It's so important for artists to make these videos. Art is a business, and the business of art should be taught in every art school. And not just for one semester. Thank you for taking the time to share all this information with your community.
@@paulwoodford1984 yes, they should brag for others to know it can be done, and because they themselves worked for it. It is even a sad joke that we're expected to do this ONLY "for the love of art". Since the beginning of "museum era" a couple hundred years ago only a tiny elite saw itself as capable of capitalising their art beyond a decent income, yet most artists did starve, but with the internet we're witnessing (and hopefully participating in) the rise of "the village artisan" on a global scale. Now we can be well paid "village artisans" of the global village. We should be thankful and brag about it.
No wonder why he makes a lot of money, he is an amazing professional, he achieved a master illustrator level, and he knows the business side. His art speaks for itself, and he is 100% dedicated to his art. I can tell he works really hard! I edit to say, this guy is the real deal, great illustration work, no gimmicks!
Met you at Anime LA (I was dressed as Waluigi and bought your box w multiple prints). This past year I made more money on the art as my side gig than my main day job so it’s really inspiring seeing the opportunities ahead of me.
Thanks a lot for the transparency! I'm trying to get my foot in the door as a small artist with cons and an online shop, so seeing how more experienced artist do this is super helpful and gives me motivation and hope to make this work ✨ Also, can I say... Your clothing style (and art style of course) is just so good. Inspiration on so many levels ✨😌
Thanks for covering this topic man. I think a lot of artists (including myself) need to learn more about running a business and money in general. Cheers!
Appreciate your openness and insight into how you tackle the business of being an artist. I've been a professional artist for 31 years now and have a VERY different formula for making a living (working predominantly with fine art galleries and museums.). It's fascinating to see how others do it. Cheers!
This level of transparency is so refreshing and motivating to see. Thank you, I really respect it and I hope everything goes even better for you in the future ❤️
It was really helpful to see you break down not only the profit but also your expenses and talking about where to find a more profitable audience when it comes to picking which cons to go to. It certainly gives me a better idea what to put my focus on. Thank you :)
Dude, you busted your butt off to get where you are. You deserve the success. I think this video will help a lot of artist with financial expectation, especially the hidden expenses.
I deeply appreciate this detailed breakdown. I'm a smaller artist but I've been doing 4-5 local conventions each year and have been debating whether it would be worth it to travel out of state to do more conventions and this has helped a lot with making my decision (no i dont think wanna lol). Income aside, one of the hidden boons of conventions is the warm glow from folks saying nice things about your work, and purchasing it with their hard earned money, then displaying that work in their homes. At my last con, I had a couple of folks come up to me showing stickers on their phones and water bottles that they had purchased from me years ago and were still intact and loved. I could never go back to my day job. Thank you for these well made and informative videos! Can't wait to see more from you.
And this is my issue, the amount of dancing one has to do to earn a living wage as a full time artist today while doing everything else to have…a life? It gets old fast. The older one gets the harder it is to keep this CONSTANT dance up. Gone are the days of an painter sitting alone in a studio toiling away.
This was a great video Dustin. Thanks for the transparency on the gross and the net. Expenses for this path are REAL. But man, the independence and the possibility of exponential growth really makes an indie creator an appealing choice for the artist that has a little grit and a willingness to take on some risk.
I love the breakdown and all of the info, you presented it all so clearly that it wasn't overwhelming! I'd love to see a video on how you manage your time. Doing so many shows all over the country seems like it would leave little time to work on new stuff, but I know you are often producing new work, so I think it would just be a cool video to maybe help people (like me) who suck at managing their time. 💜 Great video! P.S. I'm wondering if the show you made so little at was THE show 👀 the one we were at together lol
That's a good suggestion, Ill have to keep that in mind, I will say I'm going to be doing fewer shows this year as I didn't get as much new work done last year as I would have liked. the show we went to was my 2nd worst, lol Salt lake comic con beat it for the worst category by just a little bit
Taxes probably were a lot too - that’s one of the things I’m trying to set aside every time I get a commission 😅thanks for sharing all this, I really am trying to get out of my 9-5 and work full time as an artist
Wow thank you so much for the video. This was actually so amazing to see. I love how honest and transparent you are with your advice and showing your numbers. I think it really helps the space too for independent artists. It shows that its possible to make just as good a salary as some of these studio artists while having a good majority of it as passive income and without the dependency issues that come with being a studio artist. Thank you so much for sharing, like actually. You helped clarify something' that I've been thinking about for sometime now.
I'd be really interested to hear about art galleries for digital artists! I always crossed that out thinking it was only an option for traditional artists
Also have you thought about using something like Pirateship for Etsy shipping labels? (IDK if not shipping via Etsy affects your seller status or something like that)
@@thisisdefinitelytrix I use Pirateship for everything but Etsy, a great website for sure. Etsy gives a similar discount through usps and it's just a bit more automated within their app, so it's more of a time save reason than anything.
