Decorative painting is the art of presenting your skills and imagination through faux finishes, (ragging, sponging, etc.) stenciling, murals and free-hand decorative painting, which is either meant to be used as a frame on the walls of homes, workplaces etc or is directly painted on the wall. For the purpose of having your artwork embarked, you need finishes that are somewhat quick to apply to the wall and leave a permanent impression.

One Stroke painting and wallpapering are skills which all together add to your arsenal as a decorative wall painter. The best part about starting a decorative painting business is that you can turn something you enjoy doing into a money making business. There is no better job in the world than the one where you get paid for doing what you love the most.

• How To Start As A Decorative Wall Painter?
• How To Work Professionally As A Decorative Wall Painter?
• How to earn money with decorative wall painting business?
• How To Plan Your Business As A Decorative Wall Painter?
• How Profitable is Painting Business?
• How Can I Get Paid For my Artwork?
• How do I Get Customers For my Painting Business?
• How do I Start a Canvas Painting Business?
• Is it Hard to Start a Painting Business?
• Are Painters in Demand?
• How do I Start Selling my Paintings?
• Is Selling Art Profitable?
• How do I Make And Sell Prints?
• How Much Does it Cost to Start Your Own Painting Business?
• How Can I Get Free Paint Leads?
• How do I Market my Small Painting Business?
• Can You Start a Painting Business With no Experience?
• How do I Start Art License?
• How do You Price a Painting Job?
• Do House Painters Make Good Money?
• What Type of Paintings Sell Best on Etsy?
• How Much do I Charge For Painting a Room?
• How do I Get Career in Painting?
• How do Painters Get Side Jobs?
• Where do Painters Make The Most Money?
• How to Make Money With Art Skills?
• Upload Drawings And Earn Money
• How to Make Money From Drawing And Painting
• How to Make Money Drawing Portraits
• How to Make Money Painting Canvas
• How to Make Money With Digital Art

How To Start As A Decorative Wall Painter?

Decorative wall painting is an art which most of us tend to ignore or do not notice even if it is there in us. The most important thing regarding decorative wall painting is your interest in the art and your good hand-work in accordance with your mind.
Keep these below points in your mind when you are starting as a decorative wall painter:

Start At Home 

You don’t have to be a painting expert to start a home-painting business but it helps if you have been practicing your painting skills for some time.

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It will serve two purposes at one time, firstly you can decorate your home as you want and most importantly it will give you a lot of pictures in your portfolio to show to the potential clients in the future and at the same time will also help you develop more self-confidence in your work as most of us tend to downplay our painting skills, when in reality we are much better artists than we think we are.

Practice and improve

If you are not comfortable and confident to directly try your skill at the walls of your house, you can start by painting smaller objects like ceramic pots, candles, vases and then gradually work your way up to larger projects.

It is a good idea to try your hand at floor cloths and painting placemats before moving on to a wall. The best wall to paint for your first test is the garage wall. You can experiment all your tricks and things you have learnt practicing there.

Evaluate yourself and always seek honest advice

If you have people who are brutally honest in their opinion, seek their advice on your work because friends and family often tend to neglect our flaws and praise us for something which we are not.  Always remember, with every mistake you make, you learn a new skill. Have patience and swallow criticism, they are only going to make you better.

Visualize your imagination and be creative

Apart from being a good artist, the one thing you need the most to be a good decorative painter is a vivid imagination and creativeness. Making your hands draw what your mind is thinking is another art that you need to possess if you want to make a name for yourself in this business.

Books and workshops

Learn from virtually everything that you can. Read books on how to be a wall painter, attend workshops and seminars and talk to people who are already in the business. The best teacher of an artist is nature; try to extract every bit of creativity and imagination you get from creatures and things around you.

How To Work Professionally As A Decorative Wall Painter?

After you have gained confidence and improved as a wall painter through practice, start looking for work in your own circle. Quite often your work will do the job for you as people who see decorative wall paintings in your house will develop interest to have some for their homes too, so work very hard with complete dedication even when you are working at home.

SETTING UP A PORTFOLIO

It is essential to have a professional looking portfolio in order to impress and obtaining clients as they need to see what type of work you are capable of doing. This is where all the work you have done in your home and at the home of your friends and family will pay off. If you have done a great job on a project make sure you take a lot of pictures in your portfolio.

Make the portfolio as attractive as possible and highlight the best things about your work through pictures. Each image should be large enough to show even the minute details to the client. Use a high quality camera and do not edit or Photoshop your work, it leaves a bad impression.

PAINTED SAMPLES

Along with a detailed portfolio it is also advisable to keep actual samples of your work so that clients can touch the finished product and be sure about your work. Make sure your work is exceedingly neat and tidy as you only want to show off your best efforts to potential clients.

ADVERTISING

Marketing is something you need to take care of apart from your skill. No doubt your work will finally get you more jobs, but to start with if you don’t advertise correctly or often enough, your phone just won’t ring. Don’t put all your hopes on one advertising method and have a pre-planned advertising budget in place.

Some of the good ways to advertise are

• Newspaper advertisements
• Sending mails to Interior decorators of potential customers etc are some ways to advertise your work.
•  Having a logo and a business card with all necessary contact details on it.
• Doing a trade show or a home show is sure to get you the audience you want to showcase your talent.

How to earn money with decorative wall painting business?

In initial stages, it’s tough to work out a price that your work deserved. You always have doubts about whether the customer will be willing to pay the amount you ask for. But one thing is assured, if you are good enough, being a decorative wall painter will earn you beyond your expectations. People will always appreciate good work, both verbally and in kind.

Though there is no rule or fixed price on a painting and each artist tend to put up his own price but it is believed that the price of any artwork depends on the time involved, the materials used; the uniqueness or complexity of the item, your stature as an artist and the market.

Certain ways to price your work as a beginner:-

1. For a short term strategy, especially when you have just started, set an hourly rate for your labor. For long term however, you need to have an estimate about how much time a project is going to take and then calculate your price accordingly by multiplying with the hourly rate you have in your mind.
2.  Add up the cost of the materials you required to complete the project. For the products which are hard to find and took extra effort to acquire them, you can charge up to double the price they are, depending on how much effort it took to get them.
3. If there was any middle man, or a firm involved that helped you to get the project, you need to add their commission in the final pricing without actually mentioning it. For smaller projects, try to find the customer yourself as they won’t be willing to pay the extra sum.
4. Always put in all your norms and the price you are expected to get in writing. Working under contract is advisable as it keeps both you and the customer under legal check.
5. The labor and the cost of material used will form the base price for any project; however, to ensure your own profit, you need to fix a price depending on the market at that moment of time.

Whatever your job is, you always need to have a proper strategy and a plan to make sure you always are prepared to face the worst. Having Plan B and Plan C in place, just in case your primary strategy failed, often proves to be your savior.

How To Plan Your Business As A Decorative Wall Painter?

1. Prepare your moves in advance

The best way to work in any business especially when you are an artist is by planning each of your work and giving time and dates to each assignments in advance and then strictly sticking to the plan. You don’t want to lose any job opportunity or leave a customer dissatisfied just because you couldn’t plan your work properly. If you have what it takes to be a professional wall decorative artist, make sure these external hurdles do not stop you in your path.

2. Complete knowledge of the industry

 You need to be well informed as a decorative artist about what is happening around you and the current demands in the market and by customers and plan your next assignment accordingly. You definitely don’t want your project, on which you have done so much of hard work, to not find any buyer just because it is currently not in demand in the market.

