How can you make money if you know how to draw? Not everything is as simple as it seems

Artists can always count on an extra piece of bread. If you know how to draw, then think hard about how to make money from this hobby at home.

If you are a good drawer and by the will of fate you sit at home or want to earn extra income, you may have already wondered how to make money by drawing. Indeed, this hobby can be used not only for moral satisfaction, but also for complete real earnings. Now it has become much easier to sell your creativity than before, and you often don’t even need to leave your home to do this.

What can you sell and where to start?

You can sell both original works and digital files, such as prints for clothing. There are various websites that offer their services. You can sell digital pictures that customers buy for sometimes mysterious purposes. But the author feels satisfaction from his work when he sees that his pictures have found their application in real world.

First, decide whether you want to draw illustrations, prints or sell your paintings and graphics. Some artists combine several options at once. You can choose a direction such as selling your images on stock sites. Best Selling vector images. In this case, you will have to learn a couple of programs in order to create them.

The “old” method of selling works was quite simple - artists went to galleries or publishing houses and offered them their work. With the advent of the Internet, making money by drawing has become much easier. You can successfully promote yourself, not only in your country, but throughout the world. Of course, we shouldn’t forget about back side medals - competition among artists is now very high.

If you decide to make money as an illustration, you definitely need to create a portfolio. It will be necessary to select your best works. There are more than enough quality resources to post your work. Don't neglect foreign sites. Their audience reach is much larger than their Russian counterparts.

To sell paintings, you must register on websites that sell handicrafts. There is always a film section, and the audience is very large. There are several sites that only sell paintings. Basically, professionals post their work on these sites.

Where to sell your creations

There are different platforms for making money on the Internet:

sites offering to sell originals of your works;
Stocks or microstocks. Here you can offer digital files for sale in different formats. Initially, the image costs very little.
stores that offer ready-made templates. You upload your prepared images, and the site automatically applies them to its templates. For example, T-shirts, bags, mugs and much more. The disadvantages of such stores are that they often charge most earning money for yourself. The advantages are that you do not need to spend any money. An example of such a store is All T-shirts;
do not hesitate to offer your services to sites, perhaps portals need unique illustrations for articles.

Don’t neglect the opportunity to sell your work at various fairs. You can organize exhibitions, displaying drawings made with paints and pencils. Invite your friends and acquaintances using social networks.

Practical implementation of the idea

Practical steps:

Take high-quality photographs of your work. If you don’t know how, you can ask a professional friend or read how to correctly photograph art. This required condition to sell your paintings or graphics. The buyer likes high-quality images. In this case, there is little risk that in reality the picture will be very different from the photograph.
Determine your pricing policy. The price should not be too low, but not too high, otherwise you won’t be able to make money from drawing. It is very difficult to understand how much money to take from a client. So find popular artists who work in a similar style. How much do they charge for their work? This way you can roughly determine how much to ask for your creative work.
Register on specialized sites. You can post your work on many resources - this will increase your chances of sales. Chat with colleagues, take part in competitions. This can help attract potential clients.
Start a blog. It is recommended to start blogs on popular free platforms. Don't forget about the possibilities social networks. Not only post your work more often, but also write about yourself, your thoughts about life. Show photos of the process. People are always interested to see how a master creates his masterpieces, even if they are created from digital “materials,” as well as his ordinary life. Be sure to respond to user comments. People like to feel feedback. Sometimes they buy simply because they liked the conversation with the master.
Learn new things, keep track popular destinations . The world is rapidly updating, people’s tastes are changing: today cats are popular in the interior, and tomorrow there will be thoughtful whales. Undoubtedly, works that are interesting to the mass consumer sell better. If you're good at drawing on paper, it makes sense to learn how to transfer your creations to the digital environment. Steep graphic drawing in a notebook can easily become a selling print that will bring you a lot of money and fame.

Don't be afraid to try. In the end, you will not lose anything, but gain new experience and earn money for your loved ones

Today, many artists successfully work on the Internet. They earn good money, can afford to travel a lot and support their family. However, this lifestyle is fraught with many pitfalls for which you need to prepare.

Firstly, independent activity will require organization and composure. When becoming your own boss, it is important not to relax and not put off work. This is the only way you will begin to receive good material returns.

Secondly, be prepared for unstable earnings. At least in the first months of independent work. Regardless of the chosen direction of activity, time must pass for your name to become known and recognizable in professional circles.

Third, be prepared to learn new things. For example, to create a good website, you should learn the technical side of the issue. Those who choose computer graphics need to have a good understanding of working programs, etc.

If you have available funds, you can order a website. Otherwise, do not rush to leave the stable workplace. Gradually “prepare the ground”: study topics on website building, programs, popular areas, etc.

How can an artist earn money?

