A little background for context :

I’m a 28 years old, going into art college this year, still getting support from my parents. My parents supported me, but the internal shame and guilt of still being dependent on my parents has taken its toll on me. But on one hand, I still don’t want to quit my art. That’s why I determined, if by 30 I don’t at least earn a minimum wage income from my art (roughly 151$/month) I will accept my fate, and just go back to my home city and use my Japanese literature degree to find a job.

My past plan

I have tried to earn money mostly by doing NSFW art online, which I put behind a patreon paywall for the nsfw version, and been posting on social media consistently (3 illustration/week).  Also did try to make animation on youtube, but stopped since 3 illustration on top of college assignment is too much. It did not bring me much income at all.

My new plan

After some planning and thinking, I came up with a new plan. Instead of putting my hopes in the illustration only, I’m gonna spread the seed further. So instead of 3 illustration, I’m going to do

1 Ilustration, 1 short animation, and 1 webtoon episode per week

 Personally I think this is the best solution, since I’m not just dependent on one sources for my income, But I’m worried that is it not enough If I just post 1 type of work / week like that.

There’s the proverb “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” and there’s “if you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one” I wonder where I’m at.

I need your opinion on this, should I variate my work like that ? Or should I just focus on one work instead ?

I currently make children's art and realistic art. The lack of cohesion is bothering me. Growing one account is difficult enough but if I do separate them now would be the best time. I barely have a hundred followers. Do you have different pages for each art style?

Link to my page.

The blog that seems to have the most information about this topic is

https://blog.folksy.com/2024/11/26/gpsr-guide-for-artists-and-makers-on-folksy

This is unfortunately going to kill a lot of micro/small businesses coming Dec 13th 2024.

If you own an online store and sell products to the EU will you be ceasing shipping them to the EU starting Dec 13th like many others?

This is perhaps a complicated question, but I'd appreciate some knowledgeable guidance. I'm a self-employed artist/musician whose income has kept me well within the Oregon Health Plan/Medicaid earnings limits. I have a one-off project that will slightly bump me above those limits next year -- and my hopes are to eventually bring in a better income on a regular basis. So far, I've always declared my income as an individual rather than as a business entity.

My question is: if I form an LLC or something of that nature and assign myself a personal salary that is below OHP limits can I legitimately maintain my OHP? Most of my income is used for business expenses anyways, so I'm hoping I can keep business income as a separate thing that won't interfere with my individual health care qualification. The big problem for me is that a small bump above OHP limits results in a giant leap in hc costs that leaves me even poorer than before.

I'm not looking to attempt any shady tricks here! I'd like to know if this approach is fully and straightforwardly legal. My business knowledge is limited, so I might be looking at this completely wrong. Knowledgeable feedback would be extremely helpful.

I began a 24h radio online and will loop visuals.

I will invest paying paid promotions that can impress >200k people and provide >20K views in little time (First tier)

This will make the art being seen as in a virtual exposition. Though there are people saying I still have to pay the artists.

I also have local musical artists there that did not complain.

Thoughts?

I'm thinking about making custom made stickers and selling them myself. What's the best way to do this that doesn't involve a 3rd company party printing and shipping the stickers?

Hi everyone. I'm 30 years old. I never really put much thought into my IQ over the years. I took one of those standardized testings whenever I was in high school for a psych evaluation. My IQ came back at I think 85. I Always thought I had some type of learning disability although I was never formally diagnosed with one.

One thing I really started investing myself in recently was learning how to paint, and use different art mediums.. Why not pick up a new hobby?

One thing I'm noticing is that I'm really struggling. I guess if you think about it painting a picture is very intricate. You need to know how to apply the medium you're using, the right way to apply it and in the right areas. It's a lot like solving a puzzle. Which I remember doing multiple times during my IQ test many years ago.

I'm starting to realize that it's not just a learning curve that I'm struggling with when adapting this new skill. It's almost like I'm a little bit intellectually disabled when it comes to creating things and learning new techniques. Memory and concentration.Does anyone know if IQ is relevant to artwork at all?

Lately, I've seen several reels on social media where artists or creators will show a behind the scenes of their process when packing orders. Sometimes they do some cute little extra things like a bow on top and branded sticker, but I have also seen some people go all out and be really extra - stamp, sticker, wax seal, confetti on everything.

Nothing wrong with the latter, you do you. I'm more curious if the customer actually cares about all that? They probably don't expect all that extra stuff when they order the product so I guess it makes them feel like one in a million. But once that initial feeling wears off after opening the package, does it influence them to be a returning customer?

If you are one of those "more the merrier" creators with packaging, did you do that as soon as your first order or only once your sales were successful?

