How to make money from your paintings. How to make money at home by drawing - ideas for selling talent

If you love to draw and want to make money from your hobby, this article is for you.

You don't have to be a professional artist to make money with your drawings online. Expensive graphics tablets also do not have special meaning. In most cases, it is sufficient to have great desire, paper and colored pencils.

I will talk about one method of sales, which I have personally tested and proven its worth.

Profitable topics and platform for selling works

It must be said that the main factors determining the financial success of an artist’s illustrations are the themes of the works, as well as the competent choice of the site on which these works will be placed.

It is clear that demand is formed by the public’s interest in a particular event, object, or character. But what is interesting to society? What information has the highest view rates?

That's right, this is news. Eccentric headlines, emotional intensity, forecasts of the likelihood of wars, economic collapse, natural disasters. Scandals, gossip and rumors that have their own heroes.

The heroes of these news will be the main characters in your drawings. These are people famous all over the world: leaders of states, politicians, artists, athletes...

To images similar people there is enormous demand! And this demand increases to incredible proportions when hype rises around them in the media space.

Choosing a platform through which you will sell your work is also extremely important. And the main selection criteria should be the presence of high traffic of potential customers and specialization.

As for traffic, the picture is as follows: in terms of traffic, photo stocks are completely superior to other Internet sites. The leader in popularity, quantity of content and its sales here is the photo bank Shutterstock (Shutterstock.com).

To start making money by selling your work on Shutterstock, you need to register on the website. The site is multilingual, however, there is no Russian language.

During the registration process, you will need to enter your first and last name, as in your international passport or driver’s license, your address, and also upload a scan of your international passport (page with a photo). The service will also ask you to confirm the relevance of your email.

After successfully registering on the site, you must pass an exam to determine the quality of your content. To do this, you will need to upload 10 images and wait until they are verified by the site administration.

Images must be at least 4 megapixels in size. Quality is maximum. If at least one picture is approved by the administration, the exam will be considered passed successfully.

After this, you can safely put the images up for sale.

The idea of ​​earning money. Efficiency confirmed experimentally

To confirm my guesses about the exceptional popularity of the above-mentioned subject of images, I decided to conduct a small experiment: at approximately the same time I posted 4 of my works on various topics on the Shutterstock photo bank:

– scanned illustrations of US President Donald Trump, previously drawn on a sheet of paper with pencils,

– computer drawings of butterflies generated from own photos,

- photos ordinary people from different angles,

– photos of attractions from the cities I visit (statues and monuments),

– photographs of the nature and architecture of Egypt and Thailand, “taken” by me on vacation.

I must say that every hand-drawn illustration you send to a stock photo site needs to be confirmed with a special release.

By doing this you prove that you are the owner of the image you are sending. You can download the release for Shutterstock by clicking the “Model & Property Releases” link at the bottom of the page and then clicking on the “Download” button here:

The experiment lasted approximately three months. His results are as follows (amounts earned were rounded):

Butterfly drawings – 2 downloads, $0.5 earned,

– photos of nature and architecture – 8 downloads, earned 3 dollars,

– images of people – 8 downloads, $4 earned,

– photos of attractions – 9 downloads, earned 7 dollars,

– Donald Trump drawings – 74 downloads, $91 earned.

The result, as they say, is obvious. Moreover, for the first few weeks, only works with Trump were sold; the rest began to interest customers only by the end of the first month of the experiment.

The money was successfully withdrawn in ruble equivalent through the Skrill service on bank card. Shutterstock makes monthly payments automatically.

I can only add that I conducted a similar experiment in several other large photo banks. There, the sales results were orders of magnitude more modest, so I won’t even mention them.

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.

The Village continues to find out how much representatives of different professions earn and what they spend money on. In the new issue there is an artist. It is believed that usually the income of people earning fine arts, are small. At the same time, with the advent of online platforms and social networks, it has become easier to find customers and sell paintings. We talked to a young artist from St. Petersburg, who sells her works at exhibitions, on the Internet, and also fulfills orders from private clients, and found out how much art brings her.

