How I Make Money As An Artist (with exact numbers and expenses breakdown)

2022 Financial Report |10 Ways I made money as an Artist | 240k in 2022
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Income Sources
00:55 - Conventions
01:58 - Etsy
03:10 - Teaching
03:38 - Freelance
04:07 - Commissions
04:31 - Wholesale
05:30 - Kickstarter
06:13 - KZbin
06:26 - Reels
07:15 - Digital Products
7:51 - Expenses
15:05 - Cons But Why?
20:17 - Outro
Music by Streambeats
------Connect with Inkwell on Social Media--------
/ inkwell_illustrations
/ inkwell_illust
www.etsy.com/shop/Inkwellillu...

[@kyletwebster]

It's so important for artists to make these videos. Art is a business, and the business of art should be taught in every art school. And not just for one semester. Thank you for taking the time to share all this information with your community.

[@Inkwell]

Absolutely!

[@paulwoodford1984]

Bragging about how much money they make.

[@laggingdragons]

​@@paulwoodford1984NGMI

[@darkreaper4990]

​@@paulwoodford1984I don't mind as long as I'm getting some valuable information out of it😂

[@Crisofora_]

​@@paulwoodford1984 yes, they should brag for others to know it can be done, and because they themselves worked for it. It is even a sad joke that we're expected to do this ONLY "for the love of art". Since the beginning of "museum era" a couple hundred years ago only a tiny elite saw itself as capable of capitalising their art beyond a decent income, yet most artists did starve, but with the internet we're witnessing (and hopefully participating in) the rise of "the village artisan" on a global scale. Now we can be well paid "village artisans" of the global village. We should be thankful and brag about it.

[@Lovetocreateart]

No wonder why he makes a lot of money, he is an amazing professional, he achieved a master illustrator level, and he knows the business side. His art speaks for itself, and he is 100% dedicated to his art. I can tell he works really hard! I edit to say, this guy is the real deal, great illustration work, no gimmicks!

[@andrewkful]

... he has a masters??

[@JD-tp8zt]

@@andrewkful master expertise wise, skill, like when someone says "he's a master of this or that."

[@twangel46]

People dp prints but what size are they? Poster size? We have onlu been offerered AA size

[@Hugop_arts]

Met you at Anime LA (I was dressed as Waluigi and bought your box w multiple prints). This past year I made more money on the art as my side gig than my main day job so it’s really inspiring seeing the opportunities ahead of me.

[@Inkwell]

I remember you! your work is stunning! your going to make a killing, I'm sure of it

[@sarahbecker6431]

Thanks a lot for the transparency! I'm trying to get my foot in the door as a small artist with cons and an online shop, so seeing how more experienced artist do this is super helpful and gives me motivation and hope to make this work ✨ Also, can I say... Your clothing style (and art style of course) is just so good. Inspiration on so many levels ✨😌

[@Inkwell]

thanks so much! I'm happy to hear it helps, and best of luck to you!

[@mariobros2867]

Thanks for covering this topic man. I think a lot of artists (including myself) need to learn more about running a business and money in general. Cheers!

[@Inkwell]

happy to help! best of luck!

[@otter-pro]

Dude, you busted your butt off to get where you are. You deserve the success. I think this video will help a lot of artist with financial expectation, especially the hidden expenses.

[@HelyaRavn]

It was really helpful to see you break down not only the profit but also your expenses and talking about where to find a more profitable audience when it comes to picking which cons to go to. It certainly gives me a better idea what to put my focus on. Thank you :)

[@markkelso2583]

Appreciate your openness and insight into how you tackle the business of being an artist. I've been a professional artist for 31 years now and have a VERY different formula for making a living (working predominantly with fine art galleries and museums.). It's fascinating to see how others do it. Cheers!