The chief components of market knowledge are:-

• Market Research

To fully understand the market that you are targeting, communicate with the buyers, people who work in the industry and interior decorators because they have the best knowledge about what the customers want.

• Size of the Industry

 Every industry including the wall painting industry has a different size across borders, but it is important to have an estimate of the size of the industry in your area because this is what is going to determine the potential customers and the number of competitors you have. The size of any industry over a given area is a direct indication of demand of that particular industry in that area.

• Customer Requirements

 Understanding the customers and their requirements is the key to wall painting industry. If you can leave the customer satisfied and happy about the work that you did, his reviews and their word of mouth reviews are sure to get you many more future projects.

People are often very particular regarding how they want their house to look like and visualizing what they want and then creatively giving their need a life in the form of a wall decorated painting using your imagination, creativity and skill is not everyone’s cup of tea and this is what separates the ordinary artists from the great ones.

• Industry Outlook

 Going by the current trends, decorative painting along with faux finishes on walls is expected to see a steady growth over the next decade or so, but it is still advisable to keep note on the future of the industry as these trends quite often disregard their own claims.

Ensure client’s 100% satisfaction
It is very important to maintain a professional and at the same time comfortable environment with your client, where he can communicate his needs without any hesitation. Make sure your clients experience with you ends on a pleasing note and you can offer them a warranty on your work as it would develop a stellar reputation of yourself, as an artist who stands behind their creations.

It will also go a long way to motivate your clients to spend the money on your work and will encourage them to tell others about your work.

• Be confident and prepared when you go for work and ensure that you come equipped with all your supplies organized into bins and toolboxes.
• Be very organized and polite in your work. Showing frustration and anger while working may give negative signals to the client, more so because you will very often be working under his watchful eyes.
• Keep the work area clean and always put the things you displaced while working back to their respective places. These small things make lot of impact on the psychological impression in the mind of the client.
• If anything is bothering you regarding the environment in the workplace, politely request to the client about the same. It is important to have an environment where a wall artist can explore beyond his imaginations and give visual life to what occurs in his mind.

 Decorative wall painting is a business which requires continuous interaction between the artist and the client and is one profession which will make your pockets full if you have the patience, skill and the imagination to excel at the highest level. Always remember, everything starts falling in place for those who are willing to put in that extra effort to achieve their goal.

How Profitable is Painting Business?

As a small business owner, your goal is to be profitable. A major benefit of the painting industry is that most jobs have very healthy high-profit margins. Whether your painting company specializes in commercial, residential, or industrial painting, the profit margins for painting help cushion your bottom line and keep cash flowing into your bank account.

While most lines of painting are profitable, it’s important to note that new construction doesn’t have great profit margins. When starting your painting company, make sure you’re taking a mix of jobs to ensure you’re making a profit.

How Can I Get Paid For my Artwork?

Sell Prints

You don’t only need to be a photographer to sell prints. Illustrators, painters, and even installation artists or sculptors can benefit from selling high-quality prints of their artwork. This opens up the door for fans who may not be able to reach the price point of an original piece, allowing you to diversify the type of collectors you attract.

You can either print and sell directly or use one of the many online services, like Society6, that allow artists to easily sell prints online, taking a small commission in exchange. Many of these sites also sell products like smartphone cases, scarves, and backpacks with your artwork printed directly on them, letting you offer something to everyone.

Teach Online Classes

If you feel like teaching is your calling, you may want to consider teaching online classes. More than ever, people are seeking out knowledgeable teachers in the creative world to help them take their work to a new level.

Crafters, painters, photographers, and graphic designers are just some of the creatives who will find a demand for their knowledge if they are skilled at sharing what they know. Some people even turn their teaching into full-time work, launching paid membership services where people have access to private tutorials.

Lead Workshops

Maybe you like teaching, but the thought of planning a full course is daunting. Or, you simply enjoy the in-person experience of engaging with students. If so, teaching workshops might be for you. Especially popular with photographers, it can be a great supplement to your income, especially if you have a niche like astrophotography or street photography.

Some photographers, like Cuma Cevik, run destination workshops where they lead groups to exotic locations and shape the trip around a specific theme. Of course, workshops aren’t limited to photographers. Are you a street artist? You could run workshops on how to use spray paint or cut stencils. Or maybe you’re an expert in hand-lettering?

Give workshops on the basics of calligraphy and typography. Think about your artistic niche and what you can offer that is special and unique. If you plan ahead carefully, you may even be able to organize workshops around your travel schedule and turn a profit while on the move.

Book Speaking Engagements

If you enjoy public speaking, you may be able to leverage this into a lucrative side hustle booking speaking engagements. Whether for corporate events or as a guest lecturer at universities, there’s certainly a market for creative thinkers to share the secrets of their craft. And, this can often run in tandem with a workshop, making for a full day of activities.

Get started by brainstorming some lecture topics and pull together a short presentation on your work. Then look locally for organizations that you think may be interested and move from there. Remember, it’s not only arts organizations that may be curious about what you do. By thinking outside the box, you’ll be able to land more jobs.

For instance, if you specialize in wildlife photography or scientific illustration, contact natural history museums or scientific organizations that could be interested in hearing about the crossover between art and science.

Sell or License Your Art through Stock Agencies

Earn royalties from your work by licensing it or simply sell it outright to a stock agency. Photographers, musicians, and video makers will look to Getty Images as a top choice in the field, while Shutterstock is one of many agencies that also accepts illustrations and vector graphics. If done wisely with quality work, this can be a steady stream of income that can quickly add up.

How do I Get Customers For my Painting Business?

If you don’t have effective marketing, you don’t have a business. Every potential customer starts as a lead or prospect. Unfortunately, most marketing doesn’t work. But here are seven proven ways that have worked for our painting businesses, which are now generating $4 million in annual revenue in five states.

1. Door-to-door marketing

When you’re just starting, this is THE best way to start. A lot of people are afraid to do this, or don’t have the hustle to do it. Which means more leads for you! Basically, every hour you go door-to-door, you’ll get 1-2 painting leads. We’ve run hundreds of marketing teams to arrive at this number.

Pick neighborhoods that are higher income, that need paint. Or have HOA’s that require them to paint every 8-10 years. Here’s a simple effective script you can use:

“Hi, my name is Chandler from Painter Choice and I noticed you had a little peeling on your trim. Would you be interested in a free painting estimate?”

Most people will say no, but a few every hour will say yes!

You’ll want to set up a time later to actually do the estimate. Some people will expect you to do the estimate right then and there, but don’t do this unless they insist. You’ll have a much higher closing rate setting up a special time, when all the decision-makers are present for the bid.

2. Referrals

Referrals are the best leads. If you provide excellent service and quality, you’ll get a lot of referrals. A lot of contractors are unreliable, don’t communicate well, or do sloppy work. So if a previous customer recommends you, there’s a 90% chance you’ll win the job just by showing up.

3. Lead Providers

Lead providers are companies that specifically generate leads for your trade: painting, carpentry, etc. It works like this. A potential customer submits a request for an estimate online and you are sent their information with the project details. For example, “Barbara Johnson needs to paint the exterior of her home, her number is 303-xxx-xxxx.”

We use a few different lead providers for our painting companies:

• Painter Choice
• CraftJack
• Thumbtack

HomeAdvisor is one of the larger lead providers but we’ve had mixed results with them.

