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Vent
8 years ago
I work hard on every piece I put up, but I'm supposed to do it for chump change or for free because my art isn't good enough.
Remember that commission I told you I got duped on? It was for a friend; redesigning his logo (for his rap career) 3 different fucking times, mind you. This friend told me the ENTIRE time I was working on this, "I got you! As soon as I get paid, I got you! I promise!" Nope. I get the bomb dropped on me. "Sorry. I got hit with overdraft fees. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to pay you."
So I rant and I rave on how I needed that money to feed Connor and Haley. Basically got ignored.
I've been pissed about this all weekend. Tried to put up a YCH to make up for $50 I lost doing that logo.
Bomb #2. Only one bid and nothing more.
So I've spent the whole weekend moping and fuming because I have no other way to make money to take care of my family until Haley starts school and until I can finish commissions I've been struggling to finish because of home life. We only have one car (that we're having to pay off a huge loan that we borrowed to pay the probate lawyer) and we don't trust daycare or strangers to watch our kids nor could we even afford it if we wanted to.
Everything of mine has been pawned for past instances when we needed money for food.
I see people whose art is a lot worse than mine but they get paid more. I'm sorry I'm slow with my art. I'm a MOM!!! I don't have 40+ hours to spend on art, but it's all I know how to do to bring in money for my family. People want their commissions to look good? I have to spend TIME on them. During the time I'm working on it, I'm up and down like a jack in the box taking care of my kids, tending to my husband, tending to our 5 cats and 2 dogs, the cooking and the cleaning....THE MOTHER! FUCKING! CLEANING!!!
It's pointless for me to vent...I'll just shut up.
It can be hard to earn here, I had to slowly creep up my prices as I improved. Even now I don't get as much for my art as Id like! No matter how good you get though, the popularity game will play a large part in how much you make. So been trying to get more watchers and I plan to put an ad up here (only $25 a month, which will be worth it imo when you get more peeps bidding on YCHS)
Anyhow, while you're waiting to get more watchers here, here's some other ways to make money with your art Ive done in the past:
1. These things called ACEOs, they are little pieces of art the size of baseball cards, do some research on them! they are pretty easy to sell on eBay!! Ive sold some between $3-$10. People who can really get a lot of detail in that little space can sell them for more, Ive seen some sell for over $60 and stuff. But I dont have that kind of patience! XD So Mine usually topped off at around $2-$5 per card, with my usual simple toony animals that I watercolored. But if you can do like 10 of those done a day, and not spend more than like 30 min to an hour on them, its not rich money but its a little to help pad the pockets. So yeah try those, they're fairly easy to sell once you figure out what people like. Some that I remember selling well: Mice, racoons, little forest animals, landscapes, flowers, abstract, unique human portraits, ect. If you're familiar with how to use ebay's "sold" and "completed listings" search filter it will really help you research what kinds of art sells and what doesn't.
2. My little pony paintings and drawings!! For years I watercolored MLP FIM original fanart and they always got pretty good bids. My paintings sold from $25-$50 per painting. And once one sold for $112!! I actually looked on ebay recently and looks like stuff is still selling there, and whats even better there isnt a lot of competition! So give that a try. As a pro tip, Rainbow Dash always sold the best!! I think her pretty rainbow colors are just so pleasing to look at and eye-catching that people were more tempted to bid/click on the listings with her in it. The only reason I still dont do it now is because at the moment digital art is easier for me with my living situation. My painting desk isnt in a good spot for me to work traditionally.
But yeah, hope that helps you make a little more side cash. Good luck! :)
0_0 You've helped me out so much! I never knew about ACEOs. I would only be able to do digital art so that might be an issue. I do have a Rainbow Dash project I've got on the back burner (along with several other personal projects).
Thank you soooooooo much for all your advice and I will use it to the best of my abilities! <3 I hope you, Jan and Jessica have been doing well!