How to make money as a self-taught artist? Is it even possible? This is a question many artists without formal education ask themselves. But, believe me, a self-taught artist can be as successful as a formally trained one, and even self-taught artists can make real money with their art skills. How? Well, read on to learn 11 ways of how to make money as an artist online!
There are possibilities to make money with art skills – whether you are a schooled or a self-taught artist.
In a previous blog post, I already spoke about that the true value of your art doesn’t depend on whether you went to art school or learned everything on your own.
I am a self-taught artist myself. When I discovered my love for digital art, I started learning everything from scratch on my own. Over the years, I’ve been figuring out the best ways to showcase and sell your art and I am happy to be sharing this knowledge with you here today!
In this post, I’ll be breaking down everything you need to know to make money as a self-taught artist.
I will be focusing on how to make money as an artist online because all of us (at least when you are reading this post ⚆_⚆) have access to the internet. However, not each of us has an art gallery or an active art community in their proximity they could get involved in.
This article will be one of my lengthier ones because it includes multiple options of how an artist can make real money with their skills. You can move forward to the sections that interest you the most by using the table of contents below.
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So without further ado, here are 11 hands-on tips on how to make money as a self-taught artist:
Can a self-taught artist be successful?
A self-taught artist is someone who has taught themselves the skills necessary to create a certain type of art. This means that as a self‐taught artist, you have learned everything (or at least a big part) on your own through practice and a lot of trial and error. Right? Is that you?
Motivation and the willingness to embrace mistakes and use them as an opportunity to make progress are probably the most essential things for a self-taught individual.
So can a self-taught artist be successful?
Whether you are a self-taught artist or a schooled artist – at the end of the day, the challenges are the same. By way of example, you could consider Vincent Van Gogh a self‐taught artist, and his artwork is without doubt a success.
As a self-taught creative, you have the advantage of not having been subjected to the constraints of a formal art education. As a result, you might be freer and less indoctrinated than a formally trained artist.
But even if you are an artist with formal training, you cannot just rely on what you learned at school to make it in the real art world. To have what it takes to be a real artist, you need to go beyond color theory and composition. Successful artists tend to think and act in very specific ways. What exactly do I mean by that?
Well, just think of the most common struggles every creatives faces. Simply put, most difficulties we face stem from a lack of creative confidence.
The most important thing is to believe in yourself and trust in your artistic abilities. If you keep thinking that ‘you will never be a good enough artist’ and that ‘your art will never look as good as that artist’s work’, you are self-sabotaging your career. Talking about self-sabotage, positive affirmations for creatives are great method to dispel negative beliefs!
Comparison and judgment are two other big problems: we follow artists we admire, but then we feel that we can never get to that level. That’s when art jealousy and art anxiety often creep in and hinder our creative development.
Self-taught artists oftentimes tend to feel like less of an artist because they didn’t undergo any formal education or training.
Don’t ever compare yourself to others and sell yourself short. I cannot stress this enough. If anything, you are more of an artist because you had the passion, drive, and courage to learn how to make art all on your own!
If art-making brings joy to your life, other people will also be happy if they can purchase a piece of yours for their home. All things considered, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make money as a self-taught artist.
In case you are toying with the idea of taking your art to the next level, you can download your FREE Art Business Startup Checklist in the Freebie Library.
- Grab your FREE Art Business Startup Checklist
How do beginner artists make money?
Basically, beginner artists can make money in just the same ways as more experienced artists. The only difference is that newcomers cannot sell their art for as much as established artists.
As a matter of fact, a seasoned creator who has achieved fame and reputation in the art world can price their artwork higher than an up-and-coming artist who is still pretty unknown.
But even as a beginning self-taught artist, you have the possibility to make money with your art skills!
How to make money as a self-taught artist?
Regardless of whether you are a self-taught artist, a beginner or a creative with long years of experience and a name in the art industry – I always recommend having more than one income stream. At best, three, four or more.
It is never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket. Art trends can be pretty unpredictable, especially with all the new technological forms coming up, such as NFT and AI art (Can AI art be considered real art?).
In the following sections, I show you 11 ways you can use to make money as an artist online. I suggest you start with the option you like best or you find the easiest to realize at this point in time.
Some options come with a learning curve, such as building a website or setting up your online store. Take your time and be patient. If you don’t see results straight away, don’t be disheartened. Building a business around your art takes time. Just stick to it, keep creating art and rely on your artistic passion to move you onward and upward!
BUT, before we get into how you can money with your art, I suggest you take a moment to identify your target market as an artist in 4 steps and get an idea of how to market your art.
11 Hands-on tips on how to make money as a self-taught artist
TIP #1: Sell prints of your art.
