I it possible to make living painting?

[Pestie]

Hi,


was jsut curious, is it actually possible to make a living as a mini painter?

Im tried it once - along time ago and found that it was bloody hard work! Does anyone here actually make a living as a full time painter? What kind of salary is it (if you dont mind me asking). What kind os skill level will bench mark you into reasonble success?

whats the most anyone has ever paid for a mini?

how many hoirs do you put in?

Just curious

thanks
Pestie

 

[cdukino]

I don\'t paint for money so I can\'t give you any experience fueled advise. But common sense tells me that If you wanna make it your livelihood you have to : paint fast and paint high quality, or lightning speed fast and somewhat less quality, have to put in very very long hours, take little holiday breaks, have to get your name known and not have to much of a high spending personality.

I don\'t think it would be something you could easily make a lot of money with. More something you do if you really like painting enough to do it day in day out for money, and not a high pay at that

 

[Mick]

pestie Ive been doing it for 13 years and it was not easy let me tell you..with the internet now its much easier..if youre a half way decent painter you will probably have lots of work but probably not lots of pay as most people want decent looking armies but not immaculate ones..some will splurge but not many..I now paint just 15mm as I can make more doing it then competeing with 100 people who can work on 1 28mm miniature in a weeks time..we cant compete with that..so time wise versus painting 15mm is cake work and pays my bills nicely..but getting a following is a must..if you can go to cons its good also..and a style of your own especially in larger scales..always helps..a couple centavos from a oldtimer

 

[Drake Farstrider]

I would think you could.

 

[Pestie]

Thanks for the info Mick. I certainly cant afford to take the plunge (again), but i was just wondering what the breakdown here was between \'Pro\' painters and hobbiest\'s...

Obviously you can see some clearly taleneted people making a buck on ebay and the like, and I have a few private \'clients\' of my own - was just wondering how people go about doing thier pricing as such.....

I mean, what for instance, would you expect as a return for an hours work. I\'d like to think that i havea decent standard, but that only days in maybe £2.50 an hour - which is far below minimum wage.... (although i do it for fun nowadays....)

 

[LavronYor]

yes, BUT, consider what kind of life it will be. Long hours, constantly worrying about getting paid, arguing over what the customer meant and what you thought. ( I SAID RED, THIS IS VERMILLION ) You think it looks great, he says \" Yeah, that\'s okay.\"

IF that doesn\'t put you off, then First, get yourself a name and a ranking. Enter competitions, and win. Then, sell on Ebay and when you have done all that, start a website and show people why they should pay you to paint. Very few people can come from nowhere and make a name in a short time. Vincent Hudon and EricJ come to mind.

But, good luck, we would all love to see another great painter.

As for money, Fredy\'s piece sold for $1400 if I am not mistaken. Someone correct me if I am wrong. And, he is world class. There are people like Dman on ebay who week after week put out $100 to $300 pieces.

So good luck, try out on Golden Toadstools over at ElectricOcean and see how you do.

 

[Fayarin]

I guess the country you live in is a factor too. The miniature \'market\' is international, so you\'ll probably get paid in dollars or something. If wellfare is little in a country you can keep dinner on te table easier than when you live in a modern western, \'expeniseve\' country.

But it all depends on how much you spend

 

[albufas]

it depends how mutch you eat.
hehe i guess its hard to make a living on minis even for the top painters. there is no market imo

 

[EricJ]

So doing the math from some of the pieces I\'ve painted that have been sold, I think at my best, if I manage to pull of an eyecatching dynamic piece that takes relatively little work, I could maybe make $25/hour tops painting, but probably more realistically around $15/hour. From what I\'ve heard I think that\'s pretty good for the hobby, although not enough to live on where I am .

When I compair that to what you can make at a normal full time job, it makes painting for $$ not seem so hot.

So I think it is possible to live off painting, however there is a VERY real ceiling to your income, and it is quite low. My opinion has always been work on getting a good job and excell at it, and keep your hobby your hobby, enjoy it, and work to excell at it too. In my opinion it will result in better income and a hobby you still enjoy

 

[Dragon Forge Design]

While its not unherd of a painter to make $20-30,000 USD a year painting its hard work and long hours and of course no benifits like you might get with an employer. The towo full time painters that I know who do well but have wives that work, are major income winners and bring home the benifits.

I do know others who have fulltime jobs and suppliment their incomes nicely buy painting part time and it allows them the extras like a nicer car or home or to take vacations and such.

