10 Skills You Need to Become a Better Artist

10 skills you need to become a better artist - here they are -ready for you to put them into action! As an artist you are constantly balancing producing art and running a business. There are a lot of skills you need to be a successful artist. Here are my list of 10 skills to become a better artist below!

Skill #1 Confidence 

It is easy to think that everything has been done before, that you will never “make it” as an artist and that you are just wasting your time and money. You might even feel like you are not qualified enough or that you shouldn’t even apply to an exhibition because you probably won’t get in. It’s important to have confidence and faith in your artwork and in yourself as an artist. If you aren’t confident you will not want to put your art out there. You will not want to share it and you won’t receive art opportunities or money for your art.

Skill# 2 Time Management 

You need to be able to balance your time with making art and completing admin tasks like updating your website and social media, answering emails, updating photos, buying supplies, applying to artist calls and more. If you aren’t making art then you are not enjoying the reason why you wanted to become an artist in the first place. It is also hard to grow as an artist if you aren’t making any new work!

Skill #3 Patience 

I don’t think it’s possible to wake up one morning and all of a sudden you’re a famous artist and making money without having to do anything. It takes time and it takes work to happen!  Artists face a lot of rejections and disappointments in the art world. Just remember that your time will come! 

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Skill #4 Consistency 

In order to be good at anything it takes consistency. Consistent applications, social media posts, art making, etc. If you aren’t putting in the time and the consistent effort it will take longer to become a successful artist! 

Skill# 5 Ongoing Learning 

I am a teacher and I love learning. You can learn through YouTube (check out my painting channel), through books, courses and more. Brush up on learning new art techniques or business strategies to make your art business more successful! 

Skill# 6 Risk Taking 

You have to be able to fail and to learn from it. Try new materials, take a chance and step outside of your comfort zone. If you always do the same thing you can become stuck or bored and that’s not good either.

Skill #7 Writing and Communication

You have to be able to talk and write about your art. When you apply for grants or exhibitions often you need to write about your art clearly and concisely. When talking to people it could always lead into a networking opportunity further down the line. It’s important to know what to say when speaking about your art and share it proudly.

Skill #8 Money Mindset 

This relates to confidence but if you have issues with money it will be hard to make money as an artist. If you believe in the starving artist narrative then good luck trying to make consistent sales with your art! You need to start believing that you can make money with your art and that you can make as much as you want! 

Skill #9 Creativity 

You need creative ideas to be able to make something exciting and something that stands out. In the world of social media going viral can help your art. But if you are making art that looks like everyone else’s you won’t stand out. Be creative and do something different that is unique to you! 

Skill #10 Marketing and Business Strategy

In order to make sales you need to share what you are doing. You need to have a plan if you are launching a new piece of art or an art collection. You can’t just post about it once. It’s good to learn more about marketing and business if you are new to it! 

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I hope you found these skills to be helpful! Connect with me on social media for more great tips! 

9 Tips for Pricing Your Art

Here are 9 tips for pricing your art. Pricing your art can be very difficult. Especially when you start comparing what other artists are charging online. There are a lot of factors for pricing your art to consider. You can read my 9 tips for what to consider when pricing your art below! Feel confident in how to price your art.

But at the end of the day the best advice I received from an old painting professor in university was “you need to price your art at a price you are happy to let it go with”

This statement from my professor completely changed how I see pricing my art.

I think in the age of the internet it is so easy for artists or any entrepreneurs to look and compare other people’s prices – but it shouldn’t and doesn’t matter especially when it comes to art.

Although it is easy to compare it shouldn’t be justified because artists have different experience, education, ideal customers and are often working with different art materials.

You need to think about your factors:

• What is the cost for materials to make the art?

• Who is my ideal customer and what is their budget for art?

• What is your intuition telling you?

• Do you include shipping, taxes, a free gift, custom wrapping, tracking id (all of these extras cost more $$$)

• How much time did you spend on making the art?

• Is it framed or not?

• Do you have a history of sales- if you have a proven record of sales, a large fan base or are known in your region -you might be in demand and are able to charge more

Other things to consider: 

• Additional fees -like website fees, studio rental, equipment fees like a camera, Photoshop, Lightroom etc.

• What is my cost of living, what income do I want to receive for my art? Is this your full time job or a side hustle (if it is your full time job you should consider paying yourself an hourly wage – not minimum wage- don’t short change your experience, skills, education and value you bring!)

You need to price your art with what you are comfortable with. If you think it is priced too low then raise it! You have the ability to change your prices at any time! You should also adjust your prices on a yearly basis especially if you are lacking time to fulfill orders or as you become more experienced your prices should increase.

Remember people don’t need to buy art so the price of it varies hugely – do not compare your prices to the prices of others. Remember what makes your art different is you, your style, your effort, your decisions, your story and the experience that you serve your customers.

You don’t want to undersell yourself – you can always lower your prices and discount or provide a sale but it is harder to drastically raise prices when you started to low in the first place.

Check out my art shop here to see my prices!

Maybe you have thought about doing art commissions? Read this blog post here for tips!

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