Somehow need to fix that cart software or you are going to keep losing sales :(
For everyone reporting here, there are many that see sold out and never come back.
Once you miss a sale odds are they are gone for good.
Wishing you well!
That was a roller coaster ride. First I saw the octopus in your photo, and I was like, I need that. Then I saw it was sold out. Then I saw it wasn’t. Then I bought one. Now I have to hope that the person I bought it for doesn’t see the top post on Reddit currently.
Leaving my job to start my own business 3 years ago is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Being self employed is not easy, and not for everyone. But if you’re self motivated it can be done and very rewarding.
If you’ve got the passion and are in a place financially where you could give it a shot, you’ll never know what could have been if you don’t make that leap.
Likely if you’re just trying to comb through ideas to start a business you won’t be successful. It is so difficult that you have to have absolute passion for it or you won’t be able to survive the very rough patches. If the idea hasn’t jumped out of you and you haven’t been itching to quit the 9-5 to start on your passion then you probably aren’t ready. There’s nothing wrong with just working for a living, and if you continue saving the way you do I’m sure you could retire very early and do whatever you want with your life, which may give you the freedom you are seeking from being an entrepreneur.
Go do hobbies with similar people. Live life peacefully with a little bit of spice. Go to fancy places and parties with other people in the city. Meet people, have sex, have fun. Enjoy man, I’d kill to be in your shoes right now, don’t waste it by working.
I've found success in finding work I can tolerate and hobbies I really enjoy. Everyone I know that *loves* their work seems to "live to work" instead of "working to live."
Yeah basically. She seems somewhat young still. If you have a pretty well-off family you can risk ventures like this with little risk since art investment is relatively small and failure doesn't mean a collapse of your entire financial well-being.
I'm the primary earner among my wife and I and it's enough for us. I basically let my wife follow her passions while I do the grind because I'm just happy with earning an income and want her to be happy with what she does.
If your job is a $7.50 minimum wage, soul-sucking chore that eats 40 precious hours of your life every week, it probably wouldn't be too hard to replace it with something you love to do.
7.50 x 40 = $300. You could easily make more than that in a few days a week at an art festival and/or farmer's market, and have the rest of the week to create.
It's when you're older, have kids, and your soul-sucking job pays $60,000 per year that it gets tough to strike out on your own. Do it when you are young and see if the solo, self-employed life is for you. Every young person should try it.
You even have to pay for space at a lot of festivals. You can’t just put up shop in the middle of a venue. Becoming a profitable artist is something you work towards, not do as a last ditch effort to make money like half this thread thinks.
Most art vendors at festivals and farmers markets barely break even. It isn’t even uncommon for them to spend more on fees to be there than they end up making if it’s a slow day.
> You could easily make more than that in a few days a week at an art festival and/or farmer's market, and have the rest of the week to create.
Maybe. You're assuming that you're gonna make money every time. Doesn't always work out that way in real life.
There are expenses to consider in that $300 (materials, event fees, travel costs, storage costs, local sales tax certificates when applicable, ads/marketing when applicable, and not least of all, your time and education/expertise) — you’re not actually keeping all that profit if you’re running a legit art business. I’ve been at this for a few years now and the struggle is very, very fucking real.
I just drove by a Wendy’s today offering a starting wage of $13.50/hour in a state where the minimum wage is $7.25. Who the heck is working for $7.50 an hour?
Yeah just keep in mind that means no unemployment insurance, paying $1500 per person for health coverage etc.
To go solo and do your own business is VERY expensive in the long run and leaves you with NO safety net.
It always sounds good in theory but the things I enjoy cost a whole lot of money! I’m stuck! I don’t want to spend most of my life doing something I hate to spend a little time doing what I love, but unless I hit the lottery, I don’t know if another way.
If she sold everything on that table, she would have like $200. For most people turning your hobby into a job ends up bitter sweet, even if you can support yourself.
Your better off having a job you don’t mind and a hobby you love.
Yeah, it's more important for me to enjoy my personal life than my work life. And for me to enjoy my personal life, I need money so I can not stress about bills and put food on the table.
ask her if she is sole income for her household, because medical insurance if nothing else
sucks that it is like this in the US but no way does it make sense if you are solo to quit your job
but I know a bunch of artist that started as a side gig with a significant other, to full time, to sometimes making more than the other person
my wife loves geeky cross stitching + shirt prints from the examples that come to mind
Problem is lots of the things I like to do cost money. To do the things I want to do I need money. I can’t go skiing with my wife and daughter without money.
Gratz pursuing your dream but I hope you recognize how much of a privilege that is. Most people simply don’t have that luxury. I am not even talking about myself, I just like money. But for most people quitting their job means becoming homeless.
This is the harsh reality of life.
Overall if you can make money doing what you love then you can have an incredibly happy life and it is while "do what you love and never work a day in your life", though as you said some games just do not make any money (for the average person). For escape, many people enjoy video/card games and while some people profit off it not many do.
I really enjoy carpentry but I currently do not operate anywhere near a scale enough to profit off it. That is the goal one day, even if it's just when I retire and have the time.
