Artists - Making A Living Full-time

Getting Started As An Artist

Is your dream to make a full-time living as an artist? Perhaps since childhood you’ve felt the call of selling your artwork as your way to success and even fame. It’s certainly a common goal, and one that is more attainable than you might imagine.

Many artists have become successful in their fields. Why have they made it, and so many others continue to only dream about breaking through?

Here are a few things that successful artists have in common:

• They believe in themselves
• They have certainty that it’s possible to "make it"
• They don’t give up

Those are all variations of the same thing. Isn’t that odd? The truth is that if you believe in yourself, you have certainty that you can make it, and therefore you don’t give up so easily.

Now you might say that some people are really just lucky. Or way more talented than you. But I insist that luck has absolutely nothing to do with it, and as for the talent, please read the above 3 points again.

How I Became a Working Artist

I can speak from some authority here, as I’ve managed to make a living through my art for the past 20 years, and I never even finished college.

That’s right, I am a self-taught artist. Not only self taught, but I’ve never taken a single class in jewelry making, my artistic specialty. Of course I’m not discouraging you from going to college or taking art classes to increase your skill level. In fact I’m sure that’s a good thing to do.

What I am saying is those things are not what will determine your ability. That is up to you.

I have a lot of confidence that most people reading this have talent. There’s a book by an author named Brenda Ueland called If You Want to Write. In it she says "Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say."

I believe this little book is one of the most important works ever written for artists. I recommend it to almost everyone I know because I agree with Brenda that if you are creating you will be happy, and that if you are happy…well, it’s a lot easier to be successful in life that way.

Now Go Make Some Art!

So that is where it starts. If you just begin creating, you can hone your skills and of course get that much closer to having a product that can be exchanged for money. This is a good thing if you like to eat and sleep out of the elements!

We’ve all heard that expression about keeping your eye on the mountain. This is especially important when you have a goal such as making your living by means of your art.

And here is something else very important, so pay attention. Do not quit your day job.

Keep the money rolling by whatever means you are currently supporting yourself. If you eventually want to support yourself with your art, then create a salable product. This will take some work and research. Some of the things to look at are;

• What are my skills?
• What are people looking to buy?
• What can I provide that they are looking for?

During the research and practice stage you need to keep food on the table and stability in your life. This is not the time to go wild and quit your job, deciding it’s "all or nothing". That’s a good way to end up with nothing.

Finding The Time To Be Creative

Work on your art when you get home from your day job and after you’ve had dinner. Work on your art over weekends and any time you have a day off. Forget the television. Just turn it off or set up a studio in another part of the house where you can’t even hear the blasted thing.

Put on your favorite music, get out the sketch pad or the clay or the paint and get busy! Being an artist is work. Joyful work to be sure, but work just the same. Be honest with yourself, but don’t go looking for other people’s opinions at this point. Trust in yourself.

It’s a sad fact that there are those people who feel their mission in life is to criticize artists. In fact, it pleases these folks quite a bit to see someone struggle and fail. These are not people you want around, and certainly not the people you would go to for advice about your art.

Don’t be too serious! Make your creative time fun and you’ll be rewarded with a growing body of work that will lead you towards your new career as a full time artist.

I’ve always loved the look of sterling silver so it was a medium I naturally gravitated towards as an artist. Creating unique silver jewelry seemed to come naturally to me.

My best advice is to find "If You Want to Write" and purchase this book - then read it cover to cover. I’ve read Brenda Ueland’s book 4 times and every single time I’ve gotten wildly inspired as an artist.