How Much Money Do Artists Make?
Friday, March 11th, 2011
When someone thinks of a person selecting to be an “artist” as a career choice, the popular phrase “starving artist” comes to mind almost automatically. However, the reality is that artists aren’t destined to live pauper lives in order to truly express their art. In fact, there are many artists who are making a very decent income exclusively from the artwork that they create. So what’s the key? What’s the difference between the artist who is barely scraping by and the one who is enjoying the financial fruits of his artistic labors?
It’s Not About Talent Or Skill
Some of the most talented artists are also among the poorest. It may not seem fair. In a perfect world, artists would get paid according to their ability to produce high quality and creative works of art. However, in the real world, there isn’t really a correlation between talent and income. Sure, for an artist to make a stable and consistent amount of income, he or she does need to have some pool of innate artistic skill. That being said, just because one artist is “better” than another doesn’t mean that he will generate a larger income.
It’s About Having Business Sense
The artists that can earn good money through their efforts are also the ones that have a strong business sense to compliment their artistic abilities. Business-minded artists know the value of their work. This may go against the grain of how traditional artists think, but business-minded artists consider their works like their products.
But It Goes Further Than That
Artists that make a living with their art not only know the salable values of their artistic works, but they also consider the end consumer in mind when they are creating their artwork in the first place. If they know that art buyers are looking to purchase paintings about lighthouses, they’ll go ahead and do a few lighthouse paintings. Although creating art is fantastic, artists with a business sense know that in order to be able to continue creating their artwork, they need to be able to support themselves financially.
Besides keeping the desires of art buyers in mind, business-minded artists are also masters at marketing themselves and their work. They understand that the more people who know about their artistic abilities and their finished products, the greater the likelihood of generating larger valued sales. Like most businesses, in many respects it’s simply a numbers game.
An artist, even if he is the next Picasso, who doesn’t know how to market himself will end up penniless with an apartment full of masterpieces. Whereas the artist with average talent who is strong at marketing can become quite wealthy selling his artwork.
How much money do artists make has much more to do with their business skills as opposed to their artistic skills. The great thing about this is that the artist himself has control over how much he wants to make. If he wants to make more money, he doesn’t have to become a better artist. He just has to change the way he sees himself and his art. Although art is hard to teach, and almost impossible to master without some inborn talent, learning effective business strategies can occur with proper education, discipline and determination. Artists that can support themselves through their artistic efforts see themselves as businesses. They are not any less passionate about their art. They just understand that success comes with the proper balance of art and business sense.