With lead providers, you usually pay-per-lead, or set up a monthly budget and get a certain amount of leads. If the lead quality is good, you can usually turn about 70-80% of them into estimates. And then typically sell one out of three bids into an actual job.

You’ll want to track the return on investment with each lead-provider individually to see which ones work the best.

4. Lawn Signs

Lawn signs are one of the best investments you can make for your painting company.

As you’re painting a house, ask your client if you can put up a lawn sign with your company info in their front yard.

This is a GREAT way to get referrals because people can see your work in action. And if the customer allows it, you can leave the lawn sign up for months after it’s completed. You’ll get months of free advertising this way.

When designing your lawn sign, keep it simple. Keep in mind that most people cannot see any small details on your sign. Our lawn signs just have our logo and company name, with our phone number and “Get a Free Estimate” (a simple call-to-action).

5. Lead Groups

Some painters have incredible success with lead groups. These are specific business groups that have various professions/trades. People from different industries will get together once a month and exchange leads/referrals. I know one painter that gets 2-3 jobs a month JUST from his leads group. BNI is one example of a lead group, but you can also search online for other networking groups in your area.

6. Flyer Drops

We’ve had some success with flyer drops, but it can get expensive. For example, we dropped 5,000 flyers, got about 15 call-ins, and sold eight jobs, but the flyer drop cost us $2,000. We DID make a profit from the eight jobs we did, even though the advertising cost us a couple thousand.

It’s important to have an attractive flyer if you’re going to do a flyer drop. Too many people try and include everything imaginable about their company on one flyer. But imagine how much junk-mail/flyers you get already.

You really only notice a couple of important headlines, so keep your flyers simple and clear, and include a special that encourages people to call in by a certain time. It’s important to create urgency with this kind of marketing.

7. Online Advertising (SEO, Directories)

I bet you get two calls a week asking if you’d like to “be on the first page of Google”. These are SEO companies promising the number one spot on Google for painting.

First off, you should avoid anyone who PROMISES to get you on the first page. SEO is very complicated and can take a while to get to the top. No one truly knows what spot you’ll be in, except Google.

Online directories: We’ve had success buying a banner ad with the BBB. We tried Yellow Pages but got zero results. Just google around and see what directories and sites show up; get on those.

Most online searches still happen through Google, so if you’re not on Google (or a site that shows up on Google) you probably won’t be found online.

How do I Start a Canvas Painting Business?

The first thing you need to do is to reflect on yourself and give a thought about your skills. Recollect what you know all about painting. Try to do some rough paintings on your walls to assess  your skill and based on the feedback do some course correction.

Even if you are good at your painting skills, take a professional course for painting or an internship in order to sharpen your skills and to get an idea of how a professional painting business operates. If you do not have experience in painting then you need to focus on important aspects like:

• Painting on various platforms like canvas, wallpapers, walls, etc.
• Learn how to mix colors for best results by experiments.
• Learn about special effects that make a painting look professional.
• Develop some special skills to compete with others.
• Learn how to market your skills to the world.

A professional painting course will do all of the above for you. therefore do register to a painting course of your choice unless you want to be your own Guru to get good returns.

1. Select your niche and make a business plan

There are various methods and techniques of paintings that one can try based on their specialisation. Many ordinary painters can be hired with or without skills if you are looking at normal painting of a house.

You can also hire artists who specialise in their field of art like below:

• Mural Painting: It is a type of painting that is directly applied on a wall, ceiling or any other permanent surface. The paintings are created on large canvases which are later put on the wall too. Or they can be directly painted on the wall.

2. Make a strategy

You need to make up a strategy for your painting business after you have acquired the required professional skills. You need to start your business in the painting field where you master yourself as you go on gaining experience.

Like if you are excellent in a particular type of painting then your business should be focusing on not only painting. You also need to arrange the required marketing to start your business.

3. Buy painting equipments

For a professional business it is necessary that you are equipped with all the latest equipment with which you will start your painting business. In a limited budget you can have all the necessary items like brushes and window painting trolleys plus ladders and stools with you. 

Do not compromise with the quality of your painting material. Also, if you can afford it, you should also try to use a modern painting mechanism. This includes painting using computer software, painting on different types of material with spray painting equipment etc.

4. Register your business

A registered business with a brand name always has multiple benefits. Art items have a good impact if you have built your own brand. You can build your brand on your business name or on the particular type of art you sell. 

Registering your business will also help in commerce as your business will grow.

5. Hire staffs and expand your business

As your business is launched, you need to progress and for this you need to add variety in your business. 

Hire painters and artists who are well versed in different forms of mural painting. Use their skills to sell your product and have mutual benefits. When you have artists from different circles then you have a broad market which eventually helps you in building a brand. Do not compromise on quality but also do not hesitate to take risks and experiment as it may prove to benefit you to expand in future.

6. Setup a shop

Setting up your painting market requires hard work. You need to meet with like minds who are also in this business. You need to make a network of such people who are in this business. In starting you may have to supply your paintings to another seller who has a market so in return you can earn some initial amount if you are painting on canvas with oil paints or water paints.

It is important to establish your own painting business to market yourself and make a brand for your own painting company name that people can remember for quality and efficiency.

You can also hire a marketing expert that can target the global audience through various ways mentioned below.

7. Market your business

Traditional ways of marketing: 

You need to network with art exhibition organizers who can allow you to showcase your paintings in their art galleries. Apart from this, you can also network with other such artists who have regular customers. They can also introduce your paintings to the customers who can introduce you to a market.

Through e-commerce websites: 

You can also sell your paintings on famous e-commerce websites. You can  register on their website and sell your product.Thus you can become a part of their large e-commerce network. 

This is one of the best means to sell your merchandise as it involves a huge market with direct clients which means direct profit. 

You can also make your own website with your brand name and use digital marketing options on social media to boost up your presence.

Making your Presence on Social Media:

People on social media are always keen to look for things they like and they get associated with it. 

There are many pages on social media that are liked by people across the globe that deal with something unique and interesting for the people. 

You can also make your own page by your brand name on various social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. and post pictures of your paintings.

You can also add details of your paintings and then invite them to buy offering them attractive discounts.

A direct connection with your customer is one of the best ways to boost your business as it instills trust in customers for your work. 

A word of mouth is the most trusted method of marketing which works very quickly from one person to another.

Is it Hard to Start a Painting Business?

The barrier to entry for starting a painting business is low. Painters don’t usually have to go through the same kind of rigorous education and certification processes that other tradespeople, such as metalworkers or carpenters, do. This means you’ll be able to find employees that can start quickly, learn on the job, and may not be as expensive to hire as in other parts of the industry.

And, if you plan to do the work yourself, you won’t have to spend time (and money!) going through preparatory classes. It’s not a bad idea to take a continuing education class to learn the finer points of painting homes, but if you’re already well-versed, you should be fine to get started without one.

Another great reason to start a painting business is its flexibility. You can work as many or as few jobs as you want. This is particularly true if you opt to do painting work seasonally. There’s a reason for jokes about teachers being house painters in the summer—it’s a great way to put a little extra money in your pocket when your regular job (or other contract work) is slow or out-of-season.

And, with most businesses, you can get started without needing a ton of paperwork to register your business. Small business insurance may be another story, though, and we’ll cover that later on.

Are Painters in Demand?

The painting industry grew 4.2% from 2014 to 2019, employing more than 500,000 people according to current figures. The industry is also worth about $43 billion as well. What does all of this mean for you if you’re looking at starting a painting business? Well, in short, it means that you’d be in pretty high demand.