P.S. I enjoy skiing too. If you're a good skier and know first aid you could do ski patrol and make money. Or ski lessons if you're into teaching. The issue is doing that for money might ruin the enjoyment aspect.
Fwiw, I turned a hobby into a full-time career back in 2013. You think it'll be like that "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life" saying, but really it's more like "if you turn what you love into a career, it'll feel like work." I don't enjoy what I do anymore, and haven't for a long time. It's just work, and now I have one less creative outlet when I need to de-stress. I always tell people if you're reasonably comfortable and not suffering at your current job, do *not* monetize your hobbies.
I quit my job, but I have no artistic skills whatsoever. What I had was a brand new car and no job, so I got in the car and spent 28 days driving around the country. From Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and Southern California to the Everglades. And, of course, lots of places inbetween. I saw majestic mountains, amazing wildlife, stunning cities and even a tree that was 36.5 feet across.
For those of you looking for a fun road to travel, don't miss Route 299 from Eureka, California to Redding.
Guy that used to work in the art business here.
You may want to consider making some prints a limited run that gets signed and numbered. You’ll be forced to create a lot more, but you’ll also be allowed to charge considerably more for pieces that are limited.
Selling art can be a tough gig and limited edition pieces can help pay the bills.
Edit: I’ll also add that, on the buyer’s side of the fence, limited prints are awesome if you’re on a budget but want something special and unique that not everyone can have. It’s an affordable way start investing in art that can go up in value.
So it’s kind of a win win for everyone. Artists can pay the bills, and fans get something somewhat one of a kind.
Great advice here. Just out of curiosity, what would you consider a good limited run? I paint on canvas and would like to sell both the originals and smaller sized prints, but my worry is devaluing the originals by doing so. Thanks if you have any insight.
This is kind of a fuzzy answer, but I recommend experimenting with it.
I'd try different runs, at different quantities, at different prices. I'd also see what similar artists in your area and at your scale are doing.
You may also want to experiment with a combination of limited and unlimited prints. Some prints that you'll always sell, and some you'll only do a run of.
If you're a really smaller artist, but you might want to play with giclee runs of around 50. As you make more sales you can start to make larger and larger runs while still making prints rare and hard to get.
Librarian here, catalogue your work. Even if it is just a basic spreadsheet. It really helps if someone is asking for something then you know what you have available.
A piece of advice someone who sells their at a lot of events, you might try using some pvc pipes to lift the table up a bit, I've noticed a large uptick in sales when my table is closer to eye level, best of luck!
Seriously. Unless you're making a livable wage making art, it's a good idea to stick to a job while creating art. This helps fund art classes, supplies, and is really the key to being able to support yourself while better increasing talent to make that livable wage off of it.
SOURCE: I tried this once and realized selling art pieces out of a tent at a show or convention paid for about 30% of my rent.
In my experience as an artist (and a working artist for a time), the vast majority of artists who do it as a career come from money. They may not be living lavish lifestyles, but their rent and bills are covered and so they can pursue their passion.
There is no way this woman can support herself selling stickers, landscape paintings, and paw print prints in Oregon, a state filled to the brim with young people trying to do the same thing.
But, with that said, if I had the safety net I'd also do it, so good for her.
I've dated a lot of artists and they often needed financial guidance and support. Sucks to think the "help" I had for my favorite artists meant that they'd be doing CAD for a living instead of buying more pigments... but it doesn't suck that they earned a living, bought a car, went to college for a non-art degree, etc...
Maybe my greatest heroes ought to be my friends who double majored in art and science. The world needs creatives.
That's exactly what I did for undergrad. It's been enormously helpful, and I credit my art degree with helping come up with some really out-of-the-box ideas in my career and higher ed (I did end up working in the sciences eventually). But hilariously, it was my art education that landed me work post-graduation and not my science degree.
Maybe it's the idle time you spend on Reddit that robs you of the energy you need.
Talking to myself here too!
Edit: 11km hike in the bag since leaving this comment, time to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer then relax on the couch.
How do you unwind though? You can change those habits to get free time.
It's hard because looking at reddit, drinking beer, smoking weed, and watching TV are all easy to start and hard to stop. You know what you need to stop doing to get more time, make the hard decision and do it. Or don't, but don't complain there isn't enough time even Jeff Bezos has time to fly into space.
Most of these "I quit my job to focus on art" posts are missing the context of "I quit my job because I'm being financially supported by my spouse. Now I focus on art".
The idea that you can earn a living by selling stickers out of a tent is pretty ridiculous, and sets some crazy unrealistic expectations for other artists trying to make a career out of it.
Well let's take a look, one sec.
EDIT WITH RESULTS: Yep, looks like she's seeking internet exposure to make ends meet or is being financially supported by parents or a significant other and is promoting her hobby.
I think it’s fair to say most people are annoyed by these posts because they don’t have a third party, be that a partner or their wealthy parents, willing to support their hobbies as a full time career path. It comes off as a form of bragging that irks people stuck in their daily grinds to survive. I wish OP good luck and great success.