Selling prints is perhaps the most popular way to make money as an artist. A lot of people love to have a print of their favorite artist in their home. I recommend offering prints in different sizes, so everyone can afford a print of your art and you have optimal chances of making sales! To find out what is particularly in demand, have a look at the best selling sizes for art prints.
Luckily, you don’t need to buy expensive printing equipment to create prints of your art at home. Instead, you can select one of the online printing services for artists that print your work, package and drop-ship it to the buyer. You, as the artist, just have to make sure to save your work in the best file format for printing and upload it to the printing service.
Two of the best online printing services for art prints are Printful and Printify. Both companies offer international shipping and have no minimum order requirements.
The highest quality prints available in the market are Giclée prints. Giclée printing uses the best inks and archival media (photographic paper or canvas) to create museum-quality prints that last up to 100+ years. Great online printing services specializing in Giclée printing are Giclee Today, The Stackhouse, and the Prints Giclee Shop.
TIP #2: Sell your artwork as Print-on-Demand.
Print-on-Demand (PoD) is an excellent way to offer your art on a wide range of items without having to worry about inventory, production, and shipping.
PoD providers offer numerous products you can choose from. This does not only include fine art and canvas prints, but also wall art and home décor options (e.g. prints on metal or wood, clocks), living accessories (e.g. trays, mugs, cutting boards, tote bags), stationery (e.g. notebooks, cards, wrapping paper), and many more.
All you need to do is upload your artwork and select the products you want to sell it on. Once a customer places an order, the PoD company takes care of production, packaging, and delivery. You don’t need to do anything in the process!
Popular print-on-demand platforms for artists are RedBubble, Fine Art America, Society6 and Sellfy. But you can also sell PoD items on Etsy or your own website. By linking a PoD service like Printful to your Etsy shop or own store, the customer order goes directly to the service provider who will then handle everything for you.
TIP #3: Sell digital downloads of your art.
Digital downloads are a fantastic option to make money with art skills. They are also a wonderful opportunity for beginner artists to make money because there are so many digital downloads you can create even without long years of experience required.
Some digital downloads that are easier to create include, for example, logos, graphics, clipart, infographics, e-book and Pinterest pin template designs. Of course, you can also sell photos or digital files of your artwork.
Selling digital downloads is a convenient way to make a passive income, because you only need to create a digital product once and then you can sell it over and over again!
You don’t need Photoshop or Illustrator to create simple designs. Apps like Canva, PicMonkey or the free Gimp version are totally enough to get started.
One of the go-to places for selling digital downloads is Etsy. Etsy is the largest online marketplace for all types of art and this also includes digital items. Moreover, you can sell digital downloads on platforms like Sellfy, SendOwl and E-Junkie.
Don’t forget to check out Creative Market, Creative Fabrica and Design Cuts either. Those places are especially great when you want to sell pre-designed templates for social media (e.g. Pinterest pins), PowerPoint and Keynote presentations, mock-ups, illustrations, brush presets, etc.
TIP #4: Open an Etsy store.
Etsy is the biggest online marketplace for original artworks, handcrafted items, and all things art. You can sell anything from physical products to digital files, and even art commissions.
Related: [TOP 25] Best Selling Digital Art On Etsy
The good thing is that Etsy has a huge customer base in place, so you don’t necessarily need to have a large following of your own to make sales on the platform.
The easiest way to start selling on Etsy is with digital downloads. The costs for selling downloadable files are very low and Etsy handles the delivery of the virtual files for you. When a customer buys your digital product, Etsy will automatically email them the download link.
When it comes to selling physical products on Etsy, you are responsible for shipping the product yourself. So if you sell a lot of art prints or similar stuff, it can be a good idea to link a drop-shipping service like Printful or Printify to your Etsy shop. The drop-shipper will then take care of everything for you and you have more time to create art!
TIP #5: Get your own website.
I cannot stress this enough: every creative who is taking their art seriously should have their own website. Think of your artist website as your own little space on the web that comes up when people are looking for you. Your website is the only place to showcase and sell your art online that fully belongs to you.
That's why it is also one of the best ways to make money as a self-taught artist!
Social media and art sharing sites don’t belong to you. They only let you present your work on ‘their territory’ within very limited boundaries. Plus, they can change their algorithms or community rules at any time without prior notice, restricting the reach of your posts or deleting them from their platform altogether.
We have seen it happen all too often, right? Just think of MySpace, Snapchat, Facebook, Tumblr, …
Your own artist website gives you the greatest freedom possible to do you! (ᴖᴥᴖ) You can completely customize it to your liking, choosing your favorite colors, layout, logo, and so on. You can present your portfolio, publish an artist statement, display your contact information, and more. Here are 8 things every good artist website should have.