I really am so happy RU-vid shared your channel with me. I’m a very small artist and while I work full time in a creative field, I am at a point now where I wanna do my own thing. I have an Etsy shop and tbh peeping at yours made me feel so much better! I feel like you’re supposed to have hundreds of listings and such, and you have such beautiful stuff. I really need to get to work on fixing my listing photos and doing a better job at marketing. I feel like people forget that Etsy also does sales tax collection for you too. A lot of people shit on them and I get it, but where else are we supposed to go? Also, I want to do cons one day too, but not until I am more established and have more consistent online sales.
I love when artists make these kinds of videos. Really helpful to those who want to start making a business from their art. BTW, if you dont have one already, you should definitely consider getting a travel credit card. With that much travel in a year, you will be getting some free hotel/flights and lounge access.
Extremely helpful info! I've been completely sleeping on conventions so this opened my eyes to that avenue. Thank you so much for this breakdown seriously! (Also when you were going through expenses I was like, "oh no oh no, when are the taxes gunna hit.")
I'm really interested in the wholesale/gallery representation you mentioned. Never really thought about it for digital artists and I wonder if you could go into more details in the future! Specifically how you came about such an opportunity and what it's been like dealing with that space. Thanks in advance! Thanks for sharing such important info with transparency, very much appreciated!
Hi Inkwell, such a fantastic video! I’ve been struggling as an artist on the poverty line for years just off commissions. No one I know talks about conventions so I didn’t know it was an outlet to sell stuff. Can you talk more about it? I’ve tabled 2/3 times and have made little/broke even. Wonder if you’d consider doing a workshop on that, I think people would be interested! Thx so much for this video, and your transparency
Thanks so much, I am working on a few other videos dedicated to this topic, I’ll have out soon, but I will say the first few shows I also barely broke even, it just takes time figuring out what sells best for you, and display is a super important aspect, the better your display the more people will come to your table and potentially buy something.
Thank you for being so transparent and giving other artists hope that they can support themselves with their passions! Lots of great tips and I’m excited to learn more! ☺️
It's wonderful seeing behind-the-scenes of your business, and the format of your videos is great! Would love to hear more in-depth chats on any of those individual subjects. Your numbers are mind-boggling but very encouraging!
Dude I been going freelance for the first time in 12 years since last year and all I'm seeing is 100% unresponsible job applications, poor convention sales, unfunded crowdfunds, and horror stories everywhere. What you are doing honestly sounds ..... unreal.
I just want to say thank you so much about all the clarity that goes into your career! I have had a lot of unsuccessful conventions when I was first beginning but this video has inspired me to rethink my approach and understand the realities that go into something like this! Also huge fan of your work! Love the silly editing you put in there! One thing: its a bit hard to understand what you're saying when ur voice gets pitched up for comedic effect! Its still really funny but maybe using a different voice effect could help? Anywho have a great day and thank you for taking the time to make this video!
This is like really inspiring. The only thing I've been remotely good at was art and I stopped for a while because it problems with depression. I'm working at a minimum wage job now and to be honest I wouldn't want to go to school go for anything because anything that's un art related seems so boring. Plus I would probably get into a huge amount of debt and a lot of people suggest not to go to school anymore unless it's for a really specific thing you know you're going to be doing and you need to go to school for. I've gotten back into art and hopefully I can make some money off of it.
Great video. I'm trying to get back in the game. I freelanced for 2 decades and then took a marketing job for 9 years. Now, I'm fighting the A.I. onslaught as I used to do many private commissions a month, even while I was working a 9-5. Now, my private commissions have really dried up. Very frustrated. I'm 57, I'm not sure I have the energy to get into the convention game.
yeah agree commissions as a job are dead, gotta up the game, make a project, a kickstarter, personal work, commissions were never fun or real art if you ask me anyways, it was just bad ideas that clients request, happy to see that die
Thank you for sharing. At least your expenses are a tax write off. I think doing conventions are also like “advertising” because your work is out in the world and people get a chance to know you too. People buy from who they know and like. Great video! ❤
What type of art did you sell to galleries for the passive income thing? Was it stylized illustrations, or more fine art oriented pieces? How does one persue that.
Man i miss you. You've come so far in life. Everytime I happen to see what you're up to, I'm honestly embarrassed at how little I've done. I gotta get to work this year, guess I'll try some cons. Thanks for the informative and transparent video.
Ahhh you got this man! I miss you too! there are a couple really good Florida cons, (the Ocala ones not so much) feel free to reach out, i would be happy to make you a list.
