How Do You Become A Successful Visual Artist

What Is Success As An Artist

Before achieving success as an artist, you have to know the definition of success and decide what success means to you personally.

Success has a different meaning for everyone.

Examples of success for some artists:

• Making a career in the art world
• Earing enough money for vacations and other fun activities
• Selling art
• Gallery Representation
• People admiring their art
• People sharing social media posts of their art
• Mastering an art style and technique

Many successful artists you come into contact with share similar motivational characteristics to create art: financial stability, recognition, and becoming a master of their skills.

Even though most successful artists share the same traits, the meanings of financial stability, recognition, and mastering their art skills vary for each individual.

A clear vision of what is important to you will help you prioritize your efforts and guide you to your success quicker.

For example, artists who want to make a career selling art will spend most of their efforts at craft fairs, local holiday events, open studio events, and promoting their work online.

On the other hand, artists wishing to master their art skills will spend hours a day practicing their techniques and investing in online art courses.

Artists seeking recognition will often join art competitions and work on perfecting their online portfolios.

Discover what your motivation is so you can direct your efforts more effectively. If selling your art is your motivation, you will want to focus on creating art and learning everything about online and offline marketing.

If you are striving to perfect your art skills, invest in art courses.

What Percentage Of Artists Are Successful

Only ten percent of art school graduates make a living from their artwork. (Source: Ideas.Ted)

In the US, full three-quarters of artists made $10,000 or less per year from their art. Close to half (48.7 percent) made no more than $5,000. (Source: Artnet)

Why do only 10% of art school graduates make a living from their artwork?

Why do 75% of artists in the US make $10,000 or less a year selling art?

The artists who succeed are motivated to succeed. They have a clear vision of what they want and work hard at their daily goals. The bottom line is that successful artists will do everything it takes to achieve their goals.

The successful artist knows what they want, and they know what they have to do to become successful. They also know that success does not happen overnight. They accept that being an artist is hard, but they are willing to put in the hard work and the work late hours even though they are exhausted.

How To Become A Successful Artist

Produce Work

One common trait successful artists share is that they are continually devoting time to the studio. They do not wait until they are inspired to create. They go into the studio daily and force themselves to create art to sell.

Selling a product is a numbers game.

The more art you create, the easier it is to have your art seen by more people.

Scheduling time daily to create new art will help you reach a broader audience online and have more products to sell at local craft shows.

Most successful artists create art full-time. However, when you are just starting, this might be unfeasible because you might have to work other jobs to supplement your income. If you are starting an art career, dedicate time every week to create art, even if it is only 10-20 hours a week. Remember that the more you create, the better your chance of building a loyal following.

Between your day job and time in the studio, you will be putting in long hours. You might find yourself working 10-15 hours a day, and at that time, you will have to ask yourself, is it worth it? If you want to build a successful art business, the sacrifice will be well worth it.

Narrow Down Your Niche

Successful artists are known for creating art they are passionate about and focus on that subject matter.

The challenge emerging artists face is deciding on what subject matter they would like to pursue. Few artists have a clear vision of what they want to create for their art career, while many have to experiment to discover their passion.

If you know what subject matter and art style you would like to be known for, spend all of your efforts on that subject. If you are unsure what style of art you would like to create for the next 10-20 years, experiment with different subjects and mediums and join art challenges to see what comes more naturally.

Define Your Niche

• Subject matter
• Medium
• Style
• Theme
• Colors
• Composition

Developing an effective marketing plan will be easier once you have a clear vision of what you want to create.

Develop An Art Busines Plan

Artists who want to make a career selling art devote a tremendous amount of time to enhancing their art skills. When the time comes when they feel confident to take the leap and start selling their artwork, they realize they are not just artists who create art but also operate a business.

Operating an art business might not seem as exciting as creating art in the studio. But when you land your first sale or leave your current job to work full-time as an artist, operating an art business is exhilarating.

The first step in running a successful art business is organizing yourself.

What To Focus On:

• Inventory
• Marketing
• Logistics
• Policies
• Shipping

You probably have an adequate inventory of work to sell if you don’t focus on building a large inventory. The logistics and your art business policies are the following things to get in order. The last step is to become familiar with the different art marketing strategies successful artists use to build name recognition and sell their products.

How To Make It In The Art World

Thousands of new artists try to have their art noticed online every month. The competition is fierce, and the amount of work involved in promoting your art might seem overwhelming, but if you are organized and know what to focus on, you will notice that selling art online and offline is doable.

We have already talked about creating a large inventory of art to sell, narrowing down on your niche, and organizing your art business. Let’s talk about some of the roadblocks you will discover along the journey to success.

Not Enough Time

Successful artists do not say that there is not enough time to complete a painting or not enough time to publish an Instagram post.

There will be times when you feel overwhelmed with everything that has to get done.

Instead of putting tasks on the back burner, take some time to develop a plan to get the job done.

Maybe you will have to hire a freelancer from Fiverr to outsource specific jobs to focus on more important jobs.

Another way to save time is by using social media scheduling tools like Tailwind.

Listen to marketing podcasts while driving in your car to learn the latest art marketing tips.

Make a list of all the jobs you need to accomplish to achieve your goals and develop strategies to get them done in the least amount of time.

Comparing Your Art To Other Art

Successful artists do not compare their art with other artists’ work. They do not say to themselves, “If my art were as good as that, I would be able to sell more.” Instead, they are confident with the art they create and can admire other art pieces without feeling their art is not good enough.

Inconsistent Work Schedule

Operating an art business is a job. You will have to treat it like a job and schedule a weekly work schedule. Many artists are not disciplined and find it challenging to devote time every week to their art business. On the other hand, successful artists have a weekly work schedule, and if they have to work extra hours now and then, they do so without a blink of an eye.

Where Do Artists Work

Artists work in art studios in office buildings, lofts, warehouses, or studios built in their homes.

The medium and the supplies’ toxicity will determine if they need to work in a well-ventilated area.

More and more artists are starting a business selling their art at local craft fairs and selling their products online. In addition to selling their creations, they create different revenue streams relating to art or other jobs to support their art career.

Fine Art Occupation:

• Illustrator
• Fine Art
• Cartoonist
• Digital artist
• Ceramic artist
• Furniture makers
• Fiber artists
• Glass artists
• Jewelry artists
• Sculptors
• Sketch artists
• Airbrush artists
• Portrait artists
• Tattoo artists

(Resource: bls.gov)

How Do You Become A Successful Visual Artist Final Thoughts

You might ask yourself, “How long does it take to become a good artist?’ or ” How long does it take to build successful art businesses?”

To succeed as an artist, you must work hard in your career and decide what success means to you.

The amount of time you devote to your career will determine how long it takes for you to achieve your business goals.

The important thing is to never give up on your dreams. The people who didn’t achieve artistic success are the ones who gave up too early.

More Success Artist-Related Posts

10 Mindsets Of A Successful Artist

How To Promote Art – Tips From Successful Artists

How To Become An Artist Without A Degree

How To Becom A Confident Artist