If you live or work in an area where the real estate market is hot, you may also be able to get in on the action by starting a painting business that works alongside home flippers. Real estate investors need home improvement work done on short order, and are usually happy to work with a reliable partner across several projects.

Find a flipper who needs painting services, and you might just have yourself your first long-term client. This can help you establish positive cash flow and get your business off the ground—particularly if you can harness the power of word-of-mouth advertising.

How do I Start Selling my Paintings?

It’s no secret that selling art can be a challenge, even for the most talented artists. To keep from starving, it’s important that you take steps to turn your passion into a viable source of income.

Turning art or crafts into a business can be daunting at first, but you just need to approach it in steps. With a little persistence, eventually you may be able to turn your next masterpiece into your next rent check. Here’s our step-by-step guide to selling art.

Putting Your Art Online

If you want people to buy your art, you need to make it available. These days, the easiest way to accomplish that is by taking some high-quality photos and making yourself a website. Once you have a solid website, you can start networking online and in person. You can use an e-commerce platform such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Big Cartel, or you can make a more traditional website and handle transactions privately.

Putting Your Art Into the World

After creating your website, you can use that site to attempt to gain entry into art shows and galleries. Start off small. Look into local art galleries, coffee shops, music venues, restaurants, and other businesses that may be interested in displaying your art.

Put a small sign with your phone number and a price near each piece, and then wait. If nothing else, having your art out in the world adds legitimacy to your passion, and it gives you exposure.

Sell Art Commissions

Many artists prefer to follow their own path, but sometimes you need to make sacrifices to pay the bills. Offering art commissions is an excellent way to generate some income. Make sure your clients know exactly what to expect so you don’t have to worry about disappointing them.

Show them multiple examples of artwork you’ve already created, and only accept jobs that you know you can handle.

Deciding what to charge for commissions can be tough. You don’t want to undervalue your services, but charging too much can drive potential clients away. What you charge for your art determines what it’s worth to the buyer. If you believe that your art is worth a certain figure, that’s what you should charge. You may end up negotiating, but at least the buyer will have a rough market value for the piece.

Hire a Professional Consultant

If you’re not confident in your ability to value your art, approach people about it, create it, or anything else, you can talk to an art consultant or agent. You may be able to gain valuable insight by paying for a few hours of their time, or you may find that paying a representative a percentage of each piece sold is worth it to you. Talking to the right person can also open doors if that person believes in your work.

Networking

In the art world, some of the most successful artists are just those who know how to network best. Networking isn’t just about being social; you need to be able to discuss your artistic vision, describe your artwork in detail, and generally sell yourself as an artist.

At first, art networking can be intimidating, but it gets easier as you do it more frequently. Be confident in yourself and your art. Be genuine, share your passion organically, and the rest will follow.

Build a Client Base

If you’re just getting started turning your art into a business, your client base is probably minimal. In these early stages, you may want to offer art commissions or even personal pieces at a discounted rate in exchange for advertisement. Even if that simply means requesting that the customer gives you a referral if it comes up, it’s a step in the right direction.

Know Your Audience

If you create graffiti-inspired street art, you might not appeal to the fine art crowd. To market your art more effectively, you need to figure out where you and your work fit in. Talk to other art lovers, and ask how they would classify your work.

When people give feedback, pay attention. The better you know your own art, the better you can sell it. Like any industry, you need to identify your target demographics and market to them.

Use Social Media

Once you’ve identified your target market, consider marketing yourself through social media outlets. Sometimes all it takes is the right hashtag to get your name out there. You can also pay for sponsored ads on social media pages. Many advertisement outlets such as Facebook let you hone in on your target audience, which can give you amazing exposure in all the right places.

Be Prepared to Sell

You never know when you might have an opportunity to make a sale. While you can sell your art at flea markets or craft fairs, opportunities sometimes happen out of nowhere. Keep a few business cards on hand with your website address, and don’t be afraid to bring your art up in conversation. As an artist, you can use your passion to meet some fascinating people — many of whom may become customers.

Is Selling Art Profitable?

These days, every artist wants to learn how to sell artwork online. It used to be that you could only sell your work through a brick and mortar gallery, and give them a substantial cut of your profits. While many artists still take this route, more and more are choosing to sell artwork online as well.

Selling online has its own unique challenges, though, such as visibility, conversion, and, of course, turning a profit. However, with a good eye, a creative streak, and a little hard work, you can sell art online successfully, and make money.

How do I Make And Sell Prints?

You have two options:

1. You can sell prints on your own website. This gives you the most control, but you have to do all the marketing; or
2. You can list your prints for sale on online marketplaces, like fineartamerica.com. You give up control for the benefit of getting your work in front of a built-in audience.

For most artists, the latter option (online marketplaces) is unlikely to yield more than a few odd sales. There’s simply too much competition.

To stand out, you need something that cuts through the noise. Erin Hanson’s work comes to mind. She paints stunning landscapes in a distinct, van Gogh-like style. It’s eye-catching and plays well in the commercial market.

The better option for most artists is to retain control and handle the marketing yourself. Focus on building your name and brand. Remember, competition doesn’t exist if you are the product.

Other Ideas for Using Prints

• Sell small prints with zero or low margins to reach more people.
• Put your art onto merchandise. Bags, hats, postcards, etc. Just make sure this fits with your overall brand and image. If you are going for portrait commissions, then having your art on a mug or postcard may detract from your brand.
• Gets prints done up of your favorite paintings that you previously sold or no longer have.
• Use prints as gifts for friends and family.
• Sell limited edition prints.
• Buy prints from your favorite artists if the originals are out of your price range.

How Much Does it Cost to Start Your Own Painting Business?

At the beginning, your costs for starting a house painting business can be relatively low-on average, less than $2000. When you’re first starting out, you’ll need:

• Brushes
• Rollers
• Paint trays
• Tarps
• Tape
• 2 ladders  (8′-12′ and a 28′-32′ sizes)
• Sandpaper
• A wire brush
• A caulking gun
• Protective clothing
• A breathing mask

You can minimize your business’ overhead costs by being based out of your home or truck at the beginning. As your projects scale up, you will need more equipment to get it all done. Scaffolding, sprayers, and compressors will make bigger jobs a snap.

Make sure that your business plan includes your price adjustments and increased equipment costs as you scale up-that way, you and your painting business profits will be ready to thrive.

How Can I Get Free Paint Leads?

You can always hire a lead provider to get you painting leads, but it can be expensive. If you’re not quite ready to spend $50 for a painting lead through a service, here are some free methods we’ve used for our own painting companies.

Referrals

Word of mouth is the best advertising. A recommendation from a previous client or friend builds instant credibility with a potential customer. Many people don’t want to spend the time finding someone truly reliable, so if a friend knows a good painter, all the better!

Be careful with underbidding referrals though. Often times painters will feel pressure to lower their price since they gave a discount before. You will bind yourself to low profit margins if you keep giving out great deals to friends of friends.

Referrals from Lead Providers

If you are willing to spend a little money on a painting leads provider, it will expand your overall network of clients, leading to even more referrals. We know it’s not technically free, but sometimes buying a couple paid leads will get you additional referrals from the purchased leads.

For example, we’ve purchased a lead for $40 and it led to 3 other free referrals.

Door-to-Door Canvassing

Scout out some neighborhoods that need house painting and do some door-knocking. You should be able to get 1-2 new leads per hour with this simple pitch:

“Hi, I’m Joe with ABC Painting and I noticed a little peeling on your trim. Would you like a free painting estimate?”

