Freelancing

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>I hate you
>I can't afford to buy art from you
>I'm a support of you, Give me free art so I become a support of you

Fucking muggles....

I don't do the online store thing, but I use paypal invoices for commissions. I made a template then just edit with the commission details and send it to people to pay when they confirm their commissions.

>>3048642
Yeah, I do that too. It's very easy and a nice way to keep track of things and make sure paypal doesn't get up your ass about it.

Have you done taxes with paypal yet? If so how did that go?

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>>3048623
>gib free art plz

I freelance full time, and I also have a healthy income from online stores selling products with illustrations and designs on them. Keep in mind these are two very different goals to tackle. There is no real guide to follow - a lot of this stuff you have to figure out on your own, which is part of why it's so difficult.

>I'd like to do commissions
You'll have to specify what you mean by "commissions". I have to ask since many folks on /ic/ think that "commissions" equates to private/personal commissions. I think focusing on commercial freelance jobs for business is a much, MUCH more lucrative and sustainable goal than personal commissions.

>start an online store with products
This can take years to get the ball rolling. If you want to make money, you have to be good at both making appealing work (appealing =/= technically good), and making sure that your work gets in front of the people most likely to buy it. The latter is much more difficult than the former.

Posting a link to a blog with your work will help a lot, if you're comfortable doing so.

>>3048671
>I think focusing on commercial freelance jobs for business is a much, MUCH more lucrative and sustainable goal than personal commissions.
Yes, but also I can do porn, and furry porn if people want me too. That's a pretty lucrative business for the amount of work that I put in.

Though I would like to search for children's book art gigs if I can and possibly build up a portfolio for that. Strangely, my art seems to have two gears: children's book whimsical, and porn.

I don't want to link to my blog at the moment because it's a mess--part of the time I'm going to have off from "normal" work and college is going into actually drawing more sell-worthy stuff. I know I can do it because I have done it before, just only in short bursts and not full time.

If I may ask, what online stores do you prefer? Things like Society6 seem to take such a huge cut of the profit, I feel I'm better off putting in my own work with printing/shipping/processing and having my own store. The overall costs for what I want to produce are fairly cheap because I already have the materials I need to make them.

>>3048672
> I can do porn, and furry porn if people want me too
I suppose if it works for you in the present, then go for it. I would argue though that work won't give you the stepping stones you need to build a career in freelance illustration (assuming that's what you want to do).

> I would like to search for children's book art gigs if I can and possibly build up a portfolio for that
Like any other illustration industry, childrens books are insanely competitive. If you're having trouble finding your first gigs, try writing and illustrating your own. Your chances of landing jobs are much higher if you have complete and specific examples to show.

>what online stores do you prefer
Society6 is garbage. My biggest earners are Redbubble, Displate & Etsy.

>I feel I'm better off putting in my own work with printing/shipping/processing and having my own store
I recommend dropshipping on Etsy. Actually printing/shipping/processing orders can take a massive chunk out of your day, every day. I use Printful (really great dropshipper) to create and ship all the products on my Etsy store. All I have to do in terms of fulfilling orders is enter in their address and what they want, and they take care of fulfilling the order.

>>3048688
I don't plan on "normal" freelance illustration, I'm more of the shitty anime type to go get tables at cons. Maybe it's not as respectable, but it certainly does seem profitable enough to be a career choice because there are many people who do it full time nowadays.

I would like to try writing and illustrating my own children's book, but I definitely have to do more research on that topic first.

Interesting, I never heard of Displate and Printful before, so that's useful to know.

Redbubble however I have a hard time trusting. I have heard sooo many shady things about it over the years, and a lot of artists that got locked out of their accounts but redbubble sold their stuff still.

I think I still might start with shipping and processing orders on my own only because I'm anticipating a slow start to begin with (and I already have the shipping materials and everything free from a contact). If (hopefully when) business picks up to the point where I'm spending a good chunk of time on shipping/processing, that's when I'll make a switch over.

This is all good information to know, thanks!

>>3048701
>Redbubble however I have a hard time trusting. I have heard sooo many shady things about it over the years, and a lot of artists that got locked out of their accounts but redbubble sold their stuff still.

I've seen this sentiment before. I promise you that this is over-sensationalized nonsense. Redbubble is one of the most trustworthy print-on-demand sites out there, and thousands of thousands of artists use it just fine.

Good luck with the rest of your work though - happy to help!

>>3048688
what's so bad about Society6? I still see many artists using it

>>3048623
So, OP

Who is the faggot in your pic?

>>3048623
Makes me want to ask him if popularity will help me to not starve.

Is there a legit guide to freelancing and side incomes (products, etc) for artist?

If they don't like your prices they should just not buy from you lol

>>3048623
Just some general tips:

Keep good records, and pay your taxes.
Get a standard contract, and modify as needed.
Set prices that reflect what your time is worth, and stick to it.
You'll always get beggars and leeches like that graphic - I had the same shit dealing with the music industry for over 20 years freelancing. I don't work for free. You're broke? Not my problem. It's business, not personal - and they're trying to make it personal. Fuck that.
Never start anything without at least half of the full price in hand.
I'm against posting prices. Make someone ask, and then gauge the price from what they want. Some stuff might be easy, but then you'll get one that takes 3 times as long as normal, but you signed off on a set price.
Join the Graphic Artists Guild. Their handbook has sample contracts, billing forms, and info on legal issues, and referrals to lawyers, if you need one.
Again - it's business, not personal. If someone has a problem with you trying to run a business, it just means they want something free. Never give away anything, you don't want a rep as a soft touch.
"I'll give you exposure!" should result in "Go fuck yourself", because that "exposure" will most be other people like them who don't want to pay.

>>3048623
i'd love to get a message like OP just to laugh

>>3048672
You need to get organized. You want to do porn - and kid's books? You need to be doing business under two different names, that cannot be connected via Google or any kind of background checks. A lot of the children's book companies are religious, and if they find porn, they will not hire you, ever.

Finding work as a kid's book illustrator is easy for cheap jobs, because every woman over 20 thinks they can write kid's books. They think they're easy, when they're not - but there are millions of books out there, and it's easy to get started. It's the big publisher's you'll need a portfolio and/or an agent for.

You need to set up your companies now as distinct and seperate entities.

>>3048623
people like this honestly deserve to be named, shamed, and generally blackballed in the art community

>>3049067
Oh, they are. There's a twitter account that posts texts and emails like this, ClientsFromHell

>>3048985
No. One of the whole reasons it's so difficult to become a freelance illustrator is because there's no one there to hold you hand and tell you what to do next.

You can find some generic advice on Google, but it won't be enough to start a career.

>>3049108
OP's picture is from ForExposure_txt