Today I completed one of my sketchbooks with many drawings that I would like to see as some t shirt collection: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDAeC1oMp2K/?igsh=ODY0aXBxeHM4MGdj

Are there any companies calling up artists for a right design, or should I look for some websites similar to redbubble? I would really like to see some of these as some kind of a brand.

Hello! I was looking into buying the Epson Ecotank 5500 for making art prints and it seemed like a great option for me, but a fellow artist told me it doesn't work well with any paper except regular printer paper. I'm mainly planning to use archival paper though - not cardstock or anything too thick. Have any of y'all had experiences with this? How does it do with other papers?

So i see so many artists on etsy and IG make stickers and diff items with sanrio and pokemon and popular things that are already copyrighted. And they change it into their own style. So, I'm curious if anyone knows the legality of that. Where is the line where the line? Are these small businesses taking a risk that these companies won't find them and send them a cease and desist or are they within a legal right to alter it enough where it's considered their own design to sell? Because to me a lot of it still looks very much like the originals.

I don't know if this is the best place to ask about this and I never post on reddit, but I'm desperately seeking advice here and don't have anyone I can ask irl.

I've just had a voice actor contact me and ask if they could sell prints of a very old drawing I'd done of the character they'd voiced.

BUT I've never sold any piece commercially or even sold prints of my own work before, so I have no idea how I'd price that in the first place.

Also how does buying the rights to sell prints even work/what does that look like?

They asked about buying the rights or doing a commission based payment and I don't know what the best course of action here is.

I DEFINITELY would love to do this though, and the piece is so old it's not like I was ever going to make any kind of profit on it anyway so I don't think I particularly care about getting a ton of money out of this or anything....I'm just extremely flattered they've asked.

I feel so dumb not knowing what to do in this situation lol

Doing my first art/craft fair type thing tomorrow, and I am struggling with how to make my booth/area presentable. I’ve done one art show before where I had wall space and was able to hang everything up, but this is more of a fair. I am primarily selling linocut block prints and these posters I’ve designed. I feel good on pricing. And I think I know how to have the block prints displayed, but I’m struggling with the posters. They’re 11x17 and can be stand alone or go together as a set of 7. I won’t have room to display all 7.

I have the same prints in 5x7 postcard size so maybe display all of those and have 2 framed posters? And then how’s a presentable way to actually GIVE them the poster? Roll it up with a rubber band?

This is my first time doing something like this. Any and all advice is helpful!!

I keep seeing ads for this site called artfulcontracts that offers to give you policy templates including disclaimers, copyrights, and privacy policy for your website, all for USD $37. I’m curious if anyone’s used this service and if you know of another source where I can find these policies without having to go through a lawyer. Do you guys have these policies on your site?

Thank you in advance!

Every Saturday let's share the things that are going well in our art businesses.

It might be some positive interactions with customers or social media, it might be your first or your hundredth sale, or it might just be that you're proud of how much you got done that week. Let's spread some positivity and excitement about our amazing art businesses!

Hello!

This situation is kind of specific to enamel pin selling and the anime industry/community, but I would appreciate any advice.

I've been collecting anime enamel pins for a little over a year now and I'm now interested in making my own. Initially, I was thinking of doing it as a hobby and price the pins so that I can break even. I would also want to only make small batches of the pins (~100 or less per design).

However, I've seen other makers talk about their own issues where they have to refund out of pocket for one reason or another. And now, with the price of everything going up, it would be nice to make a little extra.

But I am concerned about how to deal with copyrights as I'd be drawing from anime shows and the like as I don't know how other anime fanartists sell their merch. Or the type of business licenses I would need as I would want to be an online seller only (so no conventions or markets or anything).

What should I consider? What would your advice be?

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for a high-quality print-on-demand service that specializes in large-format, museum-quality prints and frames. I’ve been inspired by a lot of stores I’ve seen on Instagram offering stunning, large-scale framed art prints, and I’d love to offer something similar in my own store.

Here’s what I’m looking for: • High-quality materials (museum-grade prints and durable, stylish frames) • Large-format options • Easy integration with e-commerce platforms • A service that can handle fulfillment and shipping

My goal would be to integrate this with an Etsy store or other online marketplaces, so ease of use and compatibility with those platforms would be a huge plus.

If you’ve had any experience with a service like this or know of one that can produce this level of quality, I’d love to hear your recommendations! Bonus points if they have customization options for frames and sizes.

Thanks in advance.

I make watercolor paintings, and a client (friend) requested a printed blanket. My paintings are usually 4x6, which I'm certain is too small! But what size would a painting need to be to avoid getting too blurry on a small printed blanket? (I'm thinking like a 50"x60" blanket.)

I was wondering .. when I draw adoptables, I usually think about a backstory for all characters...
Can I talk about the backstory when I'm selling the adoptables or maybe it's better I let it quiet and let it for buyer decide about backstory?