 

[rattlehead2112]

I have recently started painting for people and I have different ways to gauge a price for a paint job.
1. How many figures?
2. How big are they?
3. What type of paint job?( table top quality or display case quality.)
I also keep a small note book with me so I can write down exactly the colors the person wants and the price for the paint job. I tell the person the price before I paint. This way there are no surpises after you put in hours of hard work. I haven\'t had any problems being stiffed yet. The people I usually paint for I\'ve known for years anyway. If I take a job from somone I don\'t know, I will ask for half of the money up front.
I am a disabled vet and I started painting for cash this past October to make some money so I could do something for my family for Christmas. I\'m still flooded with paint job offers and I currently have 5 people waiting for me to finish their figures. I hope this helps. :flip:

 

[Legacy Account]

Get a proper job!

 

[Mick]

pestie its good to weigh the comments posted good and bad and most everything said is true..pros and cons..but above everything I have learned dont believe it until you see it meaning dont rely on them you will be dissappointed every time..I have a niche for myself most others dont want to paint as they are so small and like I say and some of the others have said if at all possible do it fulltime only if you can make it by doing it fulltime..test the waters and see what happens..I would say I love it or I would have quit along time ago..oviously I started a miniatures company still small but very happy..

 

[Kelly Kim]

I\'ve done it for nearly 7 years...

Having done this since the late 90s as my full time occupation, I honestly have to say that it\'s a job, like any other. Treat it like a small business, which means the hardest part will be staying disciplined enough to paint a minimum of 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week. Also, keep detailed accounting, write off any business expenses you can, and any and all other responsibilities associated with a home business. In short, go out and get a book on running a small business before you start.

The percieved value of a painted miniature is nowhere near what you could charge if you were a goldsmith, or any other kind of artisan. Frankly, you have to LOVE being able to paint 40+ hrs a week. You also have to give up the hobby aspect of painting to some degree. After I get home from the studio on a friday, the very last thing I want to do is paint any of my own models. My back is completely shot, my eyes ache, and the only thing that I\'m generally looking forward to is spending some time with the wife, and spending whatever I made that week.

There are a lot of good suggestions already mentioned here on the forum. Reputation helps your percieved value go up, attract new clientele, and keep old clients. Make sure you gain a reputation not only for quality of work, but quick turnaround, excellent shipping, and prompt replies and communication with your clients. We informally surveyed our clients, and most of them had tried a few other painting services before settling in with us for the long haul, and there were some really nasty horror stories they had to tell.

Website? Yeah, it helps with getting some new clients, but we\'ve been too busy for the last 5 years to work on our website any further than the coming soon page, and we can barely keep up with the demand from our old clients anyway. Make keeping your clients the number one priority, and you can\'t go wrong.

Anyway, it\'s funny that this thread started around the time that I decided to move on. Full time painting is fun for awhile, and I fully encourage anyone who paints well, can still love to paint after 40hrs a week, and doesn\'t have any kind of major financial responsibilities such as children, mortgage, health issues, or car payments. In the end though, I\'m going to pursue a different full-time career, but still keep professional painting as my sideline home business. The studio will still operate as usual... I\'ve got responsibilities to the other painters... but I\'m personally looking forward to having a job with benefits and a wage that can carry house payments.

Kelly Kim
Sorcerer Studios

 

[Evil Dave]

I personally don\'t try to mix hobbies with proffession, I don\'t want my hobby to become a drag.

 

[Zordana]

I dont make a living, but I make money to pay some of the bills and buy myself pretty little things on the odd occasion

I take holidays from commission painting too and just paint my own miniatures for sale, as I don\'t want to end up hating miniature painting. Commission work tends to make me crazy.

 

[cdukino]

I do it besides my daytime job as well as the occasion arrives. Oke not so much painting but sculpting but the idea is the same. Not for a living or even to get payed a decent hourly wage (though I woulnd\'t say no to it )... but for a little bit of pocketmoney for fun things and in my case also getting my work released (the plus of sculpting vs painting... though not all sculpts actually end up casts... or take a long time).
For me the rule is... is it still fun or atleast not a stressy have too (depending on the commision and commisioner)... am I oke with the time I have to put in vs the payment (money and other)... and do I haved the time available to do it.... then take on the commision.

 

[EPStudios]

yeah... It seems that I agree with most of the above things stated. I am a commission painter and I have been looking at being a painter as a full time job, but when you actually sit down and start being a full time miniature painter it starts to be a drag. You never get your own stuff done anymore. It really doesn\'t make THAT much money... I probably make $15 an hour if you were to average it out. Working on commission job after commission job tends to feel like it doesn\'t have an end some times. I think that right now the reason why I push myself to become a full time mini painter is because it pushes me to become the best painter that I posssibly can.

To me, the way to go would be to open a gaming store, and paint in the store on the side when the business is slow. I am actually considering doing this after I finish off my degree.

Also I would suggest opening the door to all other types of artwork. There is a good chance that if you are a good enough painter to live off of it professionally you are pretty good at art in general and so you should consider other medias, because painting that many miniatures can be a drag.

Either way, it has its pros and cons, however the general agreement is probably to not do it. Just paint as a part time job and then get a real job on the side, or just leave it as a hobby.