PROFESSION

Artist

INCOME

on average 40,000 rubles

per month

Basic expenses

2,000 RUBLES

housing and communal services

15,000 RUBLES

food and restaurants

6,000 RUBLES

transport

5,000 RUBLES

registration of works

1,000 RUBLES

internet and telephone

6,000 RUBLES

postponed for repairs

5,000 RUBLES

gift for dad
and to the young man

How to become an artist

The desire to become an artist arose back in preschool age, I've always been attracted creative activities. Seeing this, my parents decided to send me to a special school, the Lyceum named after B.V. Ioganson, formerly Leningrad Secondary art school, where I successfully studied and after graduation I didn’t see myself anywhere except at the Academy of Arts. Entrance tests there last ten days without days off. You need to pass six exams: two in painting, drawing and composition. This is a rather difficult marathon, which in the end only a small part of applicants successfully completes. Some spend five years preparing for admission.

I studied at the I.E. Repin Institute (Academy of Arts) with great pleasure. The first two courses are considered “study”, great attention devoted to the study of anatomy human body. In the future, this makes it possible to freely depict nudity. From the third to sixth years, the emphasis is on technical skill and compositional thinking. During the final year of graduation, the student must paint a large-scale painting. My diploma was dedicated to the circus, it was big job three by seven meters, now it is located in the Circus hotel on Fontanka. I graduated from college not so long ago, so I’m still finding myself in this world. And work is not an end in itself for me now.

Features of work

The six-year training gave me a huge amount of knowledge and skills. In parallel with my studies, I sold some of my educational work- this was my first marketing experience. The work cost a pittance, but at that moment it seemed very cool. The first work sold depicted a girl in folk costume. The buyer was a Chinese student from my own institute, who paid 10 thousand rubles for it. After that I realized that it was mine favorite hobby can bring money.

As a rule, I do not work to order. I paint paintings for exhibitions on some of my favorite themes. Now there is an exhibition in which two of my works are presented. I also exhibit works in a well-known online gallery that deals with sales, advertising, PR and more.

My working day begins like everyone else: a cup of coffee, a couple of thoughts about new works, and I start to paint on canvas - I update the palette and immediately start painting. Then a short break for reflection and lunch, then back to work. By evening I'm usually exhausted, and I also like to work in daylight.

At a time when there are orders, work is in full swing, because everything needs to be completed in a timely manner. at its best and in the shortest possible time: The client does not like to wait for a long time. Work on one canvas can last from one week to three months, if it is a large detailed canvas. Many people believe that the artist practically does not strain, the work comes easily to him. It's a delusion. In fact, this is hard work: we experience strong emotions when we come up with and implement a work. My head is in constant tension, there are a lot of thoughts and ideas that need to be sifted out. Sometimes I don’t sleep at night because of some picture, because my thoughts simply won’t let me fall asleep.

When I don’t work to order, the mode is more relaxed; most often I write, as they say, by inspiration. In art, the expression “appetite comes with eating” is true: the more you work, the more you want more, sometimes you don’t even have time to implement new ideas. The formats are always varied, depending on the object being depicted, but I notice myself gravitating towards formats larger than a meter: it’s easier for me to work. I usually paint in oil on canvas, but I often make sketches using graphic techniques.

Artists without art education there is, and I have nothing against them. If a person does what he loves, why not. Our community is a company of people for whom it does not matter what status a person is, what is more important is who he is, what he does and what his interests are. It’s not difficult to get here, the main thing is to be yourself and not bring finances to the fore. Artists' incomes vary, so we look more at the paintings than at how much the artist received for them.

Salary

My income is quite unstable. It happens that there are so many orders in one month that you don’t even have time to complete them. And at the same time they buy a painting through the gallery. And sometimes there is silence. So the average monthly earnings can be calculated from the annual income. The average monthly income is around 40 thousand rubles. My annual income consists of receipts from three large orders worth 250, 60 and 50 thousand rubles, as well as from the sale of paintings worth 120 thousand.

Due to unstable income, you have to spend money at random. I can quickly spend 200 thousand rubles, and sometimes I stretch 15 thousand over a month. Ideally, I would like to have a stable income.

Prices for paintings vary greatly. It all depends on the work itself, its size, complexity of execution, and time spent on it. It even happens that I really like the work, and I deliberately inflate its cost so that it pleases me longer. One canvas costs from a thousand to 500 thousand rubles.

For custom work, prices are more modest: from 5 to 150 thousand rubles. Really large and complex paintings are ordered very rarely. Market situation artwork is such that people with average incomes prefer printed copies of works famous authors, since their price is ten times lower author's work. People with high incomes often have paintings imposed on them by their designers. But there are also ardent fans of real art who really buy good works, - all hope lies with them.

