How To Make Money As An Artist: 15 Easy Ways To Earn From Art

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Can’t wait to learn how to make money as an artist?

That’s understandable, to say the least:

While there is nothing wrong with creating paintings as a hobby, monetizing your artistic skills is the better option.

Why shouldn’t you turn your abilities into an online career that will deliver a full-time income into your bank account?

After all, reaching financial freedom while doing what you love is the ultimate dream for most people.

Today, you’ll learn a lot about making money as an artist online:

I’ll introduce you to many ways to earn as an artist without leaving your home.

How Much Money Can You Make Selling Art Online?

Whatever the case might be, you have some important decisions to make.

To help you through the decision-making process, I would like to show you plenty of different ways to earn online as an artist:

How To Make Money As An Artist – The Best Ways To Earn As An Artist

1) Sell Original Paintings Online

Generally, the best way to make money as an artist is by selling your original paintings online, in my opinion. Do it right, and you never have to be a starving artist again!

Nowadays, you can start offering original artwork on your online store or the most popular platforms that will allow you to do that. Some of these platforms are:

• Etsy: Etsy is one of the largest marketplaces that allows artists to sell their work. Creating an Etsy shop will cost you next to nothing. More importantly, it will showcase your original work to a wider audience and many potential clients.
• Saatchi Art: Another online platform that attracts millions of art lovers is Saatchi Art. This online gallery is the right place for artists looking for global exposure.
• Fine Art America: Fine Art America is a bit overcrowded but still worthy of consideration.
• Creative Market: That online platform provides a fantastic way to sell digital products, especially for graphic designers. Building a strong presence on Creative Market will help you develop a customer base and become a full-time artist.

2) Sell Paintings In Art Fairs And Exhibitions

First and foremost, very few artists are lucky enough to sell their works in art exhibitions. A lot of people fail to recognize that fact!

However, if you’re not a beginner and have an agent, you can earn quite well if you sell a painting that way.

Those who don’t have an agent can achieve similar results if they devote time to developing connections and networking within the art world and industry.

Another thing is that art exhibitions don’t happen that often now. Subsequently, create backup strategies for selling your art to achieve success in the long term.

3) Sell Art Prints

One of the most obvious answers to how to make money as an artist is to start selling art prints.

An art print is a print version of your paintings or drawings, such as photos, posters, and mounted canvas.

Depending on the type of art you’ll recreate on a print, your artwork can go for a price that is anywhere between $20-$400. Etsy is once again the platform I recommend for selling art prints.

Why should you pour your creative skills into making and selling art prints? See for yourself:

Firstly, any freelance artist can learn to create high-quality prints – you don’t have to take art classes to master the creative process.

Secondly, art prints usually sell at lower prices – that will allow you to attract a large target audience of potential buyers.

Lastly, selling art prints on many online marketplaces will help you build passive income streams. After all, you will make the prints once and sell them multiple times to different clients.

4) Use Print-On-Demand Services To Sell Different Products

Let’s discuss art prints further by covering the great opportunity of launching a print-on-demand brand. How do you feel about launching such an art business?

A print-on-demand business model will allow you to upload your designs, illustrations, or photographs to different products and sell them on many online art marketplaces.

Once an order comes in, your print-on-demand partner will print your artwork on the product the customer wants to purchase.

Then, the company will ship the product on your behalf. You’ll pay a fee to your printing company after printing and shipping.

You may want to give careful consideration to this subject matter – talented artists can achieve impressive financial success and receive higher profit margins through a POD business.

Recommended Read:

• A Comprehensive Guide To Selling Art On Zazzle
• Make Money Selling Digital Art On Redbubble
• How To Sell Art On Displate

5) Sell Digital Stock Artwork

According to statistics, selling your photos or art designs to stock websites will earn you up to 60% of the total revenue of the sale. What does this mean?

Well, it means you can make anywhere between $20 to over $20,000 per month if you decide to use this selling art online strategy.

I suggest looking into Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, or Creative Market once you become ready to sell your vector designs or photos. These platforms will also allow you to offer non-stock creative work, such as fonts and digital stickers.

Overall, selling digital stock artwork is a great way to reach new potential customers – the good news is that the stock websites do most of the marketing themselves.

Different ways exist to monetize that opportunity as a professional artist – do yourself a favor and research educational content about art licensing before devoting much time to the idea.

6) Do Commission Jobs

Here, we’re talking about doing any work that offers a personalized experience to art enthusiasts.

Whether a client wants a portrait or another form of custom art, you have to be able to deliver on time.

If working under stress and meeting deadlines don’t bother you, feel free to look for an art commission job. You can find one on DeviantArt, ArtStation, and even Twitch.

Should you use your artistic talent to complete commission jobs? Getting private commissions to showcase your skills in visual arts is the easiest way to earn a lot of money and further your artistic career.

7) Offer Your Freelance Services

Working as an art freelancer is more than a source of steady income:

It might become a way to earn a living if you put the effort to establish yourself as a freelance artist in high demand.

The first thing you’ll have to do is build a portfolio that showcases your best artwork. Once you do that, you should create profiles on different job portals, such as UpWork, Freelancer, and Fiverr.

Researching the target market to help you with reasonable pricing for your own art services is unavoidable.

Offering freelance services is not one of the unique ways successful artists rely on to earn money. On the contrary, this money-making idea is a popular way to supplement your income and your fellow artists have been using it for ages.