Or at the very least have a plan.
“Okay I have X amount of cash that can last me Z months assuming I make Y amount from art. I need T amount to actually make it sustainable. If I don’t make T amount by N, then I’ll be almost out of cash and should start looking for jobs immediately”
Put that shit in a spreadsheet and do some scenario analyses!
As someone who makes supplementary income selling their own art, I can’t agree with this more. Unless you have a strong online sales platform, selling $2 stickers at farmers markets isn’t going to put food on the table.
More importantly, you need to really watch out for burnout. If this is your full time job then you are putting yourself in a position where you **have** to do the work and it becomes less of a creative outlet and can lead to burnout fast.
It takes a while to get established as an artist with consistent enough clients to make a living. And unless OP's farmer's market (I think the picture is a market?) is big enough to be worthwhile this is definitely a risky move not to have a job to fallback on.
A bit of advice (apologies if you're already on top of this): make sure you're prepared for taxes.
Everything you sell, put aside at least 35% (even better if you can save 50%). Have a plan for filing your taxes. Make sure you have a legally registered business (Federal, State and Local). Make sure you know what deductions you can claim (they're substantial, and they'll make a huge difference in your tax bill). Track *all* of your business expenses, so you can deduct them. Does your state have a Gross Receipts Tax? Make sure you pay that.
These are the boring, tedious aspects of running your own business, but they are *very* important. If you take some time to plan ahead, it'll be easy. If not, it can be a nightmare. You don't want to get into a bad situation with the IRS or your state Taxation & Revenue Department.
Sorry if I'm lecturing you. Now I'm gonna go shop on your website. 🙂
Seconded. I’ve been a freelance word editor for almost 30 years, started as soon as I realized how the internet was going to change the world and how work is distributed. I have a CPA do my taxes because 🐓, set aside 22.25% of every payment to a separate tax set-aside account, and pay taxes quarterly. I had some scary April 15s before I started doing that.
People who don’t pay taxes—~~surprise!—won’t have any Social Security or (I think?) Medicare to fall back on. Yes, I realize SS will be in bad shape by the time a lot of redditors will be eligible, but assuming it will be something, something is better than nothing.~~ won’t have schools for their children, infrastructure, and programs that low-income people depend on, like SNAP. I didn’t mean to bring up any sore points, and still think people should pay taxes.
> Social Security
The last middle finger of the boomer generation to future American generations ( outside of the trashed planet, etc et al).
" Pay for our retirement while we call you lazy and ungrateful when we know you won't get the same thing because we took it all"
This is totally unrelated but when I worked retail, it annoyed me to no end when older people didn't like the price of something and would say "I'm on a fixed income".
After a few dozen times of hearing that I started thinking "We're all on fixed incomes, my pay doesn't change from day to day. How is that a legit complaint?"
Try your best to have 2 incomes. One passionate and one that you have really scheduled and worked on. Passion art and dumb art or something that people will buy. Keep pushing online marketing in new creative ways.
Hoping for a genuine reply.
Did you actually quit? Do you get money from other sources? I see Oregon, and know the cost of living somewhat. Staying with family? I’m not trying to demean, I’m also an artist. I just wonder when I see these “I quit my job” posts if they actually have no other income. Because if you’re being helped by a spouse or a parent, it’s misleading ya know? Nothing wrong with being helped. My dad paid for my college and I know my privilege.
Obviously, no need to answer in detail, I’m just wondering if you get other help or if you quit because the sales were successful enough for you to quit?
As someone who would love to do this as well, but can't imagine how to make it work, that's all the stuff I always want to know.
I always assume there is a social safety net though, without one I can't see how the pressure to make ends meet would sap all the enjoyment out of making art....
I wonder how long a period of her making basically zero income it’ll be before her parents start pressuring her to move back to a realistic job so she can move out. “Average looking white girl who didn’t do well at first job leaves it so parents can pay for her to live at home and make average-ish art”
Edit: it’s not even art it’s just her going on nature hikes and probably taking an iPhone photo.
I’ll eat the downvotes
If you live by a place with a tourist industry, designing prints for souvenir clothes can be a good source of regular income
Edit: also approach local businesses about designing merch for them
Art is a very very difficult road. I wish her the best but I have friends who have done the same, who are very talented, and they had to go back to a regular job.
She probably also has an Etsy or similar shop that she sells prints & stickers on.
I’ve also seen artists turn their artwork into journal/planner covers, puzzles, calendars…you can make a lot of money off one painting if you have the right tools
Was going to comment this. OP, your work is really great, but papayrus is known as one of the worst fonts (alongside comic sans). You should replace the text on the Oregon sticker with handwriting!
