Welcome, fellow artists… near and far!

Ever wondered if it’s truly possible to sell your artwork? Always been afraid to take that first step in making money off your art?

Well, here, I want to share my top 6 tips with you as to how you can make money off your artwork—yes, seriously! This applies whether you’re a painter, sculpture, or any type of visual artist. Because making your dreams a reality can happen—especially if your dream is to make a living off your artwork.

Now, check out the video below in which I, a professional painter, give my tips for selling your art as a beginner. You can also scroll below the video to read some highlights of these tips and find out more information on this whole topic.

How to Make Money Off Your Art

Plus, here is a further breakdown on each tip…

1. Know When It’s Time to Start Selling

As a beginning artist, it’s only natural to feel the need to hold onto your art pieces. And that’s totally okay—just know that there’s no rush to start selling your first pieces!

Of course, the journey to selling your art is different for everyone, but I recommend making at least 5 pieces for yourself to keep before you start making any to sell or give away. Your art is for you first and foremost, and rushing into the selling process may take away the joy that comes with creating art. Plus, the more pieces you create to keep, the more practice you’ll get, ultimately making your to-sell pieces even higher quality later on.

2. Find an Outlet for Your Artwork

You can sell your art either online, in-person, or through both channels!

Most importantly, though, you need to find somewhere where you can sell your art. It can be an online marketplace, like Etsy, or it can be in a brick-and-mortar gallery near where you live. Or, again, it can be multiple places.

Essentially, finding a couple of places where you can display and sell your art is going to help you actually sell your art. Otherwise, you can’t physically find customers to buy your art if you just keep it all stored away in a closet in your house—you have to show people your art either online or in-person.

3. Don’t Expect Income Right Away

Making your first sale as an artist is a huge accomplishment, and you should feel proud when it happens! However, you should keep in mind that it can take some time to get to that first sale—so be patient.

Again, everyone’s journey as an artist is different, and the amount of time it takes to make your first sale will vary compared to other artists. It could take six months to make that first sale, or it could take a year or more. However, it’s important to persevere, because, after you make your first sale, sales will come much easier!

As you start selling your work, you’ll learn so much about what it takes to actually sell your art, and then you’ll be able to implement what you’ve learned as you go. For example, you may find that your work gets better attention online than in galleries, and you can use that knowledge to put all your pieces online, hopefully leading to more sales.

4. Label & Sign Your Work

This is a simple tip, but you should always label and sign your art pieces so that customers can better understand your work and recognize you (or your signature) as an artist. This process obviously looks different in different mediums (for example, labeling the back of a painting versus inscribing the bottom of a clay bowl), but you should try adding key identifying information about every piece in your labels.

As a painter, I always add the title of each painting, my full artist name, the year I made the piece, and the medium of paint (for example, acrylic paint or watercolor paint) on the back. I typically write this information in pen or marker on the edges of the canvas or wood frame. I also make sure I sign with my artist signature on the front and/or back of each painting because some buyers see value in your signature. For example, we all know Vincent Van Gogh’s signature, and we know that his signature makes a piece very valuable. Art buyers and investors know that the artists of today could potentially rise in status someday, too, so having your signature visible on your pieces is important to them.

5. Know Your Audience

When you know who your potential art buyers are, you can better market your art toward them. For example, I often like to paint tropical beach scenes, and I have found that these pieces are popular with buyers who have lake cottages, beach houses, etc. because these pieces look nice in their coastal homes.

The type of art you make will mostly determine who your potential buyers will be. For example, only certain buyers have a taste for abstract work while others may like versatile ceramics, like mugs and plates, that they can physically use at home.

6. Accept/Decline Custom Orders

Lastly, as an artist, it’s important to decide upfront if you would like to accept custom orders or not. Accepting custom requests will bring in more sales, but it takes a lot of skill to make something just like how a buyer envisions. You can also decline to take on custom orders at first but then accept them once you get enough practice in your medium.

For example, I accept custom orders for pet portraits, and I always work based off a photo that a buyer gives me. I also knew that I wanted to accept custom orders when I first started selling my paintings, but it took me some time and practice to get to a point where I could confidently accept those custom orders.

More Help & Resources for Artists

For Beginning Painters

If you’re a painter who wants to practice your skills some more before you start selling your work, consider taking some online painting courses and classes. Canvas Academy offers tons of lessons online, most with downloadable files and guides, a lot like the business plan above!

For Artists Who Want to Sell Art

No matter what “level” of artist you are, you can also check out some of the posts and videos below to learn more tips when it comes to selling your work.

• How to Sell Your Artwork: 6 Tips
• How to Sell Your Art In-Person
• How to Sell Your Art Online

Plus, more tips and resources for artists, especially painters, can be found here on my blog.

Take all of these tips with you, fellow artist, and start selling your work as you’re ready!

–Kari