[@ChristianMartt]

This level of transparency is so refreshing and motivating to see. Thank you, I really respect it and I hope everything goes even better for you in the future ❤️

[@waifuart38]

I deeply appreciate this detailed breakdown. I'm a smaller artist but I've been doing 4-5 local conventions each year and have been debating whether it would be worth it to travel out of state to do more conventions and this has helped a lot with making my decision (no i dont think wanna lol). Income aside, one of the hidden boons of conventions is the warm glow from folks saying nice things about your work, and purchasing it with their hard earned money, then displaying that work in their homes. At my last con, I had a couple of folks come up to me showing stickers on their phones and water bottles that they had purchased from me years ago and were still intact and loved. I could never go back to my day job. Thank you for these well made and informative videos! Can't wait to see more from you.

[@Inkwell]

Thanks for watching and best of luck at your next cons!

[@jakeparker44]

This was a great video Dustin. Thanks for the transparency on the gross and the net. Expenses for this path are REAL. But man, the independence and the possibility of exponential growth really makes an indie creator an appealing choice for the artist that has a little grit and a willingness to take on some risk.

[@Inkwell]

Thanks, Jake, it definitely can be a roller coaster.

[@ninja_sketch]

Your videos are great! And you’re not lazy in the slightest 😅 all your videos are edited so great, plus your art is incredible ! 🤩

[@Inkwell]

Thank you!

[@SketchingWithSarah]

Thank you for being so transparent and giving other artists hope that they can support themselves with their passions! Lots of great tips and I’m excited to learn more! ☺️

[@jordanwieben]

It's wonderful seeing behind-the-scenes of your business, and the format of your videos is great! Would love to hear more in-depth chats on any of those individual subjects. Your numbers are mind-boggling but very encouraging!

[@ijustdoit2000]

The best transparent NO BS vlog I ever watched... Thanks.

[@mrs.quills7061]

I really am so happy KZbin shared your channel with me. I’m a very small artist and while I work full time in a creative field, I am at a point now where I wanna do my own thing. I have an Etsy shop and tbh peeping at yours made me feel so much better! I feel like you’re supposed to have hundreds of listings and such, and you have such beautiful stuff. I really need to get to work on fixing my listing photos and doing a better job at marketing. I feel like people forget that Etsy also does sales tax collection for you too. A lot of people shit on them and I get it, but where else are we supposed to go? Also, I want to do cons one day too, but not until I am more established and have more consistent online sales.

[@badmojosabsurdcircus]

I only recently found your youtube channel and I couldn't be happier. Not only do yo present and explain in a clear well understood manner, but it's interesting and thought provoking. Now I'm an old old artist. I went to Art School in the early eighties. All I have to say is keep up the good work and thanks for the efforts!

[@amalathisdreaming]

I absolutely love how transparent you are in all of the videos.

[@ywlumaris]

Taxes probably were a lot too - that’s one of the things I’m trying to set aside every time I get a commission 😅thanks for sharing all this, I really am trying to get out of my 9-5 and work full time as an artist

[@MyFishFillet]

Wow thank you so much for the video. This was actually so amazing to see. I love how honest and transparent you are with your advice and showing your numbers. I think it really helps the space too for independent artists. It shows that its possible to make just as good a salary as some of these studio artists while having a good majority of it as passive income and without the dependency issues that come with being a studio artist. Thank you so much for sharing, like actually. You helped clarify something' that I've been thinking about for sometime now.

[@Inkwell]

😊😊😊 ahhh I’m happy to help!

[@l.e.phillips]

This is one of the better breakdowns like this I’ve seen. I appreciate that isn’t all “courses and printables!”

[@michaelrabon1189]

That breakdown of income/cost was really great! Thanks for being so open about that!

[@ganeshrk1568]

Love your work. Thank you for your transparency. This really helps 🙌

[@June_drawssss]

I just want to say thank you so much about all the clarity that goes into your career! I have had a lot of unsuccessful conventions when I was first beginning but this video has inspired me to rethink my approach and understand the realities that go into something like this! Also huge fan of your work! Love the silly editing you put in there! One thing: its a bit hard to understand what you're saying when ur voice gets pitched up for comedic effect! Its still really funny but maybe using a different voice effect could help? Anywho have a great day and thank you for taking the time to make this video!

[@splendidcyan]

OMG, I clicked on your video because it looked like good information, and lo and behold I literally have the print you used as your end card on my wall over my desk, right above my monitor!! So excited to see what I can learn from your videos, and also to see more of your cat!