Edit: I saw some replies here, thank you for reply me! It helped try figure out what I maybe can try or not!~

Just started posting on tiktok a few days ago and I think it's doing pretty well considering i haven't promoted it anywhere, but I had a few questions in terms of how things work on the site.

1. Since I mainly post slideshows (not an animator or video creator) I had this idea that the last slide could be a plug of my commissionpage. Would this get me flagged for spam or decrease interaction on my posts? I'm asking cause it would be posting the same image over and over pretty much.

2. Are posting slideshows viable? I know tiktok is mainly a short form video platform, but making a whole video out of every art piece of interrupt my workflow too much.

3. How do I know if a post is doing well? I've heard numbers are pretty inflated on there compared to other sites due to the sheer amount of users, just want to get a general idea of what's good for an art page

4. Feel free to give any general advice on using tiktok, cause it's all new to me.

Thanks.

How can I sell my art on snapchat, cara, bluesky, twitter and reddit

Hello!! So, recently I ordered some charms from VOGRACE and I got some mixed results!

I ordered two different kinds; the clear acrylic double-sided ones and the ‘rainbow’ flat acrylic double-sided ones.

My double sided clear ones actually turned out great!! Super cute, colors are perfect, no large blemishes or scratches!! Would definitely considering buying again.

However, I was a bit disappointed by the flat acrylic ones; I ordered them as such because I wanted two different designs on the front and back. The colors were great once again but especially on the backside of the charm there was a lot of scratch marks and other small signs of damage. Is this just because they don’t get that same clear acrylic coating?

So really my main question is: VOGRACE gave me a solid order for my first time ever ordering acrylic charms, but with some flaws. I’ve looked around a bit but most other artists online also say they use VOGRACE for custom charms and I’m having a hard time finding other recommendations. So if you have any other suggestions/thoughts/experiences I would love to hear them!!

The one thing I have seen is some people saying they use certain Alibaba sellers to create their charms. Is that legit? Good quality? Do I have to worry about these sellers taking my intellectual property that I give them to make me charms?

If you’re a custom charm maker/seller I would really love to know what company/site you use!!

And, as an afterthought, how much do you sell custom charms for? I see a lot in the roughly $10 margin.

I’m thinking about starting art commsions to earn some extra money. I’m think about making them for about $10-15 each with with $5-10 per extra character. Where should I sell them online and what about taxes? I’m not good at math. If you have any tips or anything like that, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

I have a gallery and have sold things over the years but I’m thinking of changing my name to create a separate market, showing new work under this name. Is this something that can be done or will I still be the same artist in terms of market.

Does anyone here have this printer? I'm buying it to print poster art, make zines and some cardboard small sized art prints as well.

Would like to hear from whoever has it about the experience with it!

Also, have a question, how do I know if there are other inks compatible with it? The ones that come with it are CLI-150, but I see that CLI-250 are the same shape, would it fit?

Art Gallery follower buying from me directly/ what’s fair to pay the gallery when you (the artist) has done all the talking and sale via dm to the buyer since he messaged you asking for it all ?

Hi y’all!

This is my portfolio: https://katrinasart0.wixsite.com/home

It’s an old portfolio and I need to update it with my current works. That being said, my style has remained the same-I’ve contacted variety of publishing companies. However, I’ve been rejected without any specific feedback. If some people would kindly tell me what I need to improve on or at least what to do to create a stronger portfolio, I would greatly appreciate it!

Hello all 👋

I was asked by a guy who owns a local tattoo shop if I was interested in being on a display at his art show. He said that he liked my style and would love to have me on board. Of course, I said yes! It’s going to be a showing of several artist, not just myself, but it’s a good way of getting my art and my name out there!

Here’s the kicker, this is my first one. I am not new to art (although I just recently started back a couple of months ago, after a ten year blackout), but I am new to showings and selling. Artist have the option of either pricing their work at a set price, or do an auction. I’m not sure how to set a price for either…

Any advice from any experienced fellow artist? What should I price my work as? Surely we are expected to sell originals. But, if I’m able, I’d like to offer prints to others who would like to buy my work…If that may be the case. So, what should I price those at? (Originals & prints) All advice welcomed!

Thank you!

Recently i made a drawing that was quite liked here on reddit, and a few people agreed I should make prints since I've been wanting to for a long time. I made a print that is 11 x 7.5 inches and i live in a small town in italy so the printing shop near me doesn't make many more sizes than that lol so that would be the size I'd always use. It's matte on good quality 250gsm paper and it cost €2.50 to make, plus i would count something like €0.50-€1 for the packaging to ship it. So, what would be a sensible price for a print like that, on Etsy, excluding shipping? Thanks ❤️