{"id":245419,"date":"2025-05-17T15:15:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T15:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/the-cold-art-of-the-side-hustle-for-artists\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T15:15:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T15:15:33","slug":"the-cold-art-of-the-side-hustle-for-artists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=245419","title":{"rendered":"The Cold Art of the Side Hustle for Artists"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"wreath<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Cold Art of the Side Hustle for Artists<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

When it comes to writing new
\narticles I have a process that I have to follow. It usually involves late
\nnights, early mornings, lots of coffee, and copious amounts of research because
\nI want every reader of my site to go away with the best information and to come
\nback next week when they\u2019re ready for more.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s exactly what I did
\nwhen I began preparing this article, and oh my life, did my eyes get opened!
\nThis week we will be looking at the side hustle, the sideline that an artist
\ncan use to pay the bills in between major works and commissions, or at least
\nthat\u2019s the theory. Sometimes, the side hustle can be a huge side hassle that
\ncan pull you as far away from your art as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, in my quite literally,
\nweeks of undertaking research to figure out what kind of side hustle might bear
\nmore low-hanging fruit, I discovered that hundreds of websites had already
\ncovered the subject. I distinctly remember thinking that my work here has
\nalready been done and I would need to select the next subject on my list of
\nmust-write articles, or at least that was until I read them.<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing is, I have
\nabsolutely no idea who even wrote some of what has been written on some of
\nthese websites purporting to have the insight that would point an artist towards
\na side hustle that would complement their art practice, because in no way, in
\nany universe, would less than a tenth of what\u2019s been written and described as a
\nfruitful side-hustle complement your art practice or pay any bills, not even
\nyour Netflix subscription. And besides, none of the themes was exactly what you might call easy side
\nhustles either.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to know what most of
\nthese websites thought the highest paying side hustle would be for a visual
\nartist? YouTube. Apparently, you can earn mega-dollars just by being you in
\nfront of a camera and uploading the finished video to the Tube of You. Yep, no
\nyou can\u2019t. Well, you can, eventually, you know, when you have as many viewers
\nas the Pew di Pie character, but that\u2019s never going to happen with visual art
\nunless you are already established or your name is Banksy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sadly, that\u2019s the cold reality
\nof YouTube, there\u2019s just so much competition for the same eyes and there are so
\nmany artists, all vying for the same viewers. So, unless your production
\nquality is on a par with those who are getting the big views and your content
\nis different enough to stand out, YouTube will be a long grind that certainly
\nisn\u2019t as easy as all of these websites will have you think. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"artwork<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Oh My Gogh Art Supplies by Mark Taylor – art supplies can be a lucrative side hustle for artists too!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Another one that appears on
\nthe many lists that promise your days of scratching a living will be over, is
\nthe tip that I\u2019m sure no artist in the history of artists has ever considered.
\nThere\u2019s a hint of sarcasm there, any working artist will be all too familiar
\nwith the grind but the tip in question here is to sell your creativity through
\nservices such as Fiverr and Upwork. At their core, these services pit creatives,
\nand in fact, pretty much anyone with a pair of hands and a pulse, together with
\nthe intention of offering cheap services that can be ordered by anyone with a
\nneed for a pair of hands to create or do something. They\u2019re popular with
\nproviding the skills to produce things like logos, where the commissioner wants
\nsomething as quickly as possible usually for the least amount of money. <\/span><\/p>\n

To be fair, there are some extremely
\ntalented folk on these services but the way that the services are structured
\nlends itself to creating an almost disposable talent pool that can be picked up
\nand put down at will, and the competition and often low-cost services offered
\ndo no one any favours as it devalues the work being done. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, there will be a few who
\nmanage to scrape a living wage creating on these services, but these tend to be
\nthe exception rather than the rule. Mostly, the gigs provide fillers in between
\nmajor projects and while they\u2019re especially useful if you don\u2019t already have a
\ncommercial portfolio and need to quickly build one, let\u2019s not think for a
\nmoment that these gigs will be any easier than anything else and, neither will
\nthey necessarily bear enough financial fruit for you to forge a decent living
\non. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"the<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The 80s Newsagent by Mark Taylor – Nostalgia is a great side hustle!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s as if whoever has written
\nthese long lists of possibilities hasn\u2019t actually tried any of them out. If
\nthey had, and the ideas worked, most of the authors would be too busy with side
\nhustles to write such an article in the first place. <\/span><\/p>\n

As an artist, a side hustle
\ncan be an essential part of the creative journey. Sometimes the hustle is essential
\nto filling in the gaps between major projects so that the bills can continue to
\nbe paid. That\u2019s not to say that just any side hustle is going to be compatible
\nwith your ambitions to create a successful and professional art practice,
\nindeed, some side hustles can cast a shadow on what you are trying to achieve
\nwith your art or they can quickly become a distraction that takes your artistic
\nfocus away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever the side hustle is,
\nit\u2019s also kind of a bonus, if not essential, that it is also something that you
\nenjoy doing, otherwise it could become something that is a grind that you then
\nbegin to resent and that would just be miserable. The whole purpose of the side
\nhustle is to fill in the financial gaps, whether they\u2019re small or big, so it\u2019s
\ncritical that any side hustle you choose is one that can fill whatever gaps you
\nhave or as I intimated earlier, it really can become a side hassle. The more
\nfun you can have with a side hustle, the better it will be, it should never
\nstart to drain your artistic creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the last eighteen months
\nhave taught us anything at all, it\u2019s that as artists we need to be resilient.
\nThere have been many artists who went into the pandemic probably thinking that
\nthey would still get to turn up at physical events and keep their art flowing out
\nthrough the door. Those that relied on turning up in a physical space had to
\nrefocus their efforts online and if they weren\u2019t prepared for online sales,
\nwill have had a choice to respond quickly or continue to struggle.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"art<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Art Supplies by Mark Taylor – art for artists is another side hustle!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Other than ideally being fun,
\nthe side hustle should complement your art practice rather than being something
\nthat is disparate from it. You have to avoid confusing the market that you
\nalready have and it\u2019s even better if the side hustle isn\u2019t a single thing. <\/span><\/p>\n

If we learned any lessons
\nthroughout the pandemic it should have been that plans can change, economies
\ncan stop spending, and even the most resilient businesses faced, and in some
\ncases continue to face a struggle. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that any of those
\nissues have never happened outside of the pandemic, they did and they did
\nfrequently. The art world is perhaps more ebb and flow than most other
\nbusinesses even in the best of times but the one thing we did see that we haven\u2019t
\nseen previously, was the closure of physical spaces. Some people will continue
\nto buy art whatever the economy looks like, others won\u2019t, or their buying
\nhabits will change, and there have always been busy seasons and slow seasons,
\nthat\u2019s the art world in a nutshell. <\/span><\/p>\n

What the pandemic did was to
\nshine the spotlight on the problems that inherently existed in the art world
\neven before the pandemic and it shone an even brighter light on the changing
\nbuying habits of collectors who for the first time, began to take online more
\nseriously. <\/span><\/p>\n

These issues will appear again
\nin the future, it\u2019s the cyclical nature of the art business and any other
\nbusiness. So, when it happens again, and it will, the pain will be the same regardless
\nof the cause. The key is in how well you prepare during the good times so that
\nyou can combat the bad and how prepared you are to counter things like physical
\nclosures which we could one day see again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever the economy looks
\nlike, it\u2019s just not worth placing any blame for any lack of sales on that
\nalone, a tumultuous economy is an expected issue that arises over and over in
\nany business and you really do have to learn to adapt, and in part, accept that
\nthis is generally just how any business really works. It\u2019s not fun, but you can
\nplan and prepare and at least stave off the worst of it when it happens. Those
\nwho read my previous article on business strategies might be more attuned to
\nthinking outside of the proverbial box when it comes to preparedness. You can
\nread that article right here <\/a>if you missed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Having multiple income streams
\nmeans that you\u2019re not putting all of your eggs into a single fragile basket,
\nbut it\u2019s how you choose those side hustle that really counts. I mentioned
\nearlier about making sure your side hustle is compatible with your core business,
\nbut it also has to be compatible with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

One side hustle might be to
\nstart selling sunglasses alongside your artwork, but wouldn\u2019t that be
\nconfusing? How about selling a professionally created course on how to paint
\ninstead? That certainly sounds like it would have a fit that makes more sense
\nto the market of an artist. What you are really looking for are business assets
\nthat do most of the heavy lifting for you rather than potentially quick wins
\nthat can turn into an unsustainable grind that takes your focus away from your
\ncore business. You absolutely need something that will be relevant long term if
\nyou want to create a sustainable side hustle.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is what happens over and
\nover, side hustles can quickly turn into let\u2019s also do something that will just
\nmake a lot of money fast, rather than being carefully planned to leverage your
\ncore business. Surely the intention, if you\u2019re not selling much art, should be to
\ndo something that has the potential to help you to sell more art if art is
\nindeed your first passion and you are serious about making a living from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you already have a market,
\neven if the market is currently spending less, you really don\u2019t want to lose
\nthat market even temporarily. When the market eventually corrects course, you\u2019ll
\ncertainly want them to come back and spend just like they did previously. <\/span><\/p>\n

An incompatible side hustle
\ncan lose you the business and the market you have strived to build maybe for
\nyears if the side hustle introduces any confusion. So what might be compatible?
\nThankfully, I have researched this, spoken with numerous successful creatives,
\nand have my own experience to draw from after running the side hustle of
\ncreating retro, computer and game-related artworks for more than three decades.
\nIn fact, that was exactly how I originally cut my teeth in the art world so you
\ncould say that the non-computer and game-related art I produce to this day is
\nprobably my original side hustle!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"wedding<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Wedding Planner Hussle<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Custom upcycled furniture is
\ncurrently hot and it allows you to extend your creativity in new ways, and it\u2019s
\nnot just furniture that you can work with. Custom frames for your work can
\nextend the story within your art outside of the canvas. Taking a bottle and
\ndecorating it can make an awesome table centrepiece, add sequins to the outside
\nto give it a shimmering look and feel, or dip it in environmentally friendly
\nglitter to sit in the middle of a wedding party table, alongside the wedding
\nparty name cards you designed.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you enter markets such as
\nthose populated by wedding planners, there\u2019s a myriad of options for artists
\nfrom producing environmentally friendly confetti out of dried leaves, wedding
\ninvitation design, and there are markets for portrait artists. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"dried<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Look towards natural resources to create unique gifts and products…<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you begin to open up new
\nmarkets you can widen the market even more by offering more compatible items, and
\nyou can even customise almost anything to make it bespoke for your clients. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nsky really is the limit here, and what you should never do is judge other
\npeoples wallets by the value of the contents of your own. That\u2019s true of your
\nartwork too.<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

There is a market for premium,
\nand that market didn\u2019t go anywhere during the pandemic, in truth, the market
\ngrew considerably in some areas. That means that you can find premium markets
\nfor premium quality items that might also now be interested in your now premium
\nart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Upcycling isn\u2019t necessarily
\nabout turning a bargain into another bargain, or something that no one else
\nwants into something that they might want, it\u2019s about turning a bargain into
\nsomething useful, something that people need, and even something that people
\ndesire. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you do try the upcycling
\nside hustle, it can be the stuff of social media dreams, especially on services
\nsuch as Instagram or Pinterest, yes, Pinterest is still relevant today especially
\nif you are doing cool things with a mason jar or a garden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribers are as good as
\ncollectors\u2026<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not too sure why we don\u2019t
\nsee many artists jump onto the subscription bandwagon, because subscribers are
\nquite literally becoming the new collector. We pay subscriptions for almost
\neverything these days from streaming services to coffee and pretty much
\nanything and everything that you regularly consume.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about Patreon
\ntype services here, although Patreon might not be a bad way to start out, having a direct relationship with regular collectors who continuously provide
\nyou with funding in return for art. <\/span><\/p>\n

One subscription model idea
\nmight be to charge a reasonable amount each month or two or even each quarter
\nand in return, the subscriber will receive a brand new quality frame each time
\nthey pay their fee, along with a number of downloadable artworks which can be
\nswapped in and out of the frame. <\/span><\/p>\n

