Do you want to know how to become a successful artist? You have spent endless hours creating art and enhancing your artistic skills. You have always had a dream of someday starting an art career and selling art.
Do you ever wonder how successful artists become successful?
Learning how to become a successful artist is easier than you might think.
In this post, I am going to talk about what separates successful artists and the hobbyist artist.
Define Success
Success is defined as the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors, the accomplishment of one’s goals, or the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. (Resource: Dictionary.com)
Success is the accomplishment of one’s goals.
Becoming a successful artist starts with knowing what your objectives are and what success means to you.
What does success mean to you?
Would you say you became successful when:
- When your art career becomes your full-time job
- When you have your art displayed in a gallery
- When you sold enough art to buy a house
- When you have one million followers on Facebook
- When your fine art is featured in an art magazine
Everyone has a different definition of success.
You might want to sell enough art to enjoy yearly vacations. When you have accomplished that goal, you would feel as if you succeeded.
Maybe your dream is to have your art displayed in a gallery.
When that day comes, you will have become a successful artist.
- What are your goals?
- What would you have to achieve to become a successful artist?
Set Art Business Goals
Spend some time to write down in detail what your objectives are for starting an art business.
Everything else will start to fall into place after you have your goals documented.
Writing S.M.A.R.T Goals is one of the best guides for writing achievable goals and I highly recommend taking advantage of this guide.
- Specific – well-defined and clear
- Measurable – include measurable indicators to track progress
- Attainable – realistic and achievable within the resources, time, money, experience, etc. you have
- Relevant – align with your other goals
- Timely – has a finishing date
Here are some tools to help you write and document your art goals:
How To Write Goals You Can Achieve Workbook
Annual Business Revie Workbook
Art Goal Printable Planners
What Is Your Passion
It is easier to work on projects you have a passion for rather than working on things you despise to do. You want to start an art business because you love creating art.
What does find your passion mean?
For you, finding your passion means to create art you love to create.
How often would you skip going to the studio if you did not like the subjects you were painting or drawing?
Would you be excited to start every day if you were painting and selling fine art you loved to create?
Why not start a business doing something that will make you excited to start working every day?
There are going to be jobs you will not enjoy doing, like blogging, answering emails, writing newsletters, creating posts for social media, etc.
However, if you are writing about topics you have a passion for, you will find the tasks a little less painful.
Take a few minutes and think about what style of art you would like to create and sell for the long term.
It is fine to experiment with different subjects and mediums, but the main focus of your art business should focus on your passion.
Master Your Artistic Skills
Many artists are trying to sell art in the world.
The art world has grown over the past few years, thanks to the internet.
Art marketing online is easier than ever.
The challenge you will face is there are many artists who are trying to do what you are doing, trying to sell art online.
How can you separate yourself from all of the other artists trying to sell art that is similar to yours?
The answer is to continue to enhance your artistic skills.
Successful artists invest in their art business.
Investing in courses, art school, and one-on-one tutorials will enhance your artistic skill quicker than trying to do it on your own.
Below are several free drawing tutorials that will help you to enhance your drawing skills:
- How To Draw A Lemon
- Best Sketch Paper Online Drawing Apps
- How To Draw A Pumpkin
- How To Draw A Banana
- How To Draw An Apple
- Art Challenge Ideas Spark Creativity
- Over 100 Ideas Of What To Draw And Sketch
- 5 Awesome Art Techniques Using Various Mediums
- Realistic Drawing Tips You Must Know
- How To Draw Realistic Cat Eyes
- How To Draw Realistic Eyes Step By Step
- How To Preserve Pencil Drawings
- How To Keep Graphite Drawings Clean
- How To Draw Realistic Hair With Graphite
- How To Shade Drawings With Graphite
- How To Draw A Tulip
- Drawing Tips For Enhancing Your Drawing Skills
- Drawing With An Eraser
- Drawing Tips For Realistic Drawings
Popular Online Drawing Courses:
Courses From Blueprint:
- Startup Library: Painting With Watercolors
- Realistic Watercolors Step By Step
- Improve Your Paintings: Luminous Watercolor Mixing
- The Art Of Painting Horses
- Bold Techniques For Acrylic Landscapes
Push Your Artistic Limits
Always push your artistic limits while you are learning how to enhance your artistic skills so you can become more creative.
Dry different:
- Mediums
- Sizes
- Color palettes
- Compositions
- Light
Ever since I started drawing (the age of 5), I have always challenged my self to make the next drawing better than the one I just created.
There have been times that I have fallen short while other times, I was extremely prowed of my drawing.
By challenging myself, I was able to push my artistic limits which made me a better artist.
Discover what will motivate yourself to push your artistic limits so you can separate yourself from all of the other artists selling art online.
Build Your Art Portfolio
I am often asked, “how much artwork do I need for my portfolio before I can start selling my art online?”
I tell them to start marketing their art online when they have a few pieces available.
It takes time to build an online presence.
The sooner you start promoting your art online, the better.
People will follow you because of the art you create, not because you have 50 pieces of fine art displayed on your art website.
You will be adding more art to your online art gallery as time goes by.
Before you know it, you will have a portfolio filled with jaw-dropping artwork.