There are cases of interesting part-time jobs: for example, painting and mosaics. These hack jobs bring good profits, but the work is difficult and dusty, so I do it only in exceptional cases. For such part-time jobs you can get from 20 to 200 thousand rubles.

I recently completed an order for a foreign client. I made free copies - when the work is not done one to one, but in the artist’s style. For two works - a still life and a stylized landscape - I received $3,500. They took two months to complete.

Spending

I don’t consider my lifestyle to be anything unusual. I love watching life, nature, people. I love concerts, theaters, trips to the suburbs of St. Petersburg or trips around the city by bicycle or walking. From 4 to 7 thousand per month are spent on all these entertainments.

I don’t spend much on housing, since I live in a private house outside the city. Transport costs from 4 to 6 thousand per month. Going to cafes and restaurants and simply buying food costs me up to 15 thousand rubles a month.

Now repairs are included in the expense item; it eats up almost all the free money. But I save on renting a workshop, because the area of ​​the house allows me to work here. This way I save from 15 to 150 thousand rubles (depending on the area and location) per month, which I would spend on a workshop.

From time to time I have to arrange works for exhibitions, which costs 2–15 thousand rubles. Participation in exhibitions itself is not always free; it usually costs from one to five thousand rubles. Separate expenses - from 3 to 5 thousand - transportation of work.

I like to spend weekends with my family. It is not necessary to go somewhere, the main thing is that the company is friendly. I don’t plan a vacation - it happens on its own. Sometimes I go to my grandmother in the village, or to my friends in the south. Sometimes it's a short trip to Finland.

My hobby is all kinds of crafts: dolls, toys. I would also like to learn how to knit, and I dream of sewing designer clothes for myself.

ILLUSTRATIONS: Dasha Chertanova

Hello, Yana)
Thank you a million for your advice, thoughts and wisdom!

So I have a question. Largely thanks to your posts and books.
Not long ago, I finally found an activity that was at the crossroads of whether I like it, it works out, I want to do it. And this activity turned out to be drawing.

Here I must say that by education and profession I have nothing to do with creativity. However, I have always been drawn to doing hand-made things, sculpting, painting, knitting. As a child, I loved art lessons, I liked to draw. But in such a way that she draws directly - then no. I tried it recently and was hooked.
And now the third month has begun, I try to draw every day, when I follow the textbook, when I copy, when I just draw all sorts of doodles - zentangles - mandalas. I understand that I want to develop in this. And somewhere in the depths of my soul, a small flame smolders - what if I manage to change my unloved job to something related to creativity.

And now, actually, the question. It is clear that first practice, basic things, study-study-study. And now it’s too early to talk about anything specific. But I have very little idea what’s next. Just draw, look at the work of others and go by experience? If you really set a goal to change your profession, then where should you start moving? What do people who can draw become? Stockers, designers, illustrators? What are the directions? There are probably a lot of them, but maybe you can at least outline some of the main points) Thank you!

There are all sorts of doodles here) (http://happy-real-life.livejournal.com/) the magazine does not need to be shown.

Hello!
It's never too early to ask yourself what exactly you want to do. Because the answer (partly) determines what is best for you to develop in yourself, what is worth working on.

There are really a lot of directions: illustration, drawing and selling originals, selling souvenirs with your pictures (and separate question, whether you want to make them yourself). Stocks, writing and illustrating books, graphic novels, illustrations for magazines. And if you like to draw ornaments, or something similar, then there is also the opportunity to draw patterns for fabrics, scarves, carpets, wallpaper, etc.

I propose to start by collecting the maximum possible applications for drawing.
Dear readers, write what I haven’t mentioned yet?

Then - look on the Internet for examples of everything mentioned, and listen to your feelings: what gives you the feeling “this is how I would like it” more.
You need to collect more of these directions, and then narrow the circle: what do you like more, and what do you like even more?

And here it is very important point- honesty! We like to watch many things from others, and we even feel some envy that someone has broken through with this. But when you look at the question honestly, it becomes clear that you don’t like doing this yourself. And the thought that I will do this every day for many years is rather depressing. These are the things we like in others. This is wonderful and useful, but it is not suitable for trying to live on it.

It is advisable to narrow the circle to several areas. Preferably no more than ten. And preferably very specifically formulated. For example: “Draw pictures for T-shirts and sell T-shirts with them, which will be printed by other services” or “draw originals and sell them, regularly exhibiting in galleries.”