If you don’t have any coding experience, you might find it intimidating to start building your artist website. But the good news is that there are lots of easy-to-use website builders that allow you to create a professional-looking website in no time. The best website builders for artists include Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly.
Squarespace is especially popular among artists because it has so many visually appealing templates that are specifically geared towards photographers, painters, and other visual arts. To learn more, check out the full Squarespace review.
TIP #6: Start an art blog.
Once you got your own website up and running, you should consider starting an art blog. Why do I think it’s a good idea to get into blogging?
Well, blogging provides you with so many opportunities to get the word out about your art and promote your offerings! For example, you can write about your artwork, give insights into your creative process by showing WiP shots and timelapse videos.
Furthermore, you can publish tips and tutorials, reviews of new art tools, opinion articles about new art trends and movements, or interviews with other artists. Of course, you can also use your blog for affiliate marketing, which is a fantastic option to make money as a self-taught artist.
A blog post has the potential to go viral and attract thousands of visitors within a short period of time. When you write about something that is of interest to your readers, they will share it on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other channels. In return, you have a manifold higher chance to get eyeballs on your work and make some sales!
Don’t know how to get started with your art blog? Thankfully, there are lots of good online courses available that show you how to set up a successful art blog. One of the best ones is the Beginner’s Guide to Creative Blogging by Anne Butera on Skillshare.
- Recommended Course to learn Creative Blogging
TIP #7: Open your own art store.
Selling on online marketplaces like Etsy or RedBubble is a good way to create exposure for your art and make some money off your art skills. But only your own store will give you full control over how you present and price your products.
And the best thing – you can keep the entire profit! Sales platforms always charge transaction fees and retain a portion of the sales price.
This doesn't happen with your own art store. That's why having a website with ecommerce functionality is such a profitable way to make money as a self-taught artist!
Squarespace is not only an easy-to-use website builder to create a website for your art but also to open your own web store. Squarespace’s plans are extremely scalable, meaning you can start with a simple portfolio site and upgrade to one of their ecommerce plans whenever you feel ready to start selling. With Squarespace Commerce, you will get all the features a professional seller needs – from shopping cart, to payment gateways, to product galleries, to upsells, to discount coupons, and much more.
Wix eCommerce is another option to build your own web shop. Wix’s plans offer good value for money and all the features you need to create a highly customizable online selling platform. There are even tools to start selling your products on social media platforms like Facebook and Pinterest.
Jimdo is a budget-friendly website builder, which makes it an ideal choice for beginning artists wanting to make money with their art. With the Grow Plan, you will get a full-blown ecommerce site, including hosting, your own domain name, and tools that help with selling your artwork and improving your search engine results.
If you are planning to sell your artwork on a professional level and already have an established customer base, you should consider using Shopify.
Shopify boasts the best ecommerce features available in the market. A large selection of apps and plugins allows you to add extra functionality to your store. What’s more, you have the possibility to connect print-on-demand providers like Printful and Printify directly to your store to conveniently sell prints and other merch with your art!
TIP #8: Offer art commissions.
When thinking about how to make money as an artist online, have you ever considered offering commissions? Commissions are artworks that an artist creates specifically for one person or brand. They are customized works catered to the wishes of the client, so to speak.
Because they are personalized, commissions can give artists a good monetary return. That way, commissions are a favorable option to make money with art skills. But they are also an effective method to grow your fan base and build your portfolio. Once you’ve finished the work, you can ask your client for a review or testimonial that you can then display on your website.
How much you can charge for art commissions depends on the particular project, how long it takes to complete, and the required level of skill. When a commission is completed, you will usually send the digital file over the web. Of course, you can email it to the client (if it is not too big). However, if you are planning to do commissions on a professional level, I suggest getting clued up on the 3 best ways to deliver digital art to clients.
Some of the best places to offer all types of art commissions include Etsy, DeviantArt, and Behance. If you are particularly into computer-generated art, have a look at ArtStation.
For more options, check out the 7 top places to sell digital art commissions!
TIP #9: Create printables with your art.
Printables are high in demand and really easy to create. This makes them a great niche for beginning artists to make money online, too. What exactly are printables? Generally speaking, printables are virtual files created by an artist or other creative that people can buy and print out themselves.
Printables don’t necessarily have to be artworks or photos. Printables can be all things design! For example, you can create calendars, project planners (e.g. wedding planners, diet and fitness planners), stickers, checklists, coloring sheets (for kids and adults), templates (e.g. diary and notebook templates), worksheets, spreadsheets, and other stationery.
For more ideas, download the FREE eGuide to the Best Selling Printables in the Freebie Library.
- Grab Your FREE Best Selling Printables eGuide
Free Download: Your eGuide with the Best Selling Printables –
Similarly, if you have a passion for words or poetry, you can also create printable quotes of your own, or design printable cards with inspirational quotes of other artists or positive affirmations to uplift your fellow creatives. The possibilities are endless!