This is a free method if you’re doing it yourself, but you’re still spending your time (which isn’t free). You can usually hire this task out for $10-$15 per sourced lead if you don’t have time to do it yourself.

Neighborhood Newsletters

A lot of neighborhoods allow you to advertise in their newsletter for free. If you apply to enough neighborhoods, you could get an extra 2-3 jobs per month for free. There is usually a contact section in the newsletter where you can submit your ad.

Paint Store

Most paint stores have a bulletin board or card holder where you can put your business cards. However, when there are 40 other painting businesses doing the same thing it can get competitive. Make sure your business cards REALLY stand out.

Here’s a good test: Look at all the cards at once and see which first 2 your eye was drawn to. Chances are most people are drawn to these same cards. Steal some ideas from the cards that stick out.

Lawn Signs

We love using lawn signs. A well-placed lawn sign ALWAYS leads to another job in the neighborhood. Especially when the finished house looks amazing.

The same rule applies to your lawn signs; make sure they stand out. We recommend having your phone number with “Free Painting Estimate” in large letters. Don’t get too fancy and distract people from the main purpose of the lawn sign; to get more business.

Lead groups

Your city usually has a chamber of commerce with different business groups to join. A lot of these groups are just lead-exchange groups.

We had a representative of our company go to 3 different leads groups every saturday and source free leads. Getting involved with different business groups and chambers of commerce where people exchange business is a great way to source more work.

How do I Market my Small Painting Business?

Homes, businesses and apartment communities can all use the services and expertise of an experienced painter. A solid advertising and marketing plan can take your painting business to the next level, especially if you take advantage of low-cost, high-return options as well as developing long-range advertising efforts.

Place Signs in Visible Areas

Display signs. Ask clients for permission to display signs on their premises. Place signs that advertise the type of work done at that location. This client testimonial attracts the attention of neighbors and those passing by the location.

Make sure your company contact information is visible and the signs feature your phone number prominently.

Deliver Advertising Materials

Leave fliers and business cards with various businesses around town. Visit local home and garden centers, paint stores and moving companies. Pass out business cards and fliers for various businesses to distribute to customers looking for help with a painting project. Offer to do the same for those businesses willing to lend your marketing efforts a hand.

Use Local Advertising Methods

Advertise locally. Contact your local phone company. Ask about the costs associated with including a coupon or discount offer for your painting business in its new-home welcome packet. These packets typically get sent to new accounts as a way to welcome them to the neighborhood.

For broader coverage, buy pay-per-click advertisements on Google and Facebook. List your painting service in your local phone book. Advertise with your vehicle while out around town by placing a magnetic marketing sign on the car door. The magnetic sign should display your painting business name and phone number.

Hand Out Imprinted Promotional Items

Pass out promotional items to introduce your business. Order imprinted items from a promotional products company or local printer. Possible choices include calendars, pens and notepads. Pass them out at local home and garden shows.

Locate and attend local industry expos featuring home builders, landscapers, architects and home restoration firms. Hand out promotional items, business cards and fliers offering your services to any business or individual that may hire painters now or in the future.

Use Social Media

Set up a Facebook page for your business, and urge all of your friends and family to both Like it and Share it with all the friends on their lists. Post regularly, or have a friend or family member do it for you, offering tips on painting and decor-related topics.

If you don’t have time to write them yourself, look for interesting links from non-competitive sources and share them with your followers. Post before-and-after shots from your portfolio on the Facebook page or an Instagram account, and tweet links to the photos from a company Twitter account.

Can You Start a Painting Business With no Experience?

It’s best to get into the painting industry and learn the ropes before you start your own business. Although painting is low barrier to entry, you still have to have great technique to provide good service, and you need to understand how to operate a business. You can learn this by working for someone for two to three years.

If you are ready to start off on the right foot, check out painting business software like Jobber to get you started, keep you organized, help you look professional, keep in touch with your clients, and keep track of your quotes and invoices.

How do I Start Art License?

First, licensing is a big business. Not only can you offer prints, but you have the potential to create a BRAND. Everything from collectables to home decor to car decals. There are endless possibilities.

Companies work with manufacturing companies that deal with artists and designers to create products. You have to know how it works in order to not only expand your art brand, but to protect it as well.

It’s worth registering the copyright of your work whenever you come up with a new design or collection. Here in the US, as in many countries, copyright is automatically granted to you as soon as you create a piece of art, but registering the copyright means that your ownership is a matter of public record, and makes it easier to defend your rights. For instance, if you want to bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement, you will need to register your copyright.

How do You Price a Painting Job?

This is by far the hardest cost to estimate when bidding a house, mainly because there are SO many factors.

The short answer is this; A good crew of 2-3 painters can finish the exterior of a 2,500 square foot house in 1-2 full days. And a good crew usually costs about $800 per full work day.

However, the following obstacles on a house can TRIPLE the time + labor it takes to paint a house:

• Heavy Prep-work (peeling, wood damage, failed caulking)
• House access (difficult ladder placements, steep roof etc.)
• Type of windows (embedded windows, vinyl windows)
• Vegetation coverage (trees in the way, lots of ivy, nice gardens)
• Radically different colors (applying 2 or 3 coats before the paint covers)

The safest/best way to get a good price on labor is to actually bring your experienced crew to the house with you. They can alert you of certain aspects of the house that are very time-consuming, so you can factor in the extra work.

If you are inexperienced at painting or estimating, it is better to charge MORE in order to protect your profit margin. Making mistakes at the beginning is inevitable so charging more protects you against an underbid job or a missed expense.

Here’s a quick table to help you with labor cost:

Size of House	Full Work Days	Total Labor Cost
1500 sq ft.	1	$800
2500 sq ft.	1.5	$1200
4000 sq ft.	3	$1800

Do House Painters Make Good Money?

Painters made a median salary of $40,280 in 2019. The best-paid 25 percent made $53,290 that year, while the lowest-paid 25 percent made $33,120.

The metropolitan areas that pay the highest salary in the painter profession are San Francisco, Duluth, Salinas, Vallejo, and Boston.

The states and districts that pay Painters the highest mean salary are Alaska ($57,560), Hawaii ($56,030), New Jersey ($55,870), Massachusetts ($54,810), and District of Columbia ($53,420).

What Type of Paintings Sell Best on Etsy?

At the time of this writing, the bestselling shops on Etsy are selling prints that can either be printed at home, or shipped directly to the customer. The cheap cost of prints makes them appealing, but this doesn’t mean that paintings and more expensive art can’t sell with the right marketing.

According to eRank, at the time of this writing, here is an idea of what the top 10 best selling shops in the art and collectible category offer:

• 6 out of 10 sell instant downloads (cards, decorations, prints, fonts, cut files)
• 4 out of 10 sell prints, whether shipped or downloadable ( only 1 shop does not offer downloads)
• 9 out of 10 do not sell originals

Now, let’s see how many sales the top 3 shops are making a day. Remember that this is subject to change and only accurate as of August 2020. Bestseller rankings are subject to change.

1. LILAxLOLA: averaging about 70 sales a day
2. PatentPrints: averaging about 43 sales a day
3. TheCrownPrints: averaging about 66 sales a day

The 1st and 3rd shops primarily sell instant downloads. The 2nd shop sells prints that get shipped to customers. 