As you go, studying samples of what other people are doing, try to read from their websites exactly where they are sold. Some are standing in the markets, others are licking the online store. Still others walk through galleries. Everyone has their own, and many people may really like some of it, or vice versa. You need to try all this on yourself. Could you imagine going to nice shops and offering your goods to a commission? Or write to publishing houses and editors and offer them your drawings? Or is it easier for you to just work on some store and hope that people will flock to it? strangers from some platform?

In general, when there are very few options left, you have to try. Because Only in practice does it become clear how much you really like the work. Well, in this phase it will become clear what skills you are missing, what you still need to learn, what to extract from materials and tools.

I wish you success in finding your dream! :-)

Hello! In this article we will talk about making money for artists.

• How much can you earn: from 10,000 rubles per month for beginners.
• Minimum Requirements: ability to draw, self-discipline, free time.
• Is it worth it?: Yes .

General information about earning money for artists

A good artist should no longer be hungry: on the Internet you can easily find income for those who can draw coolly.

Artists who know how to work with graphic editors are in great demand.

In graphic arts, a portfolio plays a huge role. In programming and other freelance professions, you can test an employee’s skills in literally 20 minutes. This cannot be done in graphics simply because each performer has his own style, vision and execution.

If you want to start making money quickly, make sure you do good portfolio.

Method 1. Images for microstocks

Microstocks are sites where you can sell your illustrations for a fee.

Working with microstocks is convenient because after downloading the image remains in the system, and each time you receive a percentage of its purchase. This is peculiar.

There are also image trends on microstocks. That is why the illustrator will have to find a compromise between “I can draw” and “This is in demand.” On top of that, it is constantly growing, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for beginners to get started. You will have to draw 6 - 8 hours a day to build a good database of images.

In order to work with microstocks, it is best to master Adobe Illustrator.

Method 2. Custom design

- a very in-demand profession. In any field, you need a person who can convey graphically what the client wants.

Specialization works best in design. If you really want to earn a lot, you have to choose certain direction and work only according to it. This could be a design:

• multi-page sites.
• one-page sites.
• PC applications.
• applications for mobile.
• advertising banners.

The workflow for a novice designer is as follows:

choosing a direction -> several invented orders for the portfolio -> searching for clients -> work -> replenishing the portfolio.

The most difficult thing in design is to adapt to the client's requirements. You can see the idea from one angle, the customer from another, and he will be right because it is his project.

Method 3. Paintings to order

This is already full-fledged. I think many of you have come across such communities on social networks “Portraits to order”, “Paintings to order”, etc. This is a great business for artists.

It is best to promote through communities on social networks. You can use VKontakte with store functionality as a platform, and Instagram for publishing your portfolio.

Portraits to order are in great demand. This is an original gift that can please almost any person. It is more difficult to make money from painting, paintings are in less demand, but nevertheless you can find a buyer.

I have a friend whose great-grandfather was a famous artist in our city. And now his grandson makes money by creating replicas of his paintings and selling them at low prices to those who cannot afford the originals. The demand is such that it allows both him and his wife not to work.

It is very difficult to make money from your paintings. Simply because no one knows you as an artist, and your work is of no value to collectors and art connoisseurs.

Method 4. Selling designer postcards

You won’t surprise anyone with ordinary postcards. Lovers original gifts They often order unique cards to show how much they care about the idea.

If you know how to work with graphic tablet, you can easily cooperate with stores selling unique postcards.

Stores are a great place to start. They provide access to large audience and allow you not to reduce prices to attract customers. There is also the opportunity to run this business yourself. But for this you need to draw an idea, come up with the right words, fulfill your plans.

I have seen more than once how modern poets collaborate with good artists and create atmospheric postcards, and then sell them in their own communities.

Method 5. Drawing comics

Internet comics are many individual images that are connected mainly by the main character, habits and general mood.

There are two options for working with comics: post them in the public domain or publish them in publications. Monetization methods depend on this. If you work with groups on social networks or a personal blog, you can make money from advertising integrations: advertising inserts in social networks, pictures with advertising, etc.

If you work with full-fledged publications, you will need to create a comic book: big story, an illustration of a specific story. In order to earn money in this way, you need to either constantly catch competitions in large print or online publications, or get a job permanent job illustrator.