People love to get handmade items that cannot be found in every store around the corner. They use them for organizing, planning, decoration or inspiration. So if you have some talent in that direction, you should give creating printables a try!
Depending on the type of printables you want to make, some basic text processing software like Word, Excel, Google Docs or Sheets can be enough to get started. For more sophisticated designs, the best tools are Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
But you don’t need to cash out all the money right at the start. Some more affordable and free options include Canva, PicMonkey, Affinity Designer (more affordable alternative to Adobe Illustrator), Procreate (for iPhone and iPad), Gimp and Inkscape (last two completely free).
So where can you sell digital printables with your art?
Well, the most popular place to sell printables is perhaps again Etsy. But there are some more places worthwhile checking out. Creative Market, Creative Fabrica and Design Cuts have at least as much potential when it comes to making money with printables.
Other platforms that are specifically designed for selling digital products, including printables, are Sellfy, SendOwl, Gumroad and Podia.
TIP #10: Become the teacher.
By teaching yourself to be a digital artist, traditional painter, or whatever your creative passion may be – you have acquired thorough knowledge in your craft. You’ve gained a lot of practice and maybe you’ve discovered one or the other knack that you might not have learned in art school…
Have you ever thought about sharing those skills with novice artists? Even if you didn't get any formal training, you have valuable experience to share with newcomers. So never cross teaching art off your bucket list on how to make money as a self-taught artist!
Here are some ideas of what you could teach:
- How to use specific digital art software & hardware (as a digital artist)
- How to work with brushes, paints, and varnishes (as a traditional artist)
- How to master a particular art style or technique
- How to find new inspiration to create art
- How to promote & sell art
Teaching online courses is one of the most convenient ways to generate a passive income with your art skills for a longer period of time.
You’ll only have to prepare the materials and record the course once, and then it can earn you money for several months and even years. As more than a welcome side effect, you can extend your reach and drive traffic to your website and social media!
One of the best platforms to teach art is Skillshare. Skillshare is literally a place where people who have a ‘skill’ can ‘share’ it with others. It’s also one of the few e-learning sites that let you upload your course for free. There is already a huge community of users, which makes it easier for you to find students for your course. You can sign up with SkillShare as an instructor for free here.
Ohter e-learning platforms that I can recommend checking out are Teachable and Udemy.
One more tip: You can even upload your art course to different platforms to enjoy double the income – just make sure to price it equally!
TIP #11: Grow your social media presence.
My last tip for you on how to make money as a self-taught artist is through social media. In fact, a lot of social networks are ideal for artists because of their visual-driven nature. On Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok everything is about pictures and videos. Facebook and LinkedIn are great for images and text.
Nowadays, you can sell directly on many of those platforms. For example, you can create Product Pins on Pinterest or a Shoppable Gallery on Instagram. But, as I already said above, your social media profile never belongs fully to you. You are always at the odds of the company that owns the platform.
That’s why I consider it a much better idea to focus on growing your social media presence and referring your followers to your own artist website or online shop. Instead of selling directly on social media.
I have a couple of tutorials for artists on how to use social media. If you are interested, feel free to check them out:
- DOs & DON’Ts For Artists Posting Art On Instagram
- 7 DOs To Grow Your Artist Facebook Page
- 15 Must-Know Tips For Artists Using Pinterest
- 7 Steps To Sell Digital Art On Pinterest
However, some things are always important, regardless which social media network you want to grow:
- Post high-quality images of your work.
- Build a recognizable brand around your art.
- Use relevant hashtags (keywords that correspond to the type of art your make).
- Write captivating captions (→ 101 creative quotes to caption an artwork).
- Write an attractive bio including a link to your shop.
- Most importantly, post on a regular basis (several times per week).
Posting multiple times each week can be time-consuming, especially if you want to post regularly on several platforms at the same time. Luckily, there are scheduling tools that can do the posting for you!
Later is perhaps the most versatile social media manager that allows you to simultaneously schedule posts to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Twitter! It is super-easy to use. Yet, it takes a whole lot of work out of your hands and leaves you more time to focus on growing your art business.
Planoly is another scheduling tool that you can use for Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube. Planoly comes with a visual feed planner, powerful analytics, hashtag manager, and more. You can start using Planoly FREE with no time limit (up to 30 scheduled posts per month) or check out the full Planoly review first!
Tailwind is one of the best schedulers for Pinterest. So if your focus is on making your blog posts go viral on Pinterest, I recommend using the Tailwind App. You can also use it for Instagram, Facebook and email marketing. Click here to try Tailwind FREE now or read the full Tailwind review.
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