How to make money as a digital illustrator

As an artist, chances are that you are pursuing your passion and doing what you love. In this case, it will be essential for you to have a sustainable business. Having a reliable source of income as an artist can prove to be complicated. Things are changing in the new age, and when you conform you will be making ends meet through art and exploring new avenues to make money as a digital illustrator.

From this post, you will pick the different revenue streams that are available for digital illustrators. This will guarantee a stable income and eliminate the notion that everyone believes that artists live to starve! With these ways of making money, artists make money from different income streams and do not rely on one source.

You will need to get some tools or learn through online courses to add to your skills when doing things online through some of these methods. We will discuss some of the methods that will be lucrative for you and help in making your digital illustration career big and better!

Sell art online and on physical locations

This is one of the oldest forms of selling art. Most of the artists will sell their art through selling products like art prints or greeting cards. This is an easy mode of making money that you can start with and make money without the need to have an initial investment. Start by creating low investment products. These are products that anyone can afford and will not need to break the bank to get your art.

When you are getting consistent income from this, you will be able to shift your focus to other forms of making money from your art. Selling your art in art galas or online will later transition into passive income.

Art licensing

Licensing your art means hiring out your art to be used and sold on products. This element of licensing is more straightforward than it may look. It means that you will still have the copyrights of your original work, and what you are doing is leasing it to companies.

When you license your artwork, you will enjoy the benefits of having your work on products. This also means that you will not be worried about shipping, selling the products, or even managing the production process. All this will be taken care of, and you will still get paid.

Learn more about art licensing and enjoy the perks of having your digital illustration works licensed while making money from it.

Become a digital illustrator instructor to other creatives

If you have taken an online course, you know what goes on and might know some of the platforms where you can share or sell your courses. Teaching contributes a huge chunk of the income pie for digital illustrators. There are many people out there who are looking to learn digital illustration and could be your next customers. Not only can you make money selling online courses, but you can also teach at a local college or art school, speak at events or even write your eBook on digital illustration.

Teaching can be fulfilling and, at the same time, feel natural for many since you will be sharing knowledge and skill in a field that you love and feel comfortable about. In the long run, this can also transition into a passive income way of earning.

Open an online shop

Did you think that it would not be possible for you to sell your art online? I have good news for you, ‘’it is possible to sell your art online’’. There are plenty of platforms out there where you can sell your art. Some of these ecommerce platforms are Shopify, Etsy and bigcartel.

When you have an online shop, you can sell one piece of your work multiple times, which means you will make more money from a single piece. On the other hand, you will only upload the piece once and have it downloaded multiple times from your buyers. Even though you will incur charges from the platform where you sell your digital illustrations, you will be making more money from an online shop than you would in a brick and mortar shop where you have to pay electricity bills and rent. More to this, you will be making your money passively.