Do you need to be top best in the world to make a living off

>>3086721
>not trying to be the best in a niche

>>3086721
I don't know where these ideas come from. The answer is no. I don't think you even need to be in the 75th percentile to have an art related career. You do need to have social skills and depending on the kind of work probably some entrepreneurial finesse. You could have all those things and your work still might not resonate with people so a niche helps, but focusing on impressing people will take the soul out of your work.

Stop focusing on the things that seem unattainable. "I need to be the best or there's no point" just sounds like an excuse to not try.

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>Do you need to be top best in the world to make a living off art

No.

>or do you need to hit a niche

Yes.

>and do it well

No.

The biggest mistake most people make is they spend all their time improving, and spend no time actually developing a freelance illustration business.

Ever see bad work out in the world and think "I could do better than that!"? Well the reason they get jobs and you don't is because they actually went through the effort of promoting their work and making the connections with art directors that need to be maintained and nurtured.

Making a living as an artist is no different than running a small. 1-man business. You have your product / services, and you have to sell it too.

>>3086808
But how can I make connections and promote work when my work is shit?

>>3086721
Anime, furries and cute shit is the bottom of the art barrel. It shouldn't be a career goal, or even a way to pay rent. It should be treated as freelance work you do outside of a career job. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel for pennies with that kind of stuff.
Can you make a living at art? Depends on what you want to do, and where you want to live, and how much money you need to survive.

It's fine to have dreams, and chase them, but you also have to be a little realistic, too. These are decisions you make for yourself. Do you want to survive off drawing freelance? Then you better like hustling - and if you're scraping by on furry art, forget getting an agent, which is a goal a freelance illustrator should be looking at - they run the office and find you work, while you just concentrate on painting.

The top 25% will make a lot of money in high profile jobs. 50% will work in good jobs, but might need to work part time jobs at the lower levels, to get by. The bottom 25% won't make any money, ever, and will quit and go do something else eventually.

>>3086824
1. Continue improving, and catering your style towards something commonly used (of course with your own twist).
2. Make sure your portfolio is updated
3. Research and document contacts in your industry of interest - people who you think could use your work
4. ! Important ! Make sure you focus on potential clients that are smaller and less obvious. Everyone goes for the biggest names in the creative industry they're interested in. By focusing on smaller businesses - they have less competition and more appropriate expectation of skill levels. Do not under estimate local businesses.
5. Introduce your work to them, and follow up with them every few months. Don't give up if they don't reply the 1st time.

Rinse and repeat forever.