[Joie]

There is just so much talent flowing around this place and i was wondering, how do you guys make a living from your digital art?
If a person is passionate about art (painting in particular), would it be wise for him to flip over to the digital side of things?

respect

[eyewoo]

I'm not in the gaming party of the art biz... there are so many different ways to make a living with art. I do illustrations, primarily for children and educational books.

I wouldn't do any of it traditionally, because working digitally is soooo much faster and speed, meeting deadlines, having it done yesterday is all part of the illustration biz. I'm quite sure its the same for game illustrators as well.

However, for my personal artwork, I am returning to traditional oil painting.
_________________
HonePie.com
tumblr blog
digtal art

[GeoBen]

I use the 'Artists and Graphic Illustrators Market' (check Amazon or your local library). There are a variety of market sources there along with some good, sound advice on marketing your work.

for the kind of stuff i do, i also use CafePress and Zazzle.

making good pictures is hard work. SELLING them is even harder and as specialized a skill.

one reason so many of us are so poor.

geo.

[Tinusch]

[Petri.J]

[eyewoo]

If you are passionate about doing *your* art then go the way of Henri Rousseau, who I believe worked for the post office to support himself. That is the way I did it for most of my life. Not in the post office, but at several other types of jobs. It wasn't until several years ago that I actually started making a living with my art skills, and that only because I was able to get an agent interested representing me.

Before that, my best stretch was 12 years as a free-lance location sound engineer for the film biz... Working about 1/3 the year took care of me and family and allowed the remaining time to do *my art* none of which was ever sold, nor did I try to sell.

It was a pretty radical way to do it, but it worked for me...
_________________
HonePie.com
tumblr blog
digtal art

[GeoBen]

oh well... i said making money is hard. and it is. making a living is damn near impossible.

geo.

[Nag]

[Petri.J]

Hmm, strange.. One college that visited in GDC 2007 told me that. Perhaps he
referred only for some lead artists or something, or perhaps I got it all wrong.
Very strange. I�ll have to ask him more details about that matter, when I see him.

[Brake Check]

This thread is interesting because writers have the same problems although there are a handful of successful writers, novelists, playwrights, journalists, technical writers, and teachers who do make a living at the trade, there are a vast number who never make a dime.
It is the same struggle to publish, the same game compounded by government grant mills and university publishing houses who print and promote their own darlings for purposes not always artistic or literary.
Plagarism and copyright is a problem in the publication of written works. It is difficult to detect the sin of plagarism in the works of an unknown so unless the applicant has some credentials and credibility within academia, either as a student or teacher, the publishers are wary of the minor works..although a major work such as Harry Potter will be published ..there have been instances of major works by new authors being shuffled from Publishing House to Publishing House without being recognized as worthy or important.

[Mikko K]

[michalczyk]

[moritat]

Advice from James Jean: award winning illustrator.

"is it for print? digtial."

there's more to it but, yeah. People five years younger than me are doing it better and faster. I mix a half finished acrylic painting with digtial. so I f some one really likes it and the money is right I can finish it wtih real paints.

[Bottingrad]

I know this maybe off topic a bit, but one of the ways I have managed to survive threw the years is selling royalty free stuff. Stock digital photography/painting is a big industry. People need pictures/paintings of stethoscopes and car crashes for their websites. If your willing to take one for your pocket book then you can see what people need on some of the stock art sites and try to fit that need. You would be amazed at how much money one well done image can make, but you need to know your audience. I think traditional mediums in this day and age are better for ones personal work, since so much time is involved. Digital is the way to go to mass produce work. One of my teachers used to say, "if you throw enough sh*t at the wall sooner or later something is bound to stick". For my personal work, its all about quality, but to make a living its more about quantity. Sad but true.