MAKING *REAL* MONEY USING PAINTING SKILLS

[techanu]

Hi there! Guys I\'ve been recently brainstorming the possibilites of using my paiting skills in other business (but not connected with painting minis and reselling them). Do you have any ideas where professional painters can earn good money? I mean what industries (besides painting cars etc.)

 

[skeeve]

Design, concept art, scenic and movie setup. The second is incredibly competitive. The first requires certain amount of specialized knowledge and are often in conjunction with something else. For example architects, at least better of them, can paint and draw pretty decently.

 

[techanu]

Skeeve - thanks for reply. Can you develop your idea regarding scenic and movie setup? what do you mean precisely? Like creating all the scenery etc etc? Do you know any companies (worldwide) that do such a stuff where you can go and do internship?

 

[uberdark]

make artwork, then die. thats about it.

lol....

seriously though. if you have a background in art. up through a masters or art history major you can work at a museum and help run the programs there. or if you havea bahcelors in art education and a minor in business you could do the same thing.

 

[airhead]

My wife worked for an illistration studio. Architects would send over either perspectives or elevations. The studio would turn it into 2d or 3d art for prestentations.

 

[Einion]

If you are able to work larger there\'s always fine-art painting to consider. Not big bucks for most people but it can be a second revenue stream if you\'re halfway decent and you work at it.

Illustration is of course an option but this is more of a full-time occupation since you really need to work at building and maintaining relationships with the people who might book your services.

Einion

 

[Legacy Account]

Decorating.

Seriously, you\'ll make more money

 

[Legacy Account]

On a less facetious note:

Jackets, crash helmets, bikes, cars - anything a punter wants customised. You need to be pretty good before you start daubing people\'s prized possessions though.

Signage, murals, hangings, pub/club interiors.

Clothing, T-shirts.

I\'ve done almost every one of those (didn\'t have the balls to do the bike I was offered years ago. Ditto with cars. Specialist training required...). You need to be bloody good to make a decent living.

I very nearly splashed out on this when I was still in Blighty:

http://www.paintmyride-uk.co.uk/cc.htm

 

[evil tendencies]

If you like the theater or movie type of art, lots of universities have programs that teach stage/set design. Even though you\'d have to go to school, its a good place to pick up the skills while still offering a chance to work and network. A roommate of mine did this, and he\'s now doing lighting design full-time.

I don\'t know how your freehand is, but story boarding is also a good field for folks who can do it fast and accurate - and art based on these sketches could get you into concept design.

 

[EArkham]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
Decorating.

Seriously, you\'ll make more money

Very true. Did this for several years. People pay a ridiculous amount of money for work no more difficult than painting walls.

And I\'ve never once met a competing painter who didn\'t take 20 smoke breaks a day, so it\'s very easy to get a reputation as doing \"fast and good\" work by... you know... just doing the work and going home early. Charge by the job, not the hour.

The downside is that it is absolutely mind-numbing work because there is zero challenge and you have to work in other people\'s homes (the latter admittedly more of a problem for me due to my OCPD). I\'ll never do it again.

Kep

 

[Shawn R. L.]

I worked freelance for a greeting card company for over 10 years. If you\'re good and quick at cartoons it\'s like shooting fish in a barrel. Sometimes I was making about $80 an hour. Now, that was for about 5 hours a year so while I didn\'t get rich, the potential was there. Do your homework and find out where your stuff would fit in and send out A LOT of queries. Be ready to get A LOT of rejections. Their rejections can mean NOTHING about your work. One company I did cards for had the chance to run Gary Larson (Far Side guy) and passed on him. I had done a whole bunch of REAL CUTE designs for a card line of mice. I was told by the art director that the company boss was phobic of rodents so that line was DOA.???lol

 

[leighton]

Well, you could sell your artworks if they\'re really good. But branching out to other types of art might be better and bigger for you.



Regards,
Leighton
prêts travaux

 

[Legacy Account]

It all boils down to how good you are. You need to be SHIT HOT to make a decent living in any of the fields that are remotely interesting. Everyone wants to do it. Lots of them are stupidly talented.

You have to be at least as good and you have to work your testes off to get anywhere.

I have incredibly talented and skilled friends who are struggling to even get lowly Mac-Monkey positions at the moment...

 

[evil tendencies]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie

I have incredibly talented and skilled friends who are struggling to even get lowly Mac-Monkey positions at the moment...

...Mac Munkie, you mean?



Yeah, the art world is really weird this way. I should have mentioned that my theater buddy slept about 4 hours a night during a production to keep up. He had to make up for lacking insane talent with hours, and he intuitively knew more about designing sets and color theory than I could ever learn.

 

[Dwight Fry]

I have found alot of similarities in pastry arts/chocolate and miniatures. The mediums are different, but the techniques are similar especially if you can sculpt and make molds.

The money isn\'t necessarily that great though, and like all trades, its all in who you know and your reputation.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
It all boils down to how good you are. You need to be SHIT HOT to make a decent living in any of the fields that are remotely interesting.

Knowing someone is a REAL PLUS. What I\'ve seen is that the cream doesn\'t always rise to the top. While having talent is an obvious plus, having A LOT of hustle and knowing the right people is what tip\'s the balance...............sometimes. It\'s a VERY FICKLE market.

You have to be at least as good and you have to work your testes off to get anywhere.

Yup...Do a lot of research into what you have and where it would fit in then do MASS marketing. Back in the dark ages I used to go to the library and jot down names, addresses, art director\'s names, phone numbers etc...... from a book called The Artist\'s Market. Not sure if there is an \'E\' equivalent. Good luck!!

 

[Gearhead]

One thing that sometimes works is find a rich snooty area of your city/country.

Create some sort of bizarre snooty artistic mystique for yourself.

Make stuff. Make it stupid. Make it inscrutable. Make it obvious to everyone in the world that you just kicked over an old urinal and threw some dirt in it, then gave it some vague existential name and called it art.

Tell all the snooty rich people that you hate them and that their evil capitalist ways will destroy the universe.

They\'ll love you to death and give you outrageously stupid amounts of money for something that cost 15 cents and 2 minutes to create.

Oh, and like ShawnR.L. said, you need to know someone. lol

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Dwight Fry
I have found alot of similarities in pastry arts/chocolate and miniatures. The mediums are different, but the techniques are similar especially if you can sculpt and make molds.

The money isn\'t necessarily that great though, and like all trades, its all in who you know and your reputation.

depends what you do. get into cake decorating and you can make a mint. especially wedding stuff.

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Originally posted by Gearhead
One thing that sometimes works is find a rich snooty area of your city/country.

Create some sort of bizarre snooty artistic mystique for yourself.

Make stuff. Make it stupid. Make it inscrutable. Make it obvious to everyone in the world that you just kicked over an old urinal and threw some dirt in it, then gave it some vague existential name and called it art.

Tell all the snooty rich people that you hate them and that their evil capitalist ways will destroy the universe.

They\'ll love you to death and give you outrageously stupid amounts of money for something that cost 15 cents and 2 minutes to create.

In a similar vein (seriously) I\'ve heard that pricing something really high can make people - rich one\'s - think \'ooooohhh, with such a high price it MUST BE worth something.....gotta have!!

 

[Gearhead]

In a similar vein (seriously) I\'ve heard that pricing something really high can make people - rich one\'s - think \'ooooohhh, with such a high price it MUST BE worth something.....gotta have!!

Too true, which is part of what I had in mind. I wasn\'t really kidding; there are truly stupid amounts of money to be made by fooling rich idiots into thinking you\'re a genius artist.