8) Create And Sell Art Online Courses

Generally, creating and selling an art course might be intimidating if you’re a beginner. But it doesn’t have to be:

Spending time to learn how to create video lessons will pay off in the long run. Offering an online course is a great way to build a passive income stream.

Some of the best platforms to host your art course are Udemy, Skillshare, and Teachable.

What should your art course be about? That depends on you:

For instance, you can help beginners develop the necessary artistic skills to build a successful career in the art world. A better option might be teaching your students to create well-selling digital products, such as business cards, greeting cards, art posters, etc.

9) Create An Art eBook

Assuming creating an online course is a step you’re not ready to take, you might want to consider offering another product – an eBook.

An art eBook is way easier to create than a whole online course. More importantly, you can sell it on tons of different platforms.

Feel free to list your eBook for sale on your own website, Kindle Direct Publishing, and IngramSpark.

As you can imagine, such a unique opportunity to earn by selling the same product on many online platforms is another way to make money while you sleep.

Things To Consider When Creating An Art eBook To Sell:

• Use High-Quality Images: Don’t underestimate the importance of visuals when selling an art digital product.
• Book Covers Matter: Your book cover must be enticing enough to grab the attention of potential buyers.
• Creating A Children’s Book Is The Best Place To Start: Children’s books sell very well online.
• Promote Your eBook To Increase Sales: Many ways exist to promote your eBook – you can talk about it on your social media accounts, write a blog post about it to upload it on your personal website, etc.

10) Offer Paid Art Consultations Online

Using tools like Zoom to offer different online consultations is very popular.

Why shouldn’t you take advantage of that opportunity to work as an art consultant online?

Providing your art knowledge and expertise to help newbie artists is a great way to monetize your art skills.

Of course, you should build yourself as an art expert and have a name in the industry to make the best of this earning idea.

11) Start A YouTube Channel

The next answer to the question of how to make money as an artist I have for you is starting a YouTube channel.

Believe it or not, there are many ways to monetize an art YouTube channel:

You can promote your art projects or earn as an affiliate for a relevant art supply brand or another service.

Also, once your channel grows, you can make money by placing ads within your videos.

Any independent artist should have a YouTube channel – the main reason is that such a channel will increase your online presence and show your artistic practice to a large audience.

12) Give Paid Live Streams

Many of you may wonder – what kind of live streams should I offer to earn money as an artist?

Well, you live stream tutorials, workshops, and webinars where you can do anything from teaching an art class to allowing your audience to ask you questions.

Vimeo and Demio are suitable platforms that will allow you to do that.

It’s worth mentioning that this earning method will work best if you already have a large enough loyal fanbase.

13) Enter Art Contests

By all means, winning an art contest is a long shot.

Still, I believe signing up for different art contests is worth the effort:

Winning one will bring local artists anywhere from $100 to over $50,000 as a cash prize.

In addition, participating in local events like an art contest will put you in the perfect position to demonstrate your artistic abilities in front of experts in the industry.

See Also: How To Sell Your Art Locally

14) Apply For Art Grants

An artist grant will often be more than enough to cover your pending expenses and help you launch an art business online.

If you struggle financially, getting such a grant will satisfy all your needs – and then some.

I suggest researching online and looking into art institutions that provide art grants.

Sometimes, artists offer them, so you should keep that in mind, too.

15) Launch A Crowdfunded Project

Starting a crowdfunded project might not be the first thing that comes to mind when wondering how to make money as an artist.

Be that as it may, doing it is a great way to bring attention to your work and raise funds to develop your art business ventures.

Consider using platforms like Kickstarter and GoFundMe:

Both of these platforms will help you get your project off the ground.

How To Make Money As An Artist Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Start Making Money As An Artist?

Currently, you can start making money as an artist in various ways.

For example, you sell original paintings in your online shop, launch a print-on-demand business, work as a freelancer, and teach art online.

Also, a good way to earn money as a newbie artist is to create an art online course or eBook.

Can An Artist Become Rich?

Yes, you can become rich as an artist, even if achieving that right now might seem unlikely.

With that said, gaining financial security as an artist will require hard work, patience, talent, and knowledge of the market.

More importantly, you have to treat your art like a business and not a hobby you do in your spare time.

What Kind Of Art Sells Best?

According to recent data, landscapes tend to sell the most these days.

Considering the biggest part of the audience prefers to spend money on landscapes, they should be the centerpiece of your sales catalog.

See Also: What Type Of Art Sells Best

Is Being An Artist Worth It?

Yes, being an artist is more than worth it.

While building a successful art business won’t happen overnight, getting into the industry is a decision you will not regret.

Assuming you’re willing to work hard, learn, and grow, making a full-time income from your artwork can become a reality.

Time To Wrap

Is everything clear on how to make money as an artist?

Hopefully, it is because this article must end at some point!

I’ll do my best to keep updating it with more relevant information.

Until then, the word is yours:

What do you think about these ways to earn from your art?

Which one is your favorite?

Let me know in the comments section!

Related Read:

• How To Create A Professional Art Portfolio
• Best Ways To Promote Your Art
• Top eCommerce Platforms For Artists
• TikTok For Artists
• Should You Sell Your Art On Pinterest
• Ways To Sell Art On Facebook
• How To Sell Art On eBay
• In-Depth Guide To Selling Art On DeviantArt
• ArtPal Review