It’s never easy to become a full time artist. But anything is possible. In today’s video I outline many different unique ways that you can approach if you are dreaming of taking your passion in art to the next level. Becoming a full-time artist.
Last video I talked about becoming a professional artist. Someone wrote and asked what I did to do this. I am going to give you the normal steps and then will share the ones I did that made my career. Before we dive into the steps you need to take to become a professional artist, let’s first define what we mean by “professional artists.” Professional artist earns a significant portion of their income from selling their artwork.
They have established themselves in art and have a recognizable style . They have a website and have developed a strong marketing plan (have to admit I never did the marketing plan…why?…because I didn’t know how. The other thing Professional artists do is they are committed, they are dedicated, willing to do the hard work and they are persistent.
Please remember it doesn’t happen overnight. When you make that decision go over what you have to offer. I am not talking about what you see others offering but what do YOU have to offer? Look over your day and…..what amount of time will you spend in the studio …which days? How many hours? Be reasonable here….., in your eagerness don’t put down you will work 7 days a week. You will burn out. Also know that when you do not feel like creating you go into the studio anyway. If you were working a 9 – 5 job you would go into work like it or not. This is no different because you are the boss or your future.
Identifying your niche and style. A clear vision of what you want to achieve and staying focused on your goals is essential. If you are a watercolorist and you love to paint landscapes and you do them well plus they bring you great joy then figure out why you like doing them, Is the light? Color, Location? This will help you decide how you do your landscapes differently than other artists. Being different is a good thing.
What sets your work apart from other artists? If you don’t know what sets your work apart from others think about what you do that is easy for you so you dismiss it as everyone could do that! That is one of your strengths so build on that to do your art in a different way.
There are several things artist must possess and these are…
Curiosity… to be creative you must be curious about color, how the light caresses an object, values of the colors, shapes…which ones you like and what you don’t like. Do you favor geometric shapes or organic shapes? How does design work and what is a good design?
Passion… In order to get through the rough times you need to be full of passion.
Self-discipline… as I said earlier…you are the CEO of your company….no matter how small or large. You determine everything.
Open to marketing… for people to find you you need to accept marketing as part of the artistic deal. work? Do you want to be in a
gallery? Are you going to do Instagram? Facebook, Youtube, etc?
The key to all these traits is being open and willing to try new things and taking small steps so the scary things aren’t left by the wayside. But with all this said every artist controls their success different ways. The way I did it was by sheer determination and grit. When I realized I wanted to be a professional artist I didn’t have a clue what that meant except that I had to work really hard.
This is when I decided to see how other people became successful in their field of expertise. I read about and interviewed successful people in the sports field, corporate field, writers, musicians and so forth. I found that all ….and I do mean all had several things in common. All successful people had a coach….each said over and over…..you can’t do this alone. As I researched coaching I didn’t find anyone who coached artists. Why? I wondered. With tons of knowledge under my belt I decided to find myself a coach. At the time I needed a coach for my mindset about myself and my business. I was thrown into a group of people who were extremely successful in their field…none were artists and I don’t think they knew what to do
with me.
And just so you know…. I still have a coach today.
The other thing I did that was great was I worked on my style……….. got rejected from a huge amount of shows but I kept going and going, I was determined not to give up…..why? What else would I do? I was totally unemployable.
Why an I unemployable? I day dream a lot, I can’t sit behind a desk all day….I am unemployable so I knew I had best make being an artist
work.
Persistence got me here and today I enjoy a life I never dreamed would
be mine. I get to be with you every week and I am extremely grateful.