There are many ways for artists to make money on the Internet. If you don't want to leave real drawing, pay attention to interactive art salons where works are sold modern masters pencil, pastel and brush. Conclude an agreement, and your works will replenish the “shelves” and become available for purchase.

Artists who can clearly explain and clarify the nuances of their work can try their hand at teaching. The first option is to create your own courses. For example, in the form of a blog, website or CD for sale. The second way is to give lessons. Drawing today is very popular and fashionable (a kind of mainstream), so there will be a lot of people interested.

If you are ready to learn something new, master computer graphics. You can post the created images on numerous microstock sites, where designers, webmasters, publishers, graphic designers, etc. are looking. To make a stable income, you need to create a large portfolio, define your style and work with several resources at once. If consumers like your images, within three to four months you will feel good financial support.

Pay attention to the unique online exchanges for artists. There you can find orders for remote work. However, be patient and ready to compete.

My story of earning money began during my student days, when, like many students, I experienced a huge lack of two things: time and money.

Finding a permanent well-paid job at that moment was a utopia, since, firstly, no one wanted to employ a student without experience, and secondly, it was simply impossible to work according to a clear schedule due to the scattered classes at the institute.

But we had to come up with a way to make money. Unlike most other poor students, I had a talent for drawing from birth, which, by the way, developed as I studied at the art department architectural university. I decided to paint portraits to order.

First steps

“To start doing something, just start,” that’s what my mother told me all my life. And I started doing what I know how to do, namely, drawing portraits, without really understanding how exactly I would start making money from it. I drew in every free moment, just to hone my skills first. At first it didn’t work out very well, to put it mildly, but pretty quickly my drawings began to resemble real portraits, the people in them looked similar, and most importantly, attractive. Friends began to like my portraits, and while I was painting them, I simply gave them my portraits for advertising. And then, lo and behold, a friend of a friend once approached me with a request to draw a small portrait of his girlfriend for money for her birthday, as a gift. This was my first order. She charged a purely symbolic price for the work - 150 rubles. Later, other friends of friends came up or called in the same way, and the price was still the same symbolic as for their own.

Search for clients

Quite quickly, I realized that my circle of contacts was dwindling, I didn’t have enough orders from my own people, and the income from them was minimal, so I needed to look for clients. I posted an ad on various city forums, attaching photographs of previous works, setting a price of 400 rubles for a portrait in A4 pencil from a photograph, and 1000 rubles for an A2 portrait on canvas. A reasonable question immediately arose - what to “catch” with, if there are so many good ones around? professional artists. In order to break into any field, you need some kind of “trick”. I decided that my advantage as an artist would be a record high speed of work. Firstly, it attracts clients who, for some reason, need an urgent portrait. Secondly, it is convenient, as it allows you to earn more by completing more orders per week. And thirdly, by constantly drawing portraits of friends, I have already reached a level of skill that allows me to really quickly make a high-quality drawing. As expected, orders poured in.

Formation of a stable client base

“To keep a client, you need to give him what he wants,” wrote one motivational book by Dale Carnegie. This is very words of wisdom, which I applied in my activities. If a client wanted to get a portrait the very next day, I did it, even at the cost of my own lack of sleep and absences from college. If they wanted the wrinkled grandmother in the portrait to look young and impressive, that’s how I painted her, with a minimum of wrinkles and without three extra chins. When they said: “It should be the same as in the photo, just make it in a national shirt,” I made a portrait in a national shirt. In other words, she tried to fulfill every whim of the client. As a result, I received a lot of gratitude and a stable client base, because satisfied people recommended me to their friends.

Results.

Working according to the principle described above, I managed to get on my feet on my own, and already from the third month of such work my monthly earnings were approximately 12,000 rubles, but I must say, I worked a lot. The first two months were spent promoting the business, although it also brought me quite impressive money, as for my student time. Later, having already graduated from college, and getting a job, first as just a salesman, and a year later computer graphic to one small printing agency, I didn’t leave my part-time job working on portraits, and in fact, I’m still doing this, gradually raising prices as my professionalism grows. By the way, getting a job helped to significantly expand my client base through new acquaintances. It’s true, I don’t paint much now, only in the evenings and for my own pleasure, because my monthly earnings from portraits range from 8 to 10 thousand rubles, but I think this is not bad for a part-time job.

When looking for a business idea to create their own small business, women often begin to sort through their skills and talents. And rightly so! After all, what could be better than work that has become a favorite hobby.

Finding business ideas without investment is not as difficult as it seems. For example, women who know how to draw beautifully can start making money with only the bare minimum necessary tools. Here are some ideas that can be implemented:

1. Start working as a master of painting children at children's parties. Such a business with small investments(you will have to purchase special paints) may initially seem like a strange idea. But today, many parents, trying to surprise and please their child, hire artists, order children's rooms, etc. The idea is quite simple and non-standard, rarely implemented in small towns, but quickly attracts attention. At the right approach and a good marketing policy, you can occupy a worthy niche in this area.