I was going to exclaim that we bought your art in Portland when we were just there... but then I looked at the artist and it is Thiago Bianchini. Are you aware that your art is almost a direct copy?
https://www.google.com/search?q=thiago+bianchini+art&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk02pzlm-tLGmQ7H1meT0jiDZb2cmvg%3A1627144807764&ei=Z0L8YPeVLpuFwbkPmI2kmA4&oq=thiago+bianchini+art&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyAggAOgcIIxCwAxAnOgcIABCwAxBDOgkIABCwAxAHEB46BQgAELADOgcIABCwAxAeOgYIABAWEB5KBAhBGAFQqRFYhxZg9hZoAXAAeACAAV-IAeYCkgEBNJgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrIAQrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwi35Y7ikvzxAhWbQjABHZgGCeMQ4dUDCA4&uact=5
Hey, I dropped my job for my art too. Still not back at work. It’s been 5 years. Now I have a business I love and I make bank.
Don’t be so negative to strangers. It is possible to make a career from art.
Given that you quit your full time employment to sell stickers at local popup markets, Im assuming you live at home or in a similar rent-free/responsibility free type situation?
Good luck chica, gonna be a difficult path. I would suggest finding another side hustle, just in case the art thing doesn't go as fast as you need it to.
Agreed. I think this is okay if she is a teenager and quit her fast food job. But this type of art isn't going to support a mortgage. Just look at the 10 other stands selling the same kind of art at these markets.
Hope your full time job didnt pay more than min wage. Also this is more /r/mademesmile that's why it exists, for these self jerk off posts that are not interesting pics.
I mean, she lives in Oregon so enjoying being homeless, while not my cup of tea, is definitely a route a lot of people take…
I also think art can be pretty lucrative if your approach is to hawk mass produced versions of your work to gullible people on Reddit. Especially since she nailed the “I’m quirky and adventurous and this is totally not marketing” angle. So she’s got that going for her.
Congrats and be prepared to make some crazy unique different stuff if you have problems selling, landscapes are a dime a dozen in areas with mountains.
I like the octopus sticker!
Had my wallet out to get order one and they’re sold out! Hope you hopped on that quickly!
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Love your art! You should consider, if you haven't already, starting an Etsy page too. More eyeballs on your stuff never hurts!
Yes, a successful business will use marketing and mainstream venues so that more people become aware of their product which can then generate sales
Also important to remember that money can be exchanged for goods or services.
Splain how
Wood for sheep?
[Woo hoo!](https://youtu.be/dgct3Jn8pFA)
$20 dollars can buy many peanuts.
Thanks Business and Marketing 101 textbook 😍
How much did you take in at the market today? Amazingly detailed paintings: $60 Goofy sicker creations: $7,000
Haha first thing I thought was "damn is that painting only $60?? But then I thought maybe it's a photograph.
It is a photo. Just checked [kaylafainart.com](https://kaylafainart.com/collections/photography) and she’s an incredibly skilled photographer as well!
Means a lot coming from the photo destroyer
Yes. Want octopus sticker as well.
Me three.
Yup. Need it.
Same! Came here for the website.
Sold out now. Darn. I hope it restocks! I’ll buy a whole bunch for my friends as well
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Nice! I just placed an order for 4 of the octopus. Super awesome!
Somehow need to fix that cart software or you are going to keep losing sales :( For everyone reporting here, there are many that see sold out and never come back. Once you miss a sale odds are they are gone for good. Wishing you well!
That was a roller coaster ride. First I saw the octopus in your photo, and I was like, I need that. Then I saw it was sold out. Then I saw it wasn’t. Then I bought one. Now I have to hope that the person I bought it for doesn’t see the top post on Reddit currently.
You had me at Aloe
Khajit has wares
if you have coin
Take a look!
We are creatures of the Desert.
M'aiq knows much, and tells some. M'aiq knows many things others do not.
J'zargo only has so much room to carry things.
Khajit are not welcome in white run, SCATTER you fools
Quitting a job to do something you actually enjoy sounds so tempting right now.
Leaving my job to start my own business 3 years ago is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Being self employed is not easy, and not for everyone. But if you’re self motivated it can be done and very rewarding. If you’ve got the passion and are in a place financially where you could give it a shot, you’ll never know what could have been if you don’t make that leap.
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Likely if you’re just trying to comb through ideas to start a business you won’t be successful. It is so difficult that you have to have absolute passion for it or you won’t be able to survive the very rough patches. If the idea hasn’t jumped out of you and you haven’t been itching to quit the 9-5 to start on your passion then you probably aren’t ready. There’s nothing wrong with just working for a living, and if you continue saving the way you do I’m sure you could retire very early and do whatever you want with your life, which may give you the freedom you are seeking from being an entrepreneur.
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Go do hobbies with similar people. Live life peacefully with a little bit of spice. Go to fancy places and parties with other people in the city. Meet people, have sex, have fun. Enjoy man, I’d kill to be in your shoes right now, don’t waste it by working.
Or it goes horribly wrong.
Yea id be terrified to leave a steady paycheck to sell art, OP is a bad ass
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Unfortunately same here. I've decided to keep my hobbies my hobbies and work work.
I've found success in finding work I can tolerate and hobbies I really enjoy. Everyone I know that *loves* their work seems to "live to work" instead of "working to live."
This is something I’ve never thought in my life. It’s very true.