Build An Online Presence
Like I have mentioned earlier, it takes time to build a following online.
The good news is that there are many tools available that will help you to reach new people every day.
Your art blog will help you to reach people searching on Google and Bing.
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook will help you to connect with your art collectors.
Platforms like Pinterest and Instagram will showcase images of your art in their news feed.
The sooner you start promoting your art business on these platforms, the better.
Related Resources:
- What Branding Is For Creative People
- Must Know Art Branding Basics For Increasing Art Sales
- Build Brand Awareness With Your Signature
- Sell Your Paintings By Building Your Brand
Become An Art Marketing Expert
Successful artists have become successful because they spent their time learning how to become an art marketing expert.
Below are some marketing strategies you will want to learn more about.
Branding:
Create An Artist Brand Workbook
How To Build An Artist Brand That Attracts Collectors
Blogging:
How Artists Need To Use Blogging To Build Success
Increase blog traffic:
The Guide To Producing Shareable Content
Best Art Blog Traffic Tips That Work
How Long Does It Take To Rank In Google
Blog Post Headings:
How To Optimize Headings For SEO
5 Tips For Writing Catchy Headlines That Will Attract Readers
How To Create Headlines That Attract Buyers
SEO:
The Ultimate SEO Guide For Artists
The Importance Of SEO In Fine Art Business
SEO Tips For Artists – Increase Artist Website Traffic
Time management:
5 Effective Time Management For Artist Tips
Best Time Management Strategies For The Working Artist
How To Make More Art – 10 Productivity Tips For Artists
Where to sell your art:
16 Best Websites To Sell Art Online
POD Websites How To Increase Art Sales
Pricing art:
How To Calculate The Selling Price Of A Product
How To Price Your Artwork For Better Sales
Show Your Art Prices To Increase Sales
Photographing art:
4 Best Digital Cameras For Photographing Artwork
Tips For eCommerce Photography For Crafters
Art marketing basics:
Research Your Online Art Marketing To Boost Sales
Commission Artwork – Best Strategies
How To Start An Art Business That Thrives
Email marketing:
Best Art Newsletter Topics To Write About
How To Avoid The Top Email Errors Made By Artists
7 Email Contact Lis Benefits For Artists
Pinterest:
5 Ways To Repurpose Your Content On Pinterest
How To Maximize Pinterest Opportunities To Sell Your Art
4 Pinterest Tools To Skyrocket Your Pinterest Traffic
7 Pinterest Business Tips For Artists Selling Art Online
Instagram:
7 Ways Artists Can Use Instagram To promote Their Art
Instagram For Artists – How To Boost Art Sales
Best Instagram Story Ideas For Creative People
Facebook:
How To Use Facebook To Build Relationships With Art Collectors
Facebook Boost Posts – Should Crafters Stay Away
How To Add Products To A Facebook Shop
Twitter:
Daily Action Plan Share Art On Twitter
12 Marketing Benefits For Artists
Increase Website Traffic With Twitter
Can Twitter Help You Sell More Art
Never Give Up
There is no secret about how to become a successful artist.
It is impossable to fail as long as you do not stop trying.
There will be many obstacles you will have to overcome while you are striving to succeed, but as long as you never quit, you will reach the finish line.
The artists who do not succeed are the ones who stopped trying too early.
You will become a successful artist if you stay patient, keep creating beautiful art, keep learning about art marketing, and learn from your mistakes.
Stop Making Excuses
Successful artists do not make excuses.
Successful people do not view strategies that do not produce results as failed attempts.
Instead, they call them to work in progress.
They will keep revising low performing strategies until they begin to produce the results they were striving for.
Creating excuses will only prevent you from fixing a problem.
Become Productive With Your Time
Successful people learn how to be productive with their time.
Operating a business takes a lot of work.
You can see how much work is involved in operating an online art business by all of the marketing strategies I mentioned above.
Learning how to be more productive with your time will allow you to get essential tasks done in less time.
Do You Need An Art Degree To Sell Art
Art school, art tutorials, and one-on-one art classes will help you to enhance your artistic skills.
Art schools and tutorials will teach you proper techniques, color theory, perspective, how light reacts to objects, etc. But art schools will not teach you how to sell art.
Like I have mentioned earlier, you need to continue to make your art better, but it is only one slice of the pie that makes an artist a successful artist.
Networking with other artists and learning about art marketing is as essential as learning how to draw or how to paint.
How To Become A Successful Artist Overview:
- Define Success
- Set Art Business Goals
- What Is Your Passion
- Master Your Artistic Skills
- Push Your Artistic Limits
- Build Your Art Portfolio
- Build An Online Presence
- Become An Art Marketing Expert
- Never Give Up
- Stop Making Excuses
- Become Productive With Your Time
Popular Art Marketing And Sales Tutorials
Below are some of the most famous art marketing courses that will grow your online art business:
Most Popular – How to Make a Living Selling What You Make by Megan Auman
Most Popular – Build a Successful Creative Blog by April Bowles-Olin
How to Build a Business While Learning Your Craft by Megan Auman
Pinterest Marketing for Makers & Designers by Megan Auman
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