a whole lot recently! I am not sure if I’m going down the industry route anytime soon, but I would still like to make money off of my art. Reading up on marketing can only take someone so far though, what really matters, is actually putting knowledge into practice. I very much keep to myself, and I shy away from the spotlight and putting myself out there, so marketing is a huge obstacle for me. I’m trying to work past this, as no one is going to buy from someone they don’t know exists. I’m going to need that spotlight on me if I want to make continuous sales. Don’t take this as me garnering pity to get sales, I just think that it could possibly help other artists with the same struggles as me, to know someone is in the same boat. It's one of the reasons I created this blog actually! I figured it's somewhat of a low risk way of putting myself out there, and letting people know that there is a person behind what I create. Not in an AI vs Human kind of way, but in a way that I don’t seem like a soulless company that just wants your money.
I think the hardest part about marketing is figuring out what will work for me. I’m not particularly interested in making short form content, other than maybe making a slideshow on TikTok. Social Media in general has never been my strong suit, I always post art and disappear until next time. Even with that, having a large following on social media doesn’t necessarily mean you have more clients. A lot of people need a reason to purchase from an artist, more than just liking the art. Who knows, maybe this blog will end up being my way of marketing and it will evolve into a newsletter.
“Gotta Go Fast” As They Say
It has become somewhat of an inside joke amongst my friends and that I work very quickly, especially when it comes to art. Take my commissions for example, most of my previous commissions have been completed within 2 days. A friend of mine (Check out her work: https://toyhou.se/GarnettCrow) has even commissioned me with the intention of seeing how fast I can complete it haha. It took me roughly 2 hours for a headshot commission, and 2.5 for a half body, looking at active work time).
Don’t get me wrong, working quickly can be a good thing, especially when working with tight deadlines. However, at what point can it be hindering? For some, it may be the point when quality is sacrificed for the sake of speed. Figuring out how to optimize your workflow, essentially knowing your “formula” could help with that issue.
I have a few workflows that I like for myself, so for me, working fast becomes hindering when I will drop a drawing because it's not done fast enough. Personally, the more times I have to put down a drawing, the higher the chance is I won’t finish it, with the exception of drawings I am very eager to complete. Why that is, I couldn’t tell you. Maybe there’s underlying dissatisfaction, maybe finishing a half done drawing is subconsciously daunting.
One thing that has helped me, however, was making a checklist of sorts. So even when I'm losing momentum, I could give myself tiny objectives. Such as fixing a sleeve or rendering hair. (I tend to delete the layer after I’m done so I don’t have any actual examples on me.) It helps give a sense of direction, rather than staring at my drawing for 20 minutes, wasting time figuring out what to work on next.
Trying This Out
I’ve never really had any sort of blog before, but I decided to give this a shot! I’ll just be sharing my thoughts every now and then, primarily keeping it within the realm of art.