How To Make Money with Digital Art

By CreativB Studios – 13 May 2022

You are a traditional artist that isn’t making much money selling art or even a digital artist that is looking to find more ways in generating money.

The world we now live in has so many opportunities for digital artists to make money.

As you know that a picture is worth a thousand words and as our attention span has decreased to 8.25 seconds people dont have the attention span to read long paragraphs anymore. (This long paragraph is very helpful, i promise)

Instead, many businesses opt for digital artists/designers to get their point across to their audience.

Make money with digital art
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Ways to Making Money in Digital Art

As the world is moving into the digital world, this is the best time for digital artists to capitalize on this opportunity and start making more money.

Here are some of the ways digital artists can make money:

 
    1. Commissioned Work
    2. Sell Digital Art on Etsy
    3. NFT Collection
    4. Collaborate with Design Agency
    5. Start Selling Framed Artwork 

Now, if you want to make money with digital art and still be sane by the end of the day then its best if you select a maximum of 2 from the list mentioned above in the beginning and pour your heart and soul into it.

After you have successfully established them, then you can start looking at other avenues.

Let’s get into the details of making money in digital art:

1) Commissioned Work

Commissioned work is the most common and well-known way digital artists make money and I am sure some will be having a difficult time getting work on a regular basis.

There could be a lot of reasons for not having regular work as a digital artist. It’s because we live in times where having good work doesn’t guarantee more eyes on your work.

The focus is getting more eyes on your work which leads up to getting more commissioned work.

Here are some ways you can get more audience as a digital artists:

  • Portfolio Website
  • Upload Your Work on Art Centric Sites (Behance, Dribbble, etc)
  • Learn SEO and Apply it to your posts
  • Look at how others are doing it (Eg, Bosslogic)

2) Selling Digital Art on Etsy

Selling Digital Art can seem like a daunting task but it’s one of the most profitable ways in making money as a digital artist. As it only requires you to create a single piece with the right requirements you can sell it multiple times for as long as you want. No Cost per piece, No Shipping Cost. 

But like everything in life, it’s not that easy.

You have to make sure that the quality of work, presentation of what you’re selling, description, and customer service are up to the mark.

Etsy Store

What is Etsy?

Etsy is an e-commerce platform like amazon but they prefer handmade or vintage items and craft supplies.
 
You can create an Etsy shop for a specific niche that you are comfortable in. Don’t start selling everything you make cause that will only hurt your sales.
 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Etsy

 

How much does it cost to use Etsy to sell?

It costs $0.20 to publish a listing on the marketplace. A listing lasts for four months or until the item is sold. Once an item sells, there is a 6.5% transaction fee on the sale price (including the shipping price you set). 

Since you are not selling a digital product, you don’t have to worry about the shipping cost.

Do you have to have a business license to sell on Etsy?

Etsy doesn’t require you to have a business license to sell on it, but you do need to follow local laws regarding business registration.

How easy is it to set up an Etsy account?

    1. Create an Etsy account.
    2. Set your shop preferences.
    3. Choose your Etsy shop name.
    4. Add items to your shop.
    5. Choose your payment preferences.
    6. Set up billing.
    7. Open your shop.
    8. Customize your shop.

3) NFT Collection

What does an NFT stand for?

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. It is built using the same programming language as cryptocurrency (Eg, Bitcoin) but it is Non-Fungible.

What does Non-Fungible mean?

Inorder to understand what Non-Fungible is, we need to understand what Fungible means. Physical money and cryptocurrencies are “fungible”, meaning they can be traded or exchanged for one another.

Non-Fungible Tokens are the ones that cannot be traded or exchanged for one another since one NFT may not be of the same value as another NFT.

NFT means

Ok, now that you know what NFTs are. 

How can you make money with it?

When NFT was still new it was quite easy to make money over night as a digital artist. Just put the design up for sale on opensea or any other nft marketplace and if it looks cool, someone will buy it.

But now, its a bit more difficult to have a successful NFT Collection but it is still possible.

NFT Collections are based on how cool the collection looks and the community behind it. If you can manage to come up with a collection with a good story and build a community around it. You can definitely be able to make good money.

4) Work with a Design Agency

Design and Art are two different forms of visual communication. 

A design conveys a certain message whereas art is open for interpretation. but as the world evolves, visual communication evolves with it and the lines between design and art start to become blurry.

Nowadays many companies seek out artists rather than designers for some of their marketing campaigns. It could be an illustration that’s needed in packaging, or a complete artwork for an ad.

Good thing about working with a design agency is that if they like your work, they will keep coming to you with more work.

5) Sell Framed Artwork

Selling Framed Artwork is slightly different from selling digital artwork.

In this model, you will actually go through the process of printing your artwork and framing it then shipping it to your customer.

You can combine this method with digital artwork to reach a wider audience and make it convenient for the customer.

Customers would rather choose convenience over price in some cases. If you think through the customer’s perspective, they would likely want the art printed and framed shipped to them rather than purchase the digital piece, find a suitable print service and then find a suitable frame for it. 

Digital Art vs Traditional Art

The difference between digital art and traditional art is that traditional art uses physical items to produce art such as a canvas, drawing pencils, watercolor pencils, etc

Digital Art uses digital mediums to create art such as a computer, tablet, and drawing software.

A traditional artist can transition into digital art and vice versa but it would require a few months of training in order to understand the techniques and the technology.

In digital art, you will have different drawing software with a lot of features to make it easier for the artist to draw, such as different brushes, erasers, layers, patterns, etc.

Digital Art
Traditional Art

How To Get Started in Digital Art?

Provided that you are a traditional artist looking to transition into digital art. Here are some of the things to get you started:

A graphic tablet and a laptop is all you need to get you started in digital art. If you have the budget you can also go for more equipment.

Here are some recommended items that most professional digital artists use:

What Are The Best Softwares for Digital Art?

In order to be a digital artist, you will not only need the hardware but you will also need suitable software. 

With so many options on the market, what options should a person transitioning into digital art go for, what app is best for digital art?

If you prefer:

Minimal setup: 2021 Apple 11-inch iPad Pro + Procreate

Mid-Tier Setup: Microsoft Surface Laptop AMD Ryzen 5 CPU Integrated Graphics + Adobe Photoshop

Professional Setup: Wacom Cintiq 22 Drawing Tablet with HD Screen + Adobe Photoshop

SoftwarePrice
Adobe Illustrator$20.99 per month
Adobe Photoshop$20.99 per month
Procreate (iPad)US $9.99 
Clip Studio PaintIt starts from $0.99 per month
GIMPFree
KritaBasic: Free, Paid: $9.79

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