2. Hand painted Christmas balls. Such work at home is suitable only for the very diligent, because the best orders that a craftswoman can receive are drawing logos and branded greetings from large enterprises, the number of which can exceed a hundred copies.

3. Painting of glasses. Make beautiful and unique murals wedding glasses maybe even a girl who decided to build her own business in the village. A fairly simple technique and minimal costs will quickly pay for themselves if you establish sales through thematic groups in social networks.

4. When the artist’s talent is developed much more than just making carbon drawings, you can create a business without investment, drawing portraits at home or on the street.

5. For those who don’t know how to withdraw at all straight lines or clear silhouettes, but can at least paint carefully, you can suggest implementing the idea with paintings by numbers. The essence is this: reproduction of a painting famous artist applied to the canvas in the form of outlines (like a children's coloring book), each fragment is numbered in accordance with the number of the paint that comes with the kit. All you have to do is apply the strokes and sell the finished result. The painting template itself is now offered by many handicraft stores.

As you can see, the ideas are easy to implement and do not require huge capital to get started. If you are not sure that the chosen option will find its buyer, start with a small batch of goods to test the waters. But do not forget that in any business advertising can play a huge role.

1. Freelancing sites
www.free-lance.ru
freelance.ru
www.kadrof.ru
www.freelancejob.ru
www.weblancer.net
www.flance.ru
“Freelancer (English freelancer - free spearman, free shooter; in figurative meaning- free artist) - a person who performs work without concluding a long-term contract with an employer, hired only to perform a certain list of works (freelance worker)." Source ru.wikipedia.org
That is, you work from home. You place your portfolio on the sites listed above or on your website (then you simply add a link to freelancing sites in your profile). And you look at the orders placed on freelance sites. Select one or more orders. Leave your request that you can complete this order for a certain amount. The customer reviews the applicants, selects and cooperates with one of them.
The average monthly salary of a freelancer is $1000.
You can read about the life of a freelancer, for example, at http://www.freelanceblog.ru.
To work as a freelancer, you must be organized, understand that your income is not stable, and your working hours are not standardized. You don’t have a social package or vacation pay, and you communicate directly, without a manager, with the customer (this sometimes makes you very angry).
But, there are also advantages. You don’t go to work, you choose your own customer, your income depends only on yourself, and you can go on vacation at any time.
Choose for yourself what to do.

2. Microstocks (micro-paper photo banks).
A photobank is a site where a designer, magazine editor or simple housewife can buy an illustration they like.
How do illustrations get into the photo bank?
You register in a photo bank and upload your illustrations there (on some sites you will have to pass an exam). Microstock acts as an intermediary between the illustrator and the buyer. When a picture is sold, the photo bank takes part of the money for itself for selling it, and gives part of the money to the illustrator who sells it. The more in demand the illustrator’s pictures are, the more more money it will work.
How much can you earn?
Enough to quit my job and paint at home. Examples of Illustrators who work this way: Anna Volkova http://anna-volkova.blogspot.com. And here is an example of how much you can earn from the site http://microstocker.com.ua. “An illustrator can begin to receive a more or less stable income of over $100 per month when he has more than 100-150 works in his portfolio. Now do the math: by drawing 3-4 illustrations a week in your free time or on weekends, your portfolio will grow by 15-20 works in a month. At this speed, it will take you about half a year to “promote”. It's quite a free pace, if you have the time, patience and desire - you can achieve these results much faster. With a portfolio size of 500-1000 works, you can safely quit your main job, since it will only bother you and bring in much less money than microstocks.”
Websites about microstocks:
www.microstock.ru/
www.zastavkin.com
http://dolgachov.com/forum

3. You can participate in print competition in for bags. The winner receives a prize. http://www.makeyourstuff.ru/

4 . You can register on the Moscow service Printdirect. It allows you to quickly and conveniently online create and order various products with your own design. Printdirect also allows everyone, absolutely free and in a matter of minutes, to create their own online store (virtual storefront) entirely on the technical and software base of Printdirect, design it in their own style, sell the created products in it and make money from it. As a result, Printdirect is also an ever-growing source of original products.
There is a similar one Ukrainian project prostoprint.com. There is a slight difference - Shared Designs. That is, it is not necessary to create your own store. All you need to do is add designs to Sharing and receive royalties from the sale of goods with your design.

5. Analogues of prostoprint.com and Printdirect abroad.
cafepress.com
zazzle.com
fisheyeprint.ru
http://www.posterlounge.com/
http://graphola.com/
http://art.cafepress.com/
http://www.gelaskins.com/
http://www.posterlounge.com/

Maybe you know some other options for earning money? Write about them in the comments. And I will add them to the article.

FREE training "Video drawing lessons in Illustrator ( Adobe Illustrator) for beginning designers, illustrators, microstockers."