How to quit your job to make art
Hello everyone! my name is Zack Wolfe and I'm a 19-year-old illustrator and graphic designer. Last week I was able to quit my job of 2 years to pursue my passion for art and design while being able to afford rent, food, etc. without any help. I wanted to share my knowledge in this very competitive market and hopefully help out some of my fellow artists. I have created a list of steps and tips that I have used to get to the point I'm at! (I don't make a TON, but I'm able to survive off doing what I love, and that's rare!)
1.) POST YOUR WORK!
There are so many amazing artists out there who are so afraid of being judged that they won't share their work with the world, just do it! Not only will this push you to do better, but this is THE ONLY WAY you are going to be successful in today's market.
Posting your work will allow you to connect and collaborate with businesses, other artists, etc. as well as get you clients. I recommend using Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You should also be looking out for emerging social medias (such as Steemit) because there will be far less competition, making it much more likely for people to hit that follow button.
Remember that your followers do not see the hard work you put into your artwork, they only see the final result. I highly recommend showing progress shots, timelapse videos, etc. So your followers can see how hard you worked on a piece!
Here's my Instagram, as of recent I have been posting one to two times EVERY DAY! Since I have been doing this I have noticed a large increase in followers and commissions!
2.) DOUBLE TASK!
There are many ways you can accomplish multiple things while creating a piece of work, I'll reveal my workflow for example. My work is highly influenced by underground hip-hop culture. When I create a piece of artwork or a new illustration I often make a widely known artist in my niche. Doing this will 1.) Give me practice 2.) Bring in more likes and follows to my page 3.) Gives a chance of the musician reposting the work to hundreds of thousands of people 4.) Gives me a piece of artwork I am able to make into prints and sell. If you want to expand the likelihood of becoming a successful artist, you need to study and think about what you're going to create before you do anything. For me, I choose artists that have 50,000 - 500,000 followers, if an artist has too many followers it makes it too unlikely for them to even see it but if they don't have enough, the potential exposure is not worth the time I put into my pieces. This does not only relate to fan art either...If you enjoy drawing dogs, search famous dogs on Google/Instagram and tag the owner in it.
3.) Work...HARD!
Until last week I have been going to school, work AND building my art business! I would wake up at 7, work all day, go to school until 8 at night and then work on my art business until 1 in the morning. Being an artist is far from easy, you're going to have to work twice as hard as anyone you know if you want to be successful. I highly recommend watching "Gary V" on youtube, he is a business advisor and many of his tips can be used to help start and grow your personal business. I recommend posting a new piece of work (or your progression depending on how long it takes you) on your social media at least once a day. This will gravitate new followers (potential clients!) towards you as well as keeping your old ones active and aware of your hard work.
4.) Pick your niche...but let your style find you!
You don't want to be drawing dogs all day if your true passion is cats (and vice versa). Start out creating what you love so you don't get stuck with a fan base that follows you for something you don't enjoy creating. BUT don't let your niche affect the evolution of style! Your style is what separates you from all of the other artists in the world. I have seen many artists get stuck with similar styles because it is the "norm" for their specific niche, but the successful artists are the ones that have developed their own unique style. I absolutely recommend copying other artists, especially if you're just starting out, but make sure you are adding your own secret recipe to the piece! If you have yet to develop your unique style, try copying multiple artists to create a single piece of artwork. Take aspects from each one and mush it all together, this will eventually lead to something new and unique that you can call your own!
5.) RESEARCH!
No matter what you're making I can almost guarantee someone is better than you, LEARN FROM THEM! Do a google search and look at what past artists have done and what the successful ones are doing right now. YouTube is your best friend, you can even learn while creating art! In today's world, it is very rare to just be an artist, we have to be business men/women now as well. You need to research your market, how to use social media, how to build a website, etc. AGAIN...GO WATCH GARY V!
I realize these tips aren't for everybody, some people want to hang out at their house and create just for fun. This is for the people who want to maximize their chances of making a living creating art and designs. If you've made it this far thank you for reading! Feel free to add or address anything in the comment section. Keep creating!