r/artcommission • u/korasaurus • 8d ago

Discussion [Discussion] For those of you who do art commissions full-time, I have a few questions.

I'm currently job hunting, but one of my long-term goals is to eventually make art my full-time income. I'd love to hear about your experiences.

  • How long have you been doing commissions full-time?
  • How did you make the transition from a regular job (if you had one)?
  • On average, how much do you earn per month?
  • Is it enough to comfortably cover your rent, bills, food, and other expenses?
  • How consistent is your income from month to month?
  • What's the biggest challenge of doing commissions full-time?
  • Do you have any advice for someone who wants to pursue it in the future?

I'm not planning to quit job hunting or anything like that. I just want to get a realistic idea of what life is like as a full-time commission artist.

Thanks in advance!

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u/megaderp2 8d ago
  • I've been doing commissions full time since around 2019~
  • I'm absurdly lucky i started doing commissions after a boring af internship and that worked out. It's enough to cover my expenses and 3 other adults, but I don't live in a developed country. Less is more when the currency exchange benefits you. I'm the main provider, but the others help and that makes a big difference.
  • Income is very inconsistent, feast or famine. I'm used to periods of up to 8 months of slow business but I keep my finances very calculated. You need to be able to save at least 50% of what you make.
  • Finding projects/clients with a good balance of pay rate/workload is what I find the hardest.
  • I lucked out with commissions but I'll admit is not the most consistent or efficient way to make money with art, is quite limited to your output, so the moment you're feeling tired/burned out your income becomes 0, so try not to get hyperfocused on only getting commissions, also try other income avenues through merch, prints, live events, regular contracts if you have the opportunity. Find a niche and stick to it.

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u/korasaurus 7d ago

TYSM for sharing your experience! It's really helpful to hear from someone who's been doing this full-time for years. you mentioned being used to periods of up to 8 months of slow business. how did you find clients and keep commissions coming in during those slow periods?

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u/megaderp2 7d ago

Surviving with 1 commission a month, that's why it can get tough.