Being An Artist

How To Be An Artist and Live Art

Can you be an artist and earn enough money to live off art? Yes, flatly yes. There is a lot of myth and misinformation about the possibilities that creative people have to dedicate themselves to art professionally and that it is profitable for them.

How To Be An Artist And Live Art

If what you want is to live on the sales of your art by becoming an emerging artist in UK, unless you have money to hire the services of professionals, you can take charge of most of the administrative and commercial tasks of your business as many other self-employed workers do when they are starting...

The first thing is to inform yourself and know what awaits you:

1. Economic instability. Prepare mentally to not have a fixed salary and live on the income that you can generate on the fly. Passive income can help you stabilise the entry of money (see point 5).

2. Control of income and expenses. Calculate your monthly, quarterly and annual basic expenses, and if you will be able to assume them. Analyse where your income comes from and where that money goes.

3. Be legal. You can start as an amateur to test the viability of your project and gain professional experience at your own pace, but set a time or income limit to legalise your situation. Your fixed expenses will increase, but in the long run, you will be more economically protected: taxes, social security, etc.

4. Fair price. Do not be shy about charging with your work and calculate that the price of the project is profitable. Make sure to include in the price the expenses of benefits such as insurance (life, health, disability, owner or tenant insurance...), pensions (tax breaks and the income they produce is free of charge), paid vacations, etc. and monitors indirect costs (such as the hours you spend cleaning your study, for example).

5. Eggs in several baskets. Diversify your sources of income. Be alert to new opportunities: Sales, commissions, barter, classes, counselling, scholarships, residences, donations, contests, family financial support or a sponsor, other work on your own or others, rents...

6. Social investment. Invest in your network of contacts: collaborators, friends, professionals of the sector, institutions, etc; because it will come the bulk of your projects and income.

7. Marketing. Dedicate a couple of hours a week to self-promotion. Creating art is half the work; you still have to sell it and/or get new orders to keep your schedule busy.

8. The crisis is an opportunity. In difficult times, be creative with your business. Launch campaigns or special offers.

9. Fat cows and skinny cows. When the business is going well, it saves money for less prosperous gusts. It is convenient to have an economic mattress equivalent to 3-6 months of basic expenses.

10. Independent economies. Separate your professional economy from the staff. Create a bank account with a card to divide income and professional expenses of personnel.

11. Funding. Treat expenses in your art and business as investments.

12. Save the invoices. Regularly register all the costs of your business throughout the year to provide you with the income statement and find out how to deduct the maximum expenses.

13. Defaults. Insist as much as it takes to collect delayed payments. It may happen to you sometime. Work with a contract to protect yourself in these situations.