There are two key takeaways that you NEED to understand from this top 10 list:

1. The importance of prints and digital downloads
2. The value in NOT selling originals

How Much do I Charge For Painting a Room?

The cost to paint a room usually runs between $2 and $6 per square foot. Total painting costs range between $955 and $2,890, with a national average of $1,892.

• Typical Range: $955 to $2,890
• National Average: $1,892

Painting is typically one of the easiest ways to freshen up a room with dramatic effect. The average cost to paint a room ranges from $955 to $2,890, with the national average at $1,892. Knowing the costs of hiring professional painters to paint your house interior can help you make the right decisions and manage the overall cost to paint a room.

Labor costs range from $170 to $680, and the amount can vary based on the total square footage that needs to be painted or the total square footage of floor space, depending on how a professional painter charges. Some professionals can charge by the hour, which usually runs from $20 to $50 on average, but be prepared for labor costs as high as $75 or more.

A good rule of thumb for planning a budget is to allocate 75 to 85 percent of the total bill to labor. The cost to paint a room is also affected by regional wage rates, wall height, actual coverage area, the additional cost of designer paints, and drywall or woodwork repairs.

How to Calculate the Cost to Paint a Room

According to HomeAdvisor, the cost to paint a room that measures 10 by 12 feet can range from $200 to $800. When estimating the overall cost, professional painters find the coverage area to determine how many gallons of paint are needed. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Find the area of the walls. Add the length of each wall for the perimeter. For a 10-by- 12-foot room, add the four wall lengths: 10 + 12 + 10 + 12 = 44 feet.
2. Calculate the wall area. Multiply the area of the walls by the height of the room: 44 × 8 = 352 square feet.
3. Subtract for windows and doors to get the coverage area. Use the same width by length method and subtract that number from the wall area; in this case, 21 square feet for one door and 16 square feet for one window: 352 – 21 – 16 = 315 square feet.
4. Are ceilings, trim, and baseboards part of the project? If so, add these using the same method for finding the area.
5. Calculate the cost to hire a painter. Painters charge $1.50 to $4 per square feet of coverage area: 315 x $1.50 = 472.50 or 315 x $4 = $1,260.
6. Calculate how much paint you need. One gallon of paint tends to cover up to 400 square feet. Professionals recommend using two coats of paint and buying more than you need: (315 / 400) × 2 = 1.6 gallons.

How do I Get Career in Painting?

Restoring valuable paintings, however, is a highly specialized field. Individuals who are interested in becoming a painter must usually earn either a Bachelor’s degree or a Master’s degree in fine arts. During the course of their schooling, these individuals will usually take several painting and art classes to develop their talent.

They will also take several classes in art history in order to learn about the different painting styles and techniques used by painters throughout the years. Many painting restorers will usually specialize in restoring paintings from different art periods, including Renaissance paintings and Romanesque paintings.

Before painting restorers are trusted with very valuable paintings, though, they must usually complete an apprenticeship, in which they study under and learn from an experienced art restorer.

How do Painters Get Side Jobs?

Painters may find themselves fighting against side-hustle workers soon enough.  People looking for a little extra money can go to sites like Takl.com or TaskRabbit.com and check a few boxes, and they’re a painter (and a mover, and a furniture assembler).  And while they might not have any experience, they’re also not trying to make a living at it – they’re just looking for some money on the side.

How do you compete against this?  Here are two ways.

Focus on Cost

Many people who want a house painted have no idea how much work that entails.  There’s a good chance that side-hustlers don’t either.  That can get expensive fast.

Taking the time to move furniture and cover carpets makes the job a bit more expensive.  Dropping paint on a couch because you didn’t move it makes the job much more expensive.  And hiring someone who doesn’t have insurance can become extremely expensive if they do serious damage to your house or to themselves.

If a person doesn’t know much about painting, they probably don’t know much about paint either.  That means they’re likely to end up with cheap paint, which will take longer to apply and may not look good even after multiple coats.  If they have to pay to get all of this fixed, they’re going to spend far more than if they simply paid to have it done right the first time.

When you quote a job, taking the time to explain why you do the things you do can be the difference between a customer that trusts you, and one that goes price shopping online.  If they do price shop, the odds are high that they’ll find someone who will come pick up a roller and start slapping paint on the wall for half of what you’re charging.  They’re also going to be too embarrassed to call you back and ask for help when it looks terrible.

Focus on Value

When people purchase a service, most people care about more than just the cost.  In fact, cost is just a tie-breaker.  Unfortunately, when people don’t have any other apples-to-apples comparisons they can make, price becomes extremely important.

If you’re a professional painting contractor, the odds are high that you have a lot more to offer them than a fresh coat of paint.  You have a history of successfully completed jobs.  You have a history of showing up when you say you’re going to show up, and getting the job done on time and in budget.  You have employees who have a history of not stealing from the homes they paint.

When you point out these things to customers, they can decide how important they are to them, and consider them when they’re selecting a painting contractor.  If they don’t think of them, then they might stay fixated on price.

This is why the part of the job that’s the least fun for many painting contractors – the job quoting process – is so important.  Quoting a job correctly is about much more than winning the bid.  It’s about proving that your company’s best traits are actually important. 

You’ll know you’ve made a great first visit to a customer’s house when they leave the conversation understanding far more about the job they’re asking you to do than they did before you visited.

This will only become more important as sites like Takl and TaskRabbit become more prevalent. It’s hard to beat a side-hustler on price, but you should beat them all day on safety, quality, reliability, or value.

Where do Painters Make The Most Money?

Where a painter lives and works has the most significant impact on their earning potential. Some cities are hubs for new construction and new painter jobs due to an influx of people moving in or the need to upgrade the city’s infrastructure.

Certain regions also have a higher cost of living and therefore tend to have higher average wages. According to U.S. News, the five states that pay painters the highest average salaries are Alaska ($57,460), Hawaii ($54,900), the District of Columbia ($52,920), New York ($51,130), and Missouri ($50,240).

As with any industry, the need for painters depends on customer demand, which can vary even within cities. This can fluctuate over time as well, so the city that once paid great wages could eventually offer much less on average due to decreased demand.

How to Make Money With Art Skills?

1. Sell your original pieces

You can sell your paintings, sculptures or decorative items and jewelry through your website or e-shop. 

It’s however more wise to start on established online art marketplace, with thousands of clients and millions of visitors, instead of waiting buyers to discover your fresh website portfolio with almost zero traffic.

Some of those platforms offer you the chance to have your art featured, which is a great promotion.

2. Sell your prints

There are online marketplaces offering artists a place to sell their art with print-on-demand.

3. License your art for stock websites

As a graphic designer, illustrator, photographer or videographer you can license your artwork for stock websites as a way to make passive income for artists.

4. Private commissions

Be commissioned directly by individuals or companies to create a creative work from scratch.

As a painter or illustrator you can even get paid for street art and interior or exterior mural painting and design.

If you already have experience, you can help other aspiring artists to follow their dreams. Many people nowadays prefer to follow an online class or a webinar from their home, especially those who don’t have many local opportunities to attend a course.

There are several ways to teach, educate and consult people online as a freelancer.

5. Teach an online class or start a workshop

It’s not so easy to set up your own webinar or online class from day 1, but you can start by subscribing to some of them to see how it’s organized, or use an already established platform which offers online courses, like Skillshare or How Now.

6. Offer tutorials

If you’ve already built an audience who trust you through blogging or social media channels, you can start selling them tutorials in various forms: pdfs, videos and webinars.

