Hobbyist or Professional Artist?

As a general rule, successful artists are prolific. Many professional artists produce between 100 and 400 pieces per year. Sounds like a lot, but stop for a minute and think about the realities of creating a sustaining income from your work. By producing this volume of work and distributing it you greatly increase the possibilities of generating sales.

If we break the numbers down a bit and think in terms of weekly production, it only takes two pieces per week to reach 100 works per year. What if you work in a variety of sizes? Piece of cake!

So how is this done?

Here are some tips from Xanadu Gallery owner and artist, J. Jason Horejs:

1. Set a goal that works for you. If you only produced 10 works in the last year, set a goal to produce 20 in the next twelve months.

2. Put yourself on a schedule. Successful artists are in the studio every day (or at least five days a week!) This consistency is what marks the difference between a hobbyist and a serious, professional artist. Even if you are only able to devote a couple of hours a day, make it a priority to work religiously at your work every day during those few hours.

3. Start streamlining your production process - think in terms of buying your supplies in bulk, online, this way you can spend less time and money at the art store and more time in the studio.

4. Never compromise the quality of your work in the quest to increase your quantity. In the long run, however, you will find that there is no better way to improve the quality of your work than to put yourself through the rigors of creating consistently.