I’ve been wanting to make a serious go at switching careers and making art a full time gig for several years. I have consulted books, blogs, tweets, and podcasts on how to do it. I’m ready to act now and I am going to write about the process. This will include both my successes and my failures. Hopefully, someone else out there who is thinking about making the shift can gleam something useful from journey and apply it to their own.
For all intents and purposes I am pretty much a beginner with book knowledge and a portfolio. Here is more detail on where I stand.
- I have a very modest presence on the web, which includes a blog, a web gallery, a twitter presence, a facebook presence, and some activity on art forums.
- I have some sales under my belt, but not enough to quit my day job just yet.
- I have thought about what I want to focus on and I have a plan in the works.
So what is my next step? Paperwork. I am going to take stock of what I art I have, what I feel is ready for sale, prices, supplies and equipment.I am using an excel spread sheet from the SciFiFantasyHorrorSpace_ArtShows yahoo group. There are some good resources here, particularly for anyone interested in selling art at convention art shows.
One market I want to explore is art fairs. I need to find out what equipment I’ll need and how much it (and entry fees and travel) will cost. The Boulder Creek Festival is Memorial Day weekend. I plan on going and doing some research and networking as my first step. Ultimately I’d like to do several art fairs and possibly a renaissance festival or two a year.
I also want to submit work to publishers. I have done some research and picked five to start with ( I’m going to keep you all in suspense as to which ones for now). It is a small number, but I still have a full time day job and a toddler. I need to be able to keep track of who I have contacted. After I finish my inventory, I will be putting together submissions for these companies. I will post more about this when I get to it.
And with that, the little one just woke up from his nap. Please feel free to leave a comment, give advice, or ask questions.
Fire Oak Studio 
Hi Cris!
I am scouting fairs and cons this year and hope to be taking part on them as an artist next year. So far I’ve sen that the fees you would expect to pay go from $50 to $400+ per weekend. Also some of them give you everything you need to exhibit (but the art) and others expect you to bring everything yourself. I am guessing that I’ll start with the cheaper ones and the ones that give you the stuff so I have some time to build my equipment up.
I think you are going to be great!
Let us know what you find out!
Yeah, most of the ones that are within minimal travel from here run $200-600 per weekend and require you rent or own the equipment (ie tent and tables). It is a lot of money, but I think I know some people with a tent amd tables, so I may be able to cut out some of the expense.