[@shannaandersonzongo8128]

Thank you so much for being transparent and talking about the expenses, not just the earnings. You don’t see that enough. I would love to learn more about your strategies for conventions. We’ve been doing them for several years and do ok, but we don’t have nearly that level of success. In my opinion our art and booth set up are both high quality. I’m wondering what else we could be doing to grow more. We’ve also had bad luck with growing out following that way and actually stopped encouraging people to find us online as they often walked away saying they’d buy something online later, which they don’t.

[@Ahrysa]

this was super helpful. I would've thought I had to grow an audience before going to a con but its nice to know you can grow from them. You're right about knowing what kind of people show up to a con. I was at mocca fest last year and while the fineart and comics were doing fine, the anime artists seemed to be struggling unless they had put their own flair on it.

[@ArtofTZU]

Thank you for sharing this video. Your booth set is very presentable! Love it! Keep up the exceptional work, sir!

[@clubgemini9785]

I love your channel so much, super informative and you are really enjoyable to watch! Thank you for the breakdown, this is super helpful 😁

[@desdainart]

This was so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing and for being so transparent. Great video and editing too!

[@Inkwell]

thanks so much! I was figuring out editing as I went along! still so much to learn

[@ravenritrovato555]

Thank you for making this, and also thank you for all of the My Hero add-ins. Made my morning 😄

[@alfredmanzano680]

Appreciate all the info man, wow. Especially the wholesale thing, that is brand new to me

[@alittlechaoss]

Thank you for your honesty! Not too many people online actually talk about expenses so openly

[@o_lilium4829]

I love the breakdown and all of the info, you presented it all so clearly that it wasn't overwhelming! I'd love to see a video on how you manage your time. Doing so many shows all over the country seems like it would leave little time to work on new stuff, but I know you are often producing new work, so I think it would just be a cool video to maybe help people (like me) who suck at managing their time. 💜 Great video! P.S. I'm wondering if the show you made so little at was THE show 👀 the one we were at together lol

[@Inkwell]

That's a good suggestion, Ill have to keep that in mind, I will say I'm going to be doing fewer shows this year as I didn't get as much new work done last year as I would have liked. the show we went to was my 2nd worst, lol Salt lake comic con beat it for the worst category by just a little bit

[@mirisoji8406]

Thank you so much for this super transparent and honest reality of what it's like to be an artist running their own business and paying back student loans. It's really eye opening to see that it's not only the work it takes to be an artist but also the work it takes to be able to live from it. Very cool video, would love to see more!

[@advancedstreetbegger3031]

Extremely helpful info! I've been completely sleeping on conventions so this opened my eyes to that avenue. Thank you so much for this breakdown seriously! (Also when you were going through expenses I was like, "oh no oh no, when are the taxes gunna hit.")

[@Inkwell]

Thanks so much, and yep a bit of bad planning on my part when it came to taxes, lol, hopefully next year I'll be better prepared for them.

[@felipeomeloo]

One of the best videos i have seen this year!!! Thanks!!! =D

[@keithloweart]

Great video Dustin. Awesome breakdowns of data. Your willingness to be transparent about your experiences makes this so helpful for someone looking for knowledge on how to enter into the space. I'm definitely going to recommend some of my students to watch this. They will benefit greatly from your knowledge. I hope you keep making more videos in the future.

[@Inkwell]

thanks Keith! I have a few videos in the works as we speak!

[@johncairns9656]

Thank you for sharing this important information and your transparency is greatly appreciated. Happy that you still finding methods to educate and always happy to see your cat.

[@Inkwell]

Thanks for watching John!

[@k8glass]

Thank you! your video was very useful, helpful, thoughtful and well-organized!🤗🌻

[@RonnieWildheart]

🥺 I needed this today! Thanks for the inspo/motivation. Cute kitty

[@majejustdraw]

Love your work! They're awesome! Not only that you are also exploring and trying on which path would work! I'm currently also looking for ways that for artist to make a living. Your fish bag ideas is very brave! So you are not limited to art but product design as well! Just as you said, artist or designers are just looking for studio or company jobs! Your effort are inspiring! Thanