Advice for becoming a serious artist

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Young artists always have a universal question: How do I become a full time artist?

You could come up with a number of different answers to it, but the best is "I don't know".

The reality is that artists more often than not need a paying job, and have to find alternative forms of income in order to pay the bills (and go out for sushi). One common one, of course, is teaching.

It is an interesting question and one that has no definitive answer. What makes it truly interesting is that there are a great deal of young artists who desire to be full-time out of college.

My best advice for these artists is to think small.

You will have to find a job (unless you have support) and slowly build yourself up. You could always hope for the overnight fame road, but that requires either truly extraordinary art or a billionaire backer.

This can't be understated, but build up your portfolio. Don't expect to be in any gallery exhibition with a catalog of say, 20 paintings. However, you can start looking to exhibit at libraries and restaurants, who are always open to new artists.

Most artists first showings are at cafes or libraries. And they will probably be the ugliest and most underdeveloped shows on the planet... but it helps you to evolve.

The reality is, don't expect galleries to pay attention to you. I was once told by a gallery owner (and not a renown one) that they received over a dozen artist inquires a day via email. Meaning that most artists get completely overlooked.

However, that should not discourage anyone. Your job as an aspiring artist is to dazzle gallery owners so that they are the ones trying to woo you. Yes, I said woo.

My biggest piece of advice is to either be serious about it or don't even try. Trying to become a full-time artist takes years and many aspiring artists give up after several months claiming that it was too difficult...

and for many, it is. So be tenacious and try not to get discourage. Sometimes art is all about persistence.