7. Create your own blog

Creating your own blog is one of the best marketing strategies to attract clients today.

For me, this was the most successful decision in my career. You build trust and gain authority while you’re promoting your work. The trick is to write for your target audience, offering them what they’re looking for. Whether that’s graphic design, social media, photography, or arts, you can find a blog niche for you.

A blog that gets a lot of traffic can become a profitable business (this requires hard work and dedication), through ads, affiliate links and sponsors.

8. Create and sell an eBook

If you’re into blogging, this is the next step you’ll probably take, after having built an audience. It’s much easier to promote and sell your eBook to people who are interested in your topic, trust you and consider you as an expert.

9. Coaching and mentoring

Many creatives and artists are sharing their experience through coaching and mentoring. You probably won’t start your career online as a coach, but if you get seriously involved in blogging or teaching, this is also a potential next step.

10. Consulting and art direction

Being more visually educated and informed about arts and design trends, you can advise individuals and companies on their creative process and artistic projects.

Upload Drawings And Earn Money

If you want to make money out of your drawing talent, here are 7 options that can provide you with the right opportunity.

1. DeviantArt.com

DeviantArt.com is a very popular website, allowing you to submit artwork for money. You can join this website and post your drawings for free. It is kind of a social media networking platform for drawing artists.

One of the best parts about this website is that you can choose the option to sell your artwork. You can sell from actual physical prints to digital creations, amongst other options.

Even if the pay is somewhat less, you will get a chance to connect with other artists. Your drawings will get exposure and give you more confidence to share your work.

2. Etsy 

Etsy is an excellent place to sell your drawings, reprints, and more. Here, you will have to create a shop and endorse your work to gain followers and sell your artwork.

To begin with, I would recommend you to check the seller groups on the site known as Etsy Teams. It will give you an idea of what is in demand and network with other sellers on the site.

To learn more about selling your drawings on Etsy, check out Etsy Excellence. It is a low-priced book, teaching you how to use your passion to make money on Etsy.

But there is one thing you need to keep in mind on Etsy – You will have to look after the shipping of your items and handle customer inquiries.

3. CreateMyTattoo.com

CreateMyTattoo.com is a website where you can get paid to draw tattoo designs. Here, you can submit tattoo sketches through contests.

Those who want a custom tattoo design of their liking will create a contest and list the details of their preferences.

Using the given information, you can create a design and enter the contest. The design selected by the contest creator wins the prize money. So, there is no guarantee that the result will be in your favor.

Prizes can range from low to high, depending on the client and his or her requirement. Some prizes can be as high as $200 and more.

4. Upwork or Freelancer

If you have done some freelance work in the past, you must be familiar with these two names. I have been involved with these sites for some time now. They are reliable platforms for talented folks.

On both these websites, you can bid for jobs that need drawing skills. You will find quite a few lucrative jobs there.

You will have to create a profile on these websites with all your work and qualification details. If you have experience of prior drawing jobs, it will increase your chances of landing a nice job.

If a prospective client likes your profile and application, they might offer you the job. Then, you can discuss further details of the work and payment with them.

Once you have built a strong profile and a solid rating, it will be a lot easier to get desired jobs.

You can visit Upwork and Freelancer for more information. These are great websites to get paid for drawing.

5. Up With Paper

Up With Paper allows you to submit art for money. You can make art submissions for greeting cards and make money from your work. You can communicate with them using email.

Up With Paper is the original pop-up greeting card company. Here, you can submit your portfolio for work consideration. You can draw for all seasons and occasions.

You can visit the Up With Paper website to find out more about the drawings and designing guidelines. If you are good at your artwork, this website will deliver the right opportunities.

6. Reddit

Reddit is a popular platform and has been around for decades. You can use this platform to interact with other artists and potential clients from all over the world.

There are many subreddits like this one where artists can post their work regularly and get commissioned by other people. You can use these to promote yourself and attract the attention of potential customers and jobs.

While not all jobs are paid for, you can still get paid to draw on Reddit.

7. NobleWorks Cards

NobleWorks is also a greeting card company where you can submit your work. They will take a look at it to see if they can use it for their greeting cards. 

They are usually looking for funny and unique card designs. If you have a good sense of humor and can convert that humor into drawings, NobleWorks provides one of the best platforms for artists to get paid for drawing cartoons.

To know more about working with them, visit the NobleWorks website and contact them.

How to Make Money From Drawing And Painting

There are marketplaces where you can showcase your art to get clients. But to get high-paying clients, you need to know the right platforms as well as the right way to market them.

Some of the best platforms where you can find high-paying buyers to your drawings and sketches are as follows:

1. Reddit

If you want to target buyers from the United States or the United Kingdom, there is no better option than Reddit. You can find any subreddit from the art or drawing category. And then, you can join the discussion and communicate directly with potential buyers.

You can also post your own links to your artworks if you have your own website. But be aware of the strict community guidelines that you need to follow even while advertising your piece of art.

2. Etsy

Needless to say, Etsy is the one-stop shop for anything related to art and craft. You can create your own store on this website and start selling items directly to the clients. However, you need to produce unique pieces to attract buyers.

It is better to check out its highest-selling drawings first to get clear about the sale-worthy drawings. Once you create an account and start selling, you also need to answer the queries of your customers to increase the trust factors.

3. DeviantArt

There are very few better options to sell drawings online for money than DeviantArt. It is one of the most popular websites for artists and art connoisseurs. You can also simply call it the social media network for artists and art buyers.

So, you can make an account on this website and then upload some great images of your best works. You can also directly communicate with your potential buyers once anyone shows interest in your drawing.

4. Instagram

It may be surprising for many, but Instagram is actually more popular than Facebook for Gen Y.

And you can make it work in your favor if you want to get paid to draw. However, it is not a direct platform to sell any art, though you can upload images of your recent creations to attract clients.

You need to know some tricks like using the right hashtags and the S4S rules to get the most out of this platform.

5. Check Freelancer & Upwork

If you want to use your creative talent just to boost your income through freelance projects, you can try websites like Freelancer and Upwork. On both these websites, you can create your own profile and write what you can do in your bio.

You can also create your own artistic profile by uploading photos of some of your best drawings and sketches. Moreover, you can also look for available project opportunities and apply directly through your profile.

How to Make Money Drawing Portraits

The best way for you to make money with drawing portraits is through the art galleries. If you do not have a dealer, someone who offers your artworks to the right people, this can mean a very long and arduous way!

Another way, less recommendable, way is to be a traveling draftsman. Here ( Brazil ) it is very common to happen to you being sitting in a bar or at a café and to come an artist of this kind to offer his services.

Another more polished form, are those that set up a bench in public square and presents a portfolio. A turistic place is preferible. The yield is much lower than what you would get in a gallery, this is incomparable. and this type of ‘artist’ is very poorly appreciated by critics, in fact is not an artist, but an artisan.

Another way is to be a teacher of drawing, but for that, you have to have a lot of knowledge because, a bad teacher becomes the ruin to several students.

Someone who thinks that a good drawing involves a good shading, with realistic textures and a good fill, is completely mistaken! These tricks only distract the eyes of the unwary connoisseurs from the real drawing flaws. but much more complex than learning to draw is to develop a good taste, because this is only done with conviviality and a lot of patience. at the same time it is necessary to have a wide knowledge of Criticism to Aesthetics and History of the Art to avoid the common place.