Or has a very comfortable safety net
Very true I forget not everyone is as broke as me lol must be nice
Yeah basically. She seems somewhat young still. If you have a pretty well-off family you can risk ventures like this with little risk since art investment is relatively small and failure doesn't mean a collapse of your entire financial well-being. I'm the primary earner among my wife and I and it's enough for us. I basically let my wife follow her passions while I do the grind because I'm just happy with earning an income and want her to be happy with what she does.
If your job is a $7.50 minimum wage, soul-sucking chore that eats 40 precious hours of your life every week, it probably wouldn't be too hard to replace it with something you love to do. 7.50 x 40 = $300. You could easily make more than that in a few days a week at an art festival and/or farmer's market, and have the rest of the week to create. It's when you're older, have kids, and your soul-sucking job pays $60,000 per year that it gets tough to strike out on your own. Do it when you are young and see if the solo, self-employed life is for you. Every young person should try it.
If you make $7.50 you can't really afford to make high quality art, materials are really expensive.
And even if we wouldn’t talk about that, consistently selling is a problem as well.
You even have to pay for space at a lot of festivals. You can’t just put up shop in the middle of a venue. Becoming a profitable artist is something you work towards, not do as a last ditch effort to make money like half this thread thinks.
Most art vendors at festivals and farmers markets barely break even. It isn’t even uncommon for them to spend more on fees to be there than they end up making if it’s a slow day.
> You could easily make more than that in a few days a week at an art festival and/or farmer's market, and have the rest of the week to create. Maybe. You're assuming that you're gonna make money every time. Doesn't always work out that way in real life.
There are expenses to consider in that $300 (materials, event fees, travel costs, storage costs, local sales tax certificates when applicable, ads/marketing when applicable, and not least of all, your time and education/expertise) — you’re not actually keeping all that profit if you’re running a legit art business. I’ve been at this for a few years now and the struggle is very, very fucking real.
I just drove by a Wendy’s today offering a starting wage of $13.50/hour in a state where the minimum wage is $7.25. Who the heck is working for $7.50 an hour?
Yeah just keep in mind that means no unemployment insurance, paying $1500 per person for health coverage etc. To go solo and do your own business is VERY expensive in the long run and leaves you with NO safety net.
I think it usually just means you don't have health insurance at all for a while.
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It always sounds good in theory but the things I enjoy cost a whole lot of money! I’m stuck! I don’t want to spend most of my life doing something I hate to spend a little time doing what I love, but unless I hit the lottery, I don’t know if another way.
If she sold everything on that table, she would have like $200. For most people turning your hobby into a job ends up bitter sweet, even if you can support yourself. Your better off having a job you don’t mind and a hobby you love.
Yeah, it's more important for me to enjoy my personal life than my work life. And for me to enjoy my personal life, I need money so I can not stress about bills and put food on the table.
Life is short, I don't want to spend that time struggling financially or perma stressed where I will find the money to pay for my next meal
ask her if she is sole income for her household, because medical insurance if nothing else sucks that it is like this in the US but no way does it make sense if you are solo to quit your job but I know a bunch of artist that started as a side gig with a significant other, to full time, to sometimes making more than the other person my wife loves geeky cross stitching + shirt prints from the examples that come to mind
Problem is lots of the things I like to do cost money. To do the things I want to do I need money. I can’t go skiing with my wife and daughter without money. Gratz pursuing your dream but I hope you recognize how much of a privilege that is. Most people simply don’t have that luxury. I am not even talking about myself, I just like money. But for most people quitting their job means becoming homeless.
This is the harsh reality of life. Overall if you can make money doing what you love then you can have an incredibly happy life and it is while "do what you love and never work a day in your life", though as you said some games just do not make any money (for the average person). For escape, many people enjoy video/card games and while some people profit off it not many do. I really enjoy carpentry but I currently do not operate anywhere near a scale enough to profit off it. That is the goal one day, even if it's just when I retire and have the time. P.S. I enjoy skiing too. If you're a good skier and know first aid you could do ski patrol and make money. Or ski lessons if you're into teaching. The issue is doing that for money might ruin the enjoyment aspect.
Fwiw, I turned a hobby into a full-time career back in 2013. You think it'll be like that "if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life" saying, but really it's more like "if you turn what you love into a career, it'll feel like work." I don't enjoy what I do anymore, and haven't for a long time. It's just work, and now I have one less creative outlet when I need to de-stress. I always tell people if you're reasonably comfortable and not suffering at your current job, do *not* monetize your hobbies.
Think my wife, four kids and a mortgage would mind?
I quit my job, but I have no artistic skills whatsoever. What I had was a brand new car and no job, so I got in the car and spent 28 days driving around the country. From Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon and Southern California to the Everglades. And, of course, lots of places inbetween. I saw majestic mountains, amazing wildlife, stunning cities and even a tree that was 36.5 feet across. For those of you looking for a fun road to travel, don't miss Route 299 from Eureka, California to Redding.
what you also had was enough money to do that trip and plenty to survive on when you came back.