A good example might be that
\nthe subscriber signs up to an initial bi-monthly plan, receiving the frame at
\nthe start of the first month and then a new downloadable artwork every week
\nuntil the next subscription is due. The benefit to the subscriber is that they
\nget to showcase a new artwork on their wall or create a gallery wall which is a
\ngreat idea for those who might be short of wall space. <\/span><\/p>\n

Larger frames, larger
\nartworks, personalisation, or receiving art more regularly might even be useful
\nupsells to increase the available subscription tiers. If you can collaborate
\nwith another artist to create new subscriber-only works you could even double
\nthe output with half of the work, or you could go down the subscriber-only
\nedition route to provide your newfound collectors with art that you will never
\nmake available anywhere else.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even a low-cost subscription
\ncan get people interested in collecting your other works, even if they only
\nhave aspirations to own one of your originals today, there is a chance that one
\nday those aspirations will be realised. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"vintage<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Storage Wars – each of the storage mediums in my artwork can be reused as they are created individually – meaning you can exponentially grow your portfolio with different images using the same assets!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

I am nervous when it comes to
\nsuggesting that you create something like a full-on tutorial course, purely
\nbecause most of what can be learned already has a tutorial to teach and the bar
\nis set pretty high. Unless you absolutely know and understand your subject,
\ncreating tutorials can be challenging, competitive, and bear in mind that the
\nTube of You already makes most tutorials available for free, so long as you don\u2019t
\nmind the occasional 4-second ad.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are other ways you can pass
\non your talent for profit, and they\u2019re all going to be infinitely easier than
\ncreating a YouTube channel and learning about almost Hollywood level production
\nquality. Patterns, templates, vanilla book covers for e-book authors, stickers,
\nplanners, photoshop brushes, digital textures, are all in demand from other
\nartists. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the past year alone I spent
\nover $500 on commercial digital brushes, texture overlays for commercial use,
\nand fonts, and I know a heap of other artists who are so time poor that they
\nbuy them too, purely because we have so little time to create our own.<\/span><\/p>\n

$500 might seem like a lot for
\ndigital assets but the reality is that I only buy premium digital assets with
\nlicences for commercial reuse, so that doesn\u2019t equate to a lot of digital
\nassets at all. I\u2019m happy to pay the premium for quality, as are other artists
\nand it is a niche that needs way more choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital assets for artists can
\nalso be added to subscription models, particularly if you are offering
\nsomething that is unique to you and it allows you to grow a community that then
\nbuy into you, for your creativity.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can also create resources
\nfor e-learning content, the assets that can be used when producing interactive
\nlearning, and there is a steady market to feed the games industry with visuals,
\neven product box art.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rights Free Music\u2026<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Video is huge, it has been for
\nyears and its growth on social media is exponentially growing. The problem for
\nany creator of video on social media is the issue around using music in your
\nvideos. Unless you can demonstrate that you hold the right to use a piece of
\nmusic, and demonstrating that can be what can only be described as a faff, then
\nthe almighty algorithm will strike your post down, or mute it.<\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of artists have a side
\nhobby that is often just as creative, and many of these hobbies also involve creating
\nand playing music, it must be a right-brain thing or something. If that
\ndescribes you, there\u2019s a world of potential in creating musical assets that
\nother creators can benefit from.<\/span><\/p>\n

Artists who create videos for
\ntheir own social media and YouTube channels, or promotional videos showcasing
\ntheir own artworks are all potential customers for some good quality rights-free music.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Dry<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Glow Over A Dry Stone Wall by Mark Taylor – Frames can be a lucrative upsell. 9 out of 10 purchases of this work are purchased with a frame!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

How many artists currently
\noffer a choice of frames, or offer bespoke frames and accessories? Mats,
\nframes, hanging fixings, are all simple things that can make a completed
\nartwork feel even more complete. What tends to happen when people purchase
\nprints is that they might decide to buy the frame at a later date, you have an
\nopportunity for the upsell that will take that hassle away from the buyer if
\nyou offer them a choice of price points. You can point out the value in adding
\na frame such as protecting the work, and you could combine the upcycling side hustle
\nby offering buyers a frame that extends the artwork beyond the canvas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my experience, if you can
\nprovide a worthy value add, people will take it. Here are a few of the upsells
\nI have the most success with:<\/span><\/p>\n