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Feb 22, 2021

How to Make Money as an Artist

Let's discuss how artist can make money in this article. Aspiring artists are oftentimes told they cannot live on the money that comes from the sale of their art. The truth is that the majority of artists may struggle, but it's not that bad after all. Artists can still make a good living by selling their creative Let's look at several practical tips that will be helpful for both aspiring and pro artists.


To make our story more visually appealing we will use some reproductions from PROHBTD, a productive digital artist. PROHBTD has allowed us to use the reproductions to support our tips for creatives.

Well, art can make you money. But make a division between the passion+dedication with the business part of the deal. Passion includes everything that you as an artist enjoy doing: prep process, ideation, creation, finishing touches.

The business part comes with your ability to distribute your works to different audiences. Here you should want to talk with people about your art, contact galleries, set up a website, start online accounts on specialty sites and social media. 

Now over to our tips about how you can make money as an artist.

Tip #1: Focus on your unique value proposition and niche


As an artist, you want to be distinguished by a specific trait in your works. For example, PROHBTD includes chaos in their digital and physical pieces. Many visual artists like PROHBTD are taking chaos to the next level and reshape its nature. If in the past centuries chaos was depicted as the end of everything, today chaos serves more noble causes. It is used to communicate important messages telling people to change and improve their perceptions and thinking about themselves and the world around them.

This piece from the Control Couple series by PROHBTD showcases how we as individuals may be controlled by media. No more brains, just controls.


Tip #2: Teach the art as you know it


Teachers earn a good income within the art world. So as an aspiring creative you may consider teaching art for financial stability. But you need to have some experience in your field to get a teaching position. As a fresh graduate of an art school it will be difficult, so be patient. Teaching art is also a popular and competitive area, so you need to have a competitive edge in how and what you teach. As usual, experience comes with more work in your area. Keep creating!

Tip #3: Network a lot


Networking gives you the opportunity to spread the word about your creations. It's also a way to meet established artists, representatives, and art buyers. By talking with people in the art circles helps you understand what's going on in this world. 

Don't disregard the web. The Internet is full of visual artists like  PROHBTD, who create their visual art galleries and exhibitions. 

Let's look at how PROHBTD is exposing their work online. See their FACE IT and ESCAPE IT collections on their website.

FACE IT includes all the works that call to think about how institutions treat us, how we treat each other, and how we treat the world. The FACE IT collection calls to pay more attention to the issues we see around us: police violence, stereotyping, fake democracy and so much more.

Is Democracy democratic?


The pace of technology


Stop the police violence!


ESCAPE IT is taking us on an imaginative journey where we can rethink how we are living our lives and where we want to go. How would you imagine freedom, for example? Liberation from the shackles and liftoff to the beauty of the sky!


Tip #4: Budget for your creative work


As an artist it makes sense to have an art budget. If you want to become a professional artist, you need to budget for your tools and other expenses. Work a budget out to include equipment and travel.

Tip #5: Showcase and sell your work online


Start selling your art on sites like Etsy or DeviantArt. This is going to be your first step to showcase your art to the world. Expect these marketplaces to be competitive, so learn how to use these online platforms and how to promote your art on these sites.

Artists like PROHBTD feel the pulse of our reality and are able to present the vices in unusual ways. But it's also true that financial rewards may not come immediately after the completion of your first work. The financial stability from your art will only come when you apply the same dedication to exposing your art to the world that you use to create these pieces in the first place.