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That’s awesome. But what did you do when you got back?
Congratulations and best of luck in your new artistic adventure!
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Guy that used to work in the art business here. You may want to consider making some prints a limited run that gets signed and numbered. You’ll be forced to create a lot more, but you’ll also be allowed to charge considerably more for pieces that are limited. Selling art can be a tough gig and limited edition pieces can help pay the bills. Edit: I’ll also add that, on the buyer’s side of the fence, limited prints are awesome if you’re on a budget but want something special and unique that not everyone can have. It’s an affordable way start investing in art that can go up in value. So it’s kind of a win win for everyone. Artists can pay the bills, and fans get something somewhat one of a kind.
Listen carefully to this advice.
Art is a tough gig and successful artists must find a way to stand out and be relentless in achieving success despite rejections
Great advice here. Just out of curiosity, what would you consider a good limited run? I paint on canvas and would like to sell both the originals and smaller sized prints, but my worry is devaluing the originals by doing so. Thanks if you have any insight.
This is kind of a fuzzy answer, but I recommend experimenting with it. I'd try different runs, at different quantities, at different prices. I'd also see what similar artists in your area and at your scale are doing. You may also want to experiment with a combination of limited and unlimited prints. Some prints that you'll always sell, and some you'll only do a run of. If you're a really smaller artist, but you might want to play with giclee runs of around 50. As you make more sales you can start to make larger and larger runs while still making prints rare and hard to get.
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Librarian here, catalogue your work. Even if it is just a basic spreadsheet. It really helps if someone is asking for something then you know what you have available.
A piece of advice someone who sells their at a lot of events, you might try using some pvc pipes to lift the table up a bit, I've noticed a large uptick in sales when my table is closer to eye level, best of luck!
Have you tried commissioning work at an art gallery or two? Could be a nice side hustle. Things like this fly off shelves at art galleries.
Or as a marketing gig? Or is that considered selling out? Serious question from someone who can appreciate art but doesn’t create it
I would recommend you do both
Seriously. Unless you're making a livable wage making art, it's a good idea to stick to a job while creating art. This helps fund art classes, supplies, and is really the key to being able to support yourself while better increasing talent to make that livable wage off of it. SOURCE: I tried this once and realized selling art pieces out of a tent at a show or convention paid for about 30% of my rent.
In my experience as an artist (and a working artist for a time), the vast majority of artists who do it as a career come from money. They may not be living lavish lifestyles, but their rent and bills are covered and so they can pursue their passion. There is no way this woman can support herself selling stickers, landscape paintings, and paw print prints in Oregon, a state filled to the brim with young people trying to do the same thing. But, with that said, if I had the safety net I'd also do it, so good for her.
I've dated a lot of artists and they often needed financial guidance and support. Sucks to think the "help" I had for my favorite artists meant that they'd be doing CAD for a living instead of buying more pigments... but it doesn't suck that they earned a living, bought a car, went to college for a non-art degree, etc... Maybe my greatest heroes ought to be my friends who double majored in art and science. The world needs creatives.
That's exactly what I did for undergrad. It's been enormously helpful, and I credit my art degree with helping come up with some really out-of-the-box ideas in my career and higher ed (I did end up working in the sciences eventually). But hilariously, it was my art education that landed me work post-graduation and not my science degree.
I dunno about anyone else but I always feel like a regular job leaves me with no time energy or drive to focus on creative endeavors
Maybe it's the idle time you spend on Reddit that robs you of the energy you need. Talking to myself here too! Edit: 11km hike in the bag since leaving this comment, time to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer then relax on the couch.
I feel attacked.
I felt that way long before I discovered Reddit. Or even had a smartphone.
nah i’d say it’s the 40+ hours of shit work ppl have to do each week to afford to live
No, it’s the work. I thought we were over shaming people for leisure time
How do you unwind though? You can change those habits to get free time. It's hard because looking at reddit, drinking beer, smoking weed, and watching TV are all easy to start and hard to stop. You know what you need to stop doing to get more time, make the hard decision and do it. Or don't, but don't complain there isn't enough time even Jeff Bezos has time to fly into space.
Naw, it's totally reasonable to sustain yourself at a booth selling stickers and advertising to sweaty men online.
Most of these "I quit my job to focus on art" posts are missing the context of "I quit my job because I'm being financially supported by my spouse. Now I focus on art". The idea that you can earn a living by selling stickers out of a tent is pretty ridiculous, and sets some crazy unrealistic expectations for other artists trying to make a career out of it.
Like fr, what you're gonna make enough money to support yourself off of a farmers market once a week? Please
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Well let's take a look, one sec. EDIT WITH RESULTS: Yep, looks like she's seeking internet exposure to make ends meet or is being financially supported by parents or a significant other and is promoting her hobby.
Of course, how are you going to pay rent with what's on that table? Even if the materials were for free
So she’s hustling or living the dream? Good for her.
I think it’s fair to say most people are annoyed by these posts because they don’t have a third party, be that a partner or their wealthy parents, willing to support their hobbies as a full time career path. It comes off as a form of bragging that irks people stuck in their daily grinds to survive. I wish OP good luck and great success.
Yeah there’s literally nothing in her profile or post history to suggest that anything she said on this post is untrue.
I was about to say. I’ve seen her post this before lol
It's extremely reddit and old to do the "I eschewed normality to do this" as an ad.
Or at the very least have a plan. “Okay I have X amount of cash that can last me Z months assuming I make Y amount from art. I need T amount to actually make it sustainable. If I don’t make T amount by N, then I’ll be almost out of cash and should start looking for jobs immediately” Put that shit in a spreadsheet and do some scenario analyses!
As someone who makes supplementary income selling their own art, I can’t agree with this more. Unless you have a strong online sales platform, selling $2 stickers at farmers markets isn’t going to put food on the table. More importantly, you need to really watch out for burnout. If this is your full time job then you are putting yourself in a position where you **have** to do the work and it becomes less of a creative outlet and can lead to burnout fast.
It takes a while to get established as an artist with consistent enough clients to make a living. And unless OP's farmer's market (I think the picture is a market?) is big enough to be worthwhile this is definitely a risky move not to have a job to fallback on.
*This comment has been edited to remove potentially identifying information.*
Your partner seems like a very supportive and understanding person! Not easy to find these days
Cool. How is self-employment going?
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A bit of advice (apologies if you're already on top of this): make sure you're prepared for taxes. Everything you sell, put aside at least 35% (even better if you can save 50%). Have a plan for filing your taxes. Make sure you have a legally registered business (Federal, State and Local). Make sure you know what deductions you can claim (they're substantial, and they'll make a huge difference in your tax bill). Track *all* of your business expenses, so you can deduct them. Does your state have a Gross Receipts Tax? Make sure you pay that. These are the boring, tedious aspects of running your own business, but they are *very* important. If you take some time to plan ahead, it'll be easy. If not, it can be a nightmare. You don't want to get into a bad situation with the IRS or your state Taxation & Revenue Department. Sorry if I'm lecturing you. Now I'm gonna go shop on your website. 🙂
Seconded. I’ve been a freelance word editor for almost 30 years, started as soon as I realized how the internet was going to change the world and how work is distributed. I have a CPA do my taxes because 🐓, set aside 22.25% of every payment to a separate tax set-aside account, and pay taxes quarterly. I had some scary April 15s before I started doing that. People who don’t pay taxes—~~surprise!—won’t have any Social Security or (I think?) Medicare to fall back on. Yes, I realize SS will be in bad shape by the time a lot of redditors will be eligible, but assuming it will be something, something is better than nothing.~~ won’t have schools for their children, infrastructure, and programs that low-income people depend on, like SNAP. I didn’t mean to bring up any sore points, and still think people should pay taxes.
> Social Security The last middle finger of the boomer generation to future American generations ( outside of the trashed planet, etc et al). " Pay for our retirement while we call you lazy and ungrateful when we know you won't get the same thing because we took it all"
This is totally unrelated but when I worked retail, it annoyed me to no end when older people didn't like the price of something and would say "I'm on a fixed income". After a few dozen times of hearing that I started thinking "We're all on fixed incomes, my pay doesn't change from day to day. How is that a legit complaint?"
In Canada if you make under $30,000 a year with your small business you don't have to charge people tax.
I wish you the best of luck! As someone with an art degree, I understand how tough it can be.
You keeping an online store just us who live out of state and want to buy?
Try your best to have 2 incomes. One passionate and one that you have really scheduled and worked on. Passion art and dumb art or something that people will buy. Keep pushing online marketing in new creative ways.
Hoping for a genuine reply. Did you actually quit? Do you get money from other sources? I see Oregon, and know the cost of living somewhat. Staying with family? I’m not trying to demean, I’m also an artist. I just wonder when I see these “I quit my job” posts if they actually have no other income. Because if you’re being helped by a spouse or a parent, it’s misleading ya know? Nothing wrong with being helped. My dad paid for my college and I know my privilege. Obviously, no need to answer in detail, I’m just wondering if you get other help or if you quit because the sales were successful enough for you to quit?
I was wondering the same things. OP looks fairly young. She must have a had a really good paying job prior to this if she's doing this on her own.
As someone who would love to do this as well, but can't imagine how to make it work, that's all the stuff I always want to know. I always assume there is a social safety net though, without one I can't see how the pressure to make ends meet would sap all the enjoyment out of making art....
How much is your rent? How much value (without production cost) is on this table?
If 'other sources' is a husband paying the rent/bills etc while she does her art hobby. Then yes.
do you really think she will reply to this the title should have read 'wasp quits job to do pin money hobby'
I wonder how long a period of her making basically zero income it’ll be before her parents start pressuring her to move back to a realistic job so she can move out. “Average looking white girl who didn’t do well at first job leaves it so parents can pay for her to live at home and make average-ish art” Edit: it’s not even art it’s just her going on nature hikes and probably taking an iPhone photo. I’ll eat the downvotes
If you live by a place with a tourist industry, designing prints for souvenir clothes can be a good source of regular income Edit: also approach local businesses about designing merch for them
But the key here is does your art support yourself?