This was really insightful, thank you! Would love to know more about how you got to where you are if youre up to it (like how you built stuff up, kind of) :)
This is why I never went to college. I didn't want to pay student loans and wouldn't want people's hard earned tax money to pay for MY CHOICE to go to college. After high school, I went straight to retail jobs. I'm proud to now say I am self employed and financially stable and still working on building multiple streams of income. ❤
lol, "your OC is trash" - appreciate this upfront look at your experience since my vision of success involved consistent commissions as opposed to conventions! Thank you, this will help me become a more well rounded professional artist 🙏
Very good of you to do this. So many artists even those making a good living don't want to talk about money or how exactly they monetize their work. AI is a hot-button topic right now. Do you have any concerns about how AI may affect your business? and the art Biz in general?
So I do both! the printer I use is the Canon pro-1000, I really like it but it can't print bigger than 17in wide so everything else I get a printer to do for me, and then all the foil printing I have done elsewhere as well
another great video Dustin. Thank you for taking the time to do these. Even for a professional who's done a lot of shows. I find this inspiring and really informative.
loving the my hero academia refs. Also a huge than you to you inkwell this is information that is really helpful to artist like me who have been struggling to understand what direction to take my art in terms of earning a living from it.
Great video! It would be really interesting to get a similar breakdown of time management. I'm very interested in how you balance the time to create new work vs the time to deal with the promotion and business side. Going to all those cons must be very tiring and time consuming!
Loved the video! Its so strange for me though to hear you make so much on conventions but I believe its the difference from US to Scandinavia who has much smaller cons. I'm having an art-stand this weekend and I dont even expect to even go in surplus, but its mainly because I enjoy being part of the cosplay/anime/art scene. It gives me hope to when I will be having art-stands overseas though! Thanks for the video
thanks!, so I go through Catprint to get my gold foil prints made, there are plenty of other companies that offer that type of printing now these days.
Great video Dustin. Awesome breakdowns of data. Your willingness to be transparent about your experiences makes this so helpful for someone looking for knowledge on how to enter into the space. I'm definitely going to recommend some of my students to watch this. They will benefit greatly from your knowledge. I hope you keep making more videos in the future.
Almost 3 years an artist myself Did not make 1 cent I call these "i make ..... K vidz" Bs Noboby Buys art anymore Because of corona Everything got expensive
Your videos are so insightful man thanks so much. I’m a tattoo artist & been trying to figure out ways to diversify my income & your knowledge & advice helps heaps so thank youu 🙏🏼
bit misleading in the opening statement. I took home a little over 100k last year but all I did was client work. Much easier in my opinion. That said, this year all the client work is gone, so I'm broke. I think diversifying is more work but is more stable.
Thank you so much for posting this video. I think my son will be very interested to hear about your experiences. He studied as an animator but unfortunately in Australia that's a hard road. Your experiences are food for thought in particular the detailed breakdown of income and expenses. Thank you again.
I guess I suck at art because I can’t sell anything. I drew an Indian chief on 10 canvases for 100 bucks each (I hand drew each one) and sold 2. I have social media etc and I can’t sell jack!!! Maybe I should just stop drawing all together . Smh
It was really helpful to hear your path! I've watched many similar videos, but none touched on quite as much as you did or the perspective of growing from cons. Thanks for sharing! :)
South African here. If you know of art conventions like this in South Africa, please let me know. Also south african print on demand, or equivalents to other revenue streams that you made work in south africa. Like what retailers or outlets in general can I approach with prints of my art and request that they sell them, etc. I'll start looking into these myself and put any good resources I find below. Thanks in advanced!
this was super helpful. I would've thought I had to grow an audience before going to a con but its nice to know you can grow from them. You're right about knowing what kind of people show up to a con. I was at mocca fest last year and while the fineart and comics were doing fine, the anime artists seemed to be struggling unless they had put their own flair on it.
Thank you so much for this video and your transparency. I also make most of my income through conventions, and a huge chunk of my revenue goes into expenses. You have my sympathy!! 😂Your art is so good, by the way! Not surprised you're doing great :)
I am a new artist of sacred geometry, do you have advices? It is another kind of niche, I need to monetizzare fast. do you know galleries that can be interested but that accept to take money only after the purchase of one drawn? thank-you for your videos.
5:57 how'd you make half of the kickstarter money if the kickstarter money has to also pay for materials? You had you partner be the one to pay for materials instead? XD
Hello guy, thanks for sharing the business side of your illustration career. I have a suggestion: Would an RV trailer that you can tow with your vehicle save you money on hotel and airplane costs? Best of success from a fellow artist.
Can I start an Etsy shop if I don't have a lot a followers on social medias ? Or are people not gonna find my Etsy if I do so ? Either way, thanks for this video ! 💖
Thank you so much for this super transparent and honest reality of what it's like to be an artist running their own business and paying back student loans. It's really eye opening to see that it's not only the work it takes to be an artist but also the work it takes to be able to live from it. Very cool video, would love to see more!
