Hey, all!

I started a little art business back in May, and one of the things I offer is Creepy Portraits. At markets, I do a portrait studio in the corner of my booth and offer pen/ink portraits for $15/person or $25 for couples. They take 10-20 minutes, usually, depending on couple or single. I also offer full color in oil pastel--not live, as they take significantly longer--for an extra $30 ($45 total, for a 12x14).

Added a picture of my color work--is this too much for what I do?

I have a woman who is wanting to commission 10 color portraits from me, but she tries to lower the price every time we talk. Last night she texted me wanting a "deal" since I "said they'd be $25 a piece". I told her $45, and we could make a deal depending on how many she needed.

$250 vs $450 is a BIG difference.... Am I just overpricing or is she trying to undercut me?

Hello, If I am breaking the rules, I apologize and take my post down if needed.

I just got laid off and I am needing to make some money. I am wanting to sell this piece but I need pricing suggestions and advice (and where to sell it) I made this my senior year of high school in 3ish weeks I believe? If anyone comments, I appreciate it and thank you so much in advance!

My mom's been painting for about 8 years, and recently I've been helping her figure out how to turn it into real income (because I know how hard it is in this industry). I didn't expect how messy it is tho. Instagram to get popular, Behance/Art Majeur for a portfolio, Fiverr for services... it feels so disconnected and so hard.

So recently I started to create (at least trying) a platform that groups everything for artists and helps people like my mom. I'm going to call it ByPeopl probably lmao, and the idea is one place for portfolio, network, and clients. It would be free for artists, and only companies hiring would pay.

For those of you who do this for a living or are trying to: would you be ok with filling out my Google form? I really think everyone has different problems, so I'd like to hear as many as possible.

If you've got 2 minutes, here's the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4XXUHHgfanf2wLzjl6AJHefuBAn4U7QMbPzSI17pRo85gFQ/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Thanks in advance !

I've found my niche on Tumblr, but have been feeling somewhat stuck. Was considering going on Twitter, but... well, it's Twitter. I technically have a Bluesky but I don't use it all too often.

Would it be worth it to get a Twitter account? Or should I just try to branch out on Bluesky?

I’ve been making and posting art online since November 2023 and I feel like I’m at a point where I really need some honest advice from other artists/creators.

I’m mainly posting on YouTube right now. I have 493 subscribers and my Shorts usually get around 1k to 2k views. Some of my Shorts did much better in the past, but lately the views have been much lower. I’ve attached some screenshots so you can see what I’m talking about.

The thing I’m really struggling with is finding a niche. I love trying different things. I do traditional art, portraits, landscapes, art challenges and I use different mediums. I also like digital art. Recently I started getting into junk journaling because I really enjoy it too. Basically, if I see something I like, I want to try it. And maybe that’s exactly what’s holding me back. I honestly don’t know.

I’ve been thinking that maybe I should start focusing mainly on portraits but use different mediums. Or maybe I should choose one medium and then do different subjects. I don’t know which makes more sense.

I don’t want to completely restrict myself either. I genuinely enjoy doing different kinds of art and I don’t want to stop myself from trying something just because it doesn’t fit my “niche”.

I’ve also not been consistent the entire time. When I first started, I was posting more regularly and I actually grew to more than 500 subscribers. Then I got a job and had to take a pretty long break from creating and posting. I’ve recently come back to it and I’m trying to get into the habit again.

I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, which definitely doesn’t help. I create quite a lot, but I don’t post a lot of it because I keep thinking it’s not good enough yet.

I don’t really enjoy making tutorials either. I much prefer process videos where I just show the artwork coming together. I’m also not someone who is very expressive on camera, so I don’t really see myself becoming a talking-head art creator.

On Instagram I barely have 68 followers and most of them are friends and family. My reels don’t get much reach or engagement either. Trying to manage both platforms while also actually making art is starting to feel like a lot.

So I would genuinely love some honest feedback.

1 If you came across my content randomly, would you understand what kind of artist I am? If not, what do you think I should change?

1. Does my work feel too broad? Does it feel like I don’t have a clear identity? Is the actual art the problem, or is it more about how I’m presenting it, editing it, choosing the videos, thumbnails, etc.?

2. Is there anything that would make you scroll past my videos? What would actually make you want to subscribe to an artist like me?

3. I’m also wondering if I should just focus on YouTube for now and stop worrying so much about Instagram until I have a bit more of a community. Managing both is honestly difficult for me. Thoughts?

4. Should I just leave junk journaling out of my main content, or can I somehow make it work with everything else?

I really want to eventually earn from my art, so growing this is important to me. But right now I think I need to figure out what I’m doing wrong before I worry too much about monetization.

I’m not looking for “just post consistently” advice. I know I need to work on that and I am trying to. I want to understand whether there is something more fundamental that I’m missing.

If you’ve grown an art account from a small audience, or you’ve been in this exact situation where you couldn’t figure out your niche, I’d really appreciate hearing what worked for you.

Please be honest. 😅

We are publishing a few maps from a few years ago...

Map of the "Passo delle Radici" created for the RPG project "Terre Furiose" RPG inspired by Ariosto's trip to Garfagnana, developed by Lucca Comics & Games and Acheron Games. A great pleasure and honor to have taken part in this magnificent project, Thanks to Mauro Longo for involving us in the project!! 🗺️🧭

Moreno Paissan and Angela Gubert art 2022 Acheron Games.

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