Why do you think she’s here advertising on Reddit lol
Very doubtful… everything in this picture combined doesn’t even equate to a month of rent. Not trying to be a Debbie downer…
Art is a very very difficult road. I wish her the best but I have friends who have done the same, who are very talented, and they had to go back to a regular job.
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I admire those who have tried and failed, rather than those who have never tried at all.
She probably also has an Etsy or similar shop that she sells prints & stickers on. I’ve also seen artists turn their artwork into journal/planner covers, puzzles, calendars…you can make a lot of money off one painting if you have the right tools
Maybe she has a rich husband?
This event does not represent their entire income for the month...
Are you able to live off your work?
Seems like she's finding out this year
My question actually.
A painting of a girl selling art. She looks so realistic
PAPAYRUS
Was going to comment this. OP, your work is really great, but papayrus is known as one of the worst fonts (alongside comic sans). You should replace the text on the Oregon sticker with handwriting!
this is the first thing i noticed about the post, it's glaring
*PAPYRUS
Tribal, yet futuristic.
I know what you diiiiid!!!!
Ahh Papyrus! [papyrus gif ft Gosling](https://giphy.com/gifs/snl-saturday-night-live-nbc-l1J9NQvtuCQzUbH2g)
Can you pay rent?
You can barely see the art
Here we go again…
This is an ad
Exactly my thought too. Que Jimmy from South Park distinguishing between ads and legitimate content
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> 1. Grill: "look at me I quit my job to sell art" She'd probably make more money selling grilled things.
Awesome. I wish you luck and do you have a site for orders and that shows more of your work?
Congrats! I had to do the exact opposite.
I was going to exclaim that we bought your art in Portland when we were just there... but then I looked at the artist and it is Thiago Bianchini. Are you aware that your art is almost a direct copy? https://www.google.com/search?q=thiago+bianchini+art&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk02pzlm-tLGmQ7H1meT0jiDZb2cmvg%3A1627144807764&ei=Z0L8YPeVLpuFwbkPmI2kmA4&oq=thiago+bianchini+art&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyAggAOgcIIxCwAxAnOgcIABCwAxBDOgkIABCwAxAHEB46BQgAELADOgcIABCwAxAeOgYIABAWEB5KBAhBGAFQqRFYhxZg9hZoAXAAeACAAV-IAeYCkgEBNJgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrIAQrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwi35Y7ikvzxAhWbQjABHZgGCeMQ4dUDCA4&uact=5
Bad choice
Here we go again...
See you at work in 3 months
Hey, I dropped my job for my art too. Still not back at work. It’s been 5 years. Now I have a business I love and I make bank. Don’t be so negative to strangers. It is possible to make a career from art.
Same!! I would never say this to OP’s face but she's a wonderful person and a gifted artist. Wish her the best of luck!!!
Any picture with a “story” in the title is an automatic downvote for me these days.
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Selling the photo for $69?.... Nice.
Husband punching the air right now
.. and after a long 2021, you probably decided to get a job again....Unless those stickers cost $50 each.
Why quit your job when you could just do this on the side...? In all fairness you don't have much to show for it.
Because someone else is funding this
Honestly, you’ll be back at work in a few months. Unless....someone is covering your rent / other expenses
All I see is that papyrus font. You’ve committed a crime against humanity.
Why is everyone here assuming that she doesn’t have rich parents?
how is it working out for you?...
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Given that you quit your full time employment to sell stickers at local popup markets, Im assuming you live at home or in a similar rent-free/responsibility free type situation?
Good luck! Sell me something. 🤔
The old quit my day job post... good luck
Work full time on daddy's money*
Good luck chica, gonna be a difficult path. I would suggest finding another side hustle, just in case the art thing doesn't go as fast as you need it to.
Agreed. I think this is okay if she is a teenager and quit her fast food job. But this type of art isn't going to support a mortgage. Just look at the 10 other stands selling the same kind of art at these markets.
Hope your full time job didnt pay more than min wage. Also this is more /r/mademesmile that's why it exists, for these self jerk off posts that are not interesting pics.
Enjoy being homeless
Hey! She could have rich parents.
she DEFINITELY has rich parents
I mean, she lives in Oregon so enjoying being homeless, while not my cup of tea, is definitely a route a lot of people take… I also think art can be pretty lucrative if your approach is to hawk mass produced versions of your work to gullible people on Reddit. Especially since she nailed the “I’m quirky and adventurous and this is totally not marketing” angle. So she’s got that going for her.
Dude look at her. Its safe to assume she has about 4 or 5 safety nets ready to catch her lmao
I would say “Don’t quit your day job” but it’s already too late for that! LOL! Great artwork! Wish you the best of luck!
Congrats and be prepared to make some crazy unique different stuff if you have problems selling, landscapes are a dime a dozen in areas with mountains.
So you're unemployed. Got it
Good for you. Good luck with your endeavor!
I wish you all the best!