How to Make Money Painting Canvas

1. Earning passive income by selling wall art

Painters, illustrators, designers, graphic artists and even sculptors can earn money by selling high-quality prints or copies of their work.

There are two ways how you can turn your art into high-quality posters:

1. Digitize your artwork with the help of professional photography or scanning
2. Use Adobe Illustrator or another graphic design program to create posters in a printable format

Some ideas on how to sell wall art:

• Sell digital copies on Sellfy leaving the printing side to the customer
• Use one of many print-on-demand websites that will print and ship the posters for you
• Offer your art to your social media followers or set up an online shop on Facebook
• Set up a shop on Etsy, one of the biggest international platforms for selling art and handicrafts
• Sell photos from your portfolio website

2. Applying for grants and competitions

Many international programs, local communities or non-profit organizations offer grants for artists. The aim of these is either to support young artists, promote culture or address a particular problem. Other times local institutions need actual pieces of art to decorate new buildings or give a nice touch to an event.

How to apply to these programs?

Try a simple online search like “grants for artists” or “artist contests”. To narrow the search down, you can add your specific country, state or city. You will probably find at least several contests or programs that you are eligible to enter and win cash or other prizes, and the chance to show your work.

Also, be sure to follow the news on social media and your artistic or professional circles, like the university, artist association or NGO.

3. Selling other merchandise with your art

The easiest way to get your art printed on tangible products is using a print-on-demand, or drop shipping service. This type of service will take care of printing, packaging, branding, and shipping of your custom products to your customers. Some well-known print-on-demand services are Society6, Zazzle, and Printful.

Some merchandise you can sell with your art on it:

• Wedding invitations, party decorations, etc.
• Greeting cards (Christmas, Birthday, Thanksgiving, etc.)
• Diaries, journals, planners
• T-shirts, hoodies, kids clothes
• Pillowcases, towels, and other home decors
• Phone cases, mugs, and other souvenirs or gifts

4. Seeking commissions for original work

Commissions are a popular strategy that many beginning artists and illustrators can use to make money—both online and offline.

The best place to start is by showcasing your work on your social media. Don’t forget to mention in your bio that you accept commissions—be it portraits, artistic photo sessions, or any other form of art.

With any luck, your first customers will spread the word, and your next clients will approach you themselves.

Alternatively, these online platforms unite artists and people who want to commission portraits or other artwork:

• Artfinder
• Artists&Clients
• ArtCorgi
• Art Please

Not sure how much to charge?

Start by finding people who are on a similar skill level to you, and see what they charge. Alternatively, take your average hourly rate, multiply it by the approximate number of hours needed to complete the task and add the price of the materials used.

Note that original work tends to sell for way higher than prints, so use this as an argument when explaining the price to your customers.

5. Selling digital art on Creative Market

While Etsy lets you sell both physical and non-physical goods, Creative Market is a marketplace that is meant for selling digital art in particular. It narrows down the target audience but attracts customers specifically looking for digital assets.

Examples of what you can sell on Creative Market:

• WordPress themes
• Clip art
• Stock photography
• Templates
• Fonts
• Business and premade blog logos
• Branding kits
• Lightroom presets
• Illustrations

How to Make Money With Digital Art

Active income is one of the most common ways of making money. In this type of income, you essentially trade your time and skill for money. Working for a company, art commission works and teaching art in schools or colleges are some of the examples of active income.

In simpler words, you work for a certain amount of time and get money for it. The money stops coming when you stop working.

Here are some of the most common sources of Active Income

1. Working for an employer – Job

Working for an employer is one of the most common ways of making money as an artist. There are a lot of high paying jobs for artists such as – Art director, commercial artists(advertisement), art gallery dealer/manager.

There are opportunities in multiple industries such as – Craft and fine arts, fashion designer, graphic designer, industrial designer, Multimedia artist, animators, etc.

Motion pictures, architecture and engineering related services along with software publishers offer some of the highest-paying jobs.

Most of these jobs require you to have an art degree but more and more industries such as motion pictures are opening their gates to the non-degree holder and self-taught artist.

In most of these above-mentioned jobs, you get to work in groups or team where you are around like-minded individuals. Sometimes, You also get extra perks like health insurance, flexible/remote work options, financial planning services, public transit assistance and so on.

2. Art commissions

Potential buyers will contact you for commission work. It can be a good source of side income.

It is very popular amongst artists and hobbyists. Basically, you display your work on your portfolio website and social media or sites such as Artstation, Deviant art with your contact information and pricing options.

You can either charge per hour rates or the fixed rate.

3. Teaching Students

Getting a job as an art teacher is another route artist go for. The demand for art teachers is expected to grow by 6% in the next five years for elementary to high school teachers. Depending on your experience and skills you can also apply for an art teacher at college levels.

The salary for the art teacher varies depending upon the school or the college and the area where it is located. The average annual salary of the art teacher in the US is around $45,300 as per Glassdoor.co. You can also open your own art classes.

Becoming an art teacher has a certain advantage over working for a company. One – you get a lot of creative freedom and space. Your schedule is fixed and there is no overtime, job satisfaction rates are also great amongst art teachers.

4. Design contests

There are websites where artists compete with each other based on the demands of the contest holder, the selected winner gets the winning prize.

Here is how it works – suppose you want to get a logo designed for your company. There are two options, one – you can contact an artist/designer for the commission based work, or you can hire someone at Fiverr, Upwork or Freelancer.

The second option is you go to a design agency. In the end, you will receive a 5 or 6 variants of the logo from which you have to finalize one.

What if you can get 50, 100 or even 200 logo samples to choose from, this is where websites like Design contest and Design crowd comes handy. You basically write down your requirements, and artists and designers submit their designs. You pick the right logo and the winner gets the money.

For artists, it can be a great option because no one asks for your portfolio. Basically – your work speaks for itself. Other than logo there a lot of other contests such as UI design, T-shirt design and digital painting contests available for you to compete.

The normal payouts can range anywhere between 150,300 to 1200 dollars and more depending on the company and the type of work.

One of the disadvantages of these websites is the competition can be tough as you will be directly competing with other artists.

5. Freelancing

Well, Contest based sites may not be for everyone. What happens that you put your best efforts and at the end, someone else is selected as a winner and you end up feeling like – you didn’t get paid for the work you did.

For making sure you get paid for your work while having the freedom to work from anywhere and to choose what work you want to do, freelance is a good alternative.

More and more people are taking this route as it is a simple and straight forward way of making money as an artist. There are multiple freelancing platforms to choose from with a wide variety of work such as – storyboard artist, comic book creator, book cover artists etc.

6. Cold Outreach

What happens when you post your stuff on social media and art portfolio sites and no-one contacts you for work. This is a common issue with beginner artists.

Read Also: How to Start a Boating Business

When you don’t receive commission-based jobs you can try the cold approach method. In this, you will find the potential customers for your service rather than relying on them to find you.

For example, you can contact a small local manufacturer or big company via email or telephone call. Telling them about your skills and how you can design a better package or redesign their logo and make it look professional.

In the beginning, it may be difficult to find the right people but slowly you will get the hang of it as you will get more experience of spotting your clints.

It can be a great method of getting commission-based jobs for beginners.

Conclusion

Making money from your art, designs and models will allow you to give full attention to your work without worrying about the financial side. Initially, it may seem like you are putting your attention away from the raw art, but it is the right thing to do in the long run.

If you are here reading this means they you are already ahead of the pack and thinking about the financial side of the art, which is great. All you have to do now is to point your efforts in the right direction.