Method 6. Private lessons

This is a great way for those who can not only draw, but can also teach it. There are more and more self-taught artists. And that means those who want to realize themselves in a certain profession. You can give private lessons via Skype to:

• Those who want to learn how to draw.
• Those who want to master graphics programs.

There's a lot on the net free lessons drawing in free access. But your main advantage is individual work. You will be able to explain, show and tell something to your student much faster.

Method 7. Creating your own information product

The most promising way to make money on the Internet is to create your own information products. You are selling what you have already learned. In the case of artists, this could be:

• Drawing lessons.
• Graphic design lessons.
• Ways to find clients.
• Ways to earn money for designers.

You can come up with many options. It is very important that you yourself understand what you can teach.

How can an artist find clients?

Let's talk about three current ways to find clients. Each of them is worthy of attention and they are still working today.

Microstocks

In order to register on most microstocks, you will have to pass an exam. Let's look at the list of the most profitable microstocks.

Shutterstock— the largest microstock. Accepts photos, illustrations and vector graphics for uploading. There is an exam: it is enough to accept at least one job out of 10 proposed.

For experienced users there is a bonus program: the more works sold, the higher the deductions.

This is a great starting point for beginners. Images are checked very quickly, and the works of beginners are exhibited on an equal basis with professionals. The minimum withdrawal is $35, but not earlier than 3 months after registration.

IStock— one of the oldest microstocks. Accepts photos, illustrations and vectors.

Part of Getty Images, the largest professional photo bank.

A normal starting point for beginners. The main disadvantage: the high withdrawal threshold of $100. The service also does not show sales statistics well: it will be possible to update the data only after a month.

Fotolia is a microstock that integrates with Adobe products in the form of Adobe Stock. There is no exam here.

Built into Adobe products. There are quite a lot of buyers.

The minimum withdrawal threshold is $50. Among the majority of authors, it is one of the five most profitable microstocks.

Freelancing sites

- the most profitable way to earn money for designers and everyone who works with computer graphics. But every year it becomes more and more difficult for newcomers to break through. Almost all projects will require starting investments: from 800 rubles to purchase a premium account. Without it, you can only access basic orders.

List of freelancing sites:

• Freelance.ru.
• Fl.ru.
• Freelansim.
• Work-Zilla.
• Kwork.

You can find orders for both graphic rendering of images and drawings on canvas.

Social media

The option is suitable for running a business and making money on comics. The best social network for this purpose - VKontakte. There is full functionality for attracting clients.

You can use the VKontakte community either as a group in which work will be posted, or as a personal store.

You can use Instagram to create a portfolio. This social network has the best format for working with images. You can post photo reviews from clients or a list of completed work.

How much can an artist earn?

Now let's talk about which direction is most profitable to work in. To do this, let’s look at the income figures, the minimum threshold and the time/money spent on each type of income.

Pictures on microstocks— top users earn from illustrations from $1,000 every month. A beginner can count on an income of 100 - 200 dollars 2 - 3 months after starting work. But at first you will have to work really hard to gain a base regular customers and collect a portfolio.

Custom design — good designer with an average workload (3 - 4 hours a day with 20 working days a month) he can freely earn from 30 to 40 thousand rubles. But this will require a good portfolio. A beginner will have to make several orders for himself, invest in a portfolio and work for some time with orders at low pay.

Paintings to order— It is very difficult to predict income. From what I was told, you can earn up to 50,000 rubles a month by selling replicas. There is no information on copyright works.

Sale of original postcards- a very difficult way to make money. In collaboration with modern poet You can provide yourself with good sales. But the monthly income will still be low - from 10 to 15 thousand rubles.

Making money from comics— there is no information about illustrators who make money from full-fledged drawing of comics. Creative companies often keep this secret. Internet comics are not created to make money. In the Russian segment, this is more a way of creative self-realization and small earnings on advertising.

Private lessons — individual lessons They are quite expensive on the Internet. An hour costs from 500 to 1,000 rubles. But there won’t be a workload of 20-30 hours a week, so you can count on 5-7 thousand rubles a week.

Creation of an information product- income depends on the value of the product. A large initial investment of time and effort is required for training (from a week to a month) and promotion costs - the minimum level is 20,000 rubles.

Conclusion

Internet provides great amount earning opportunities for people with creative professions. It’s enough to take the issue of earning money seriously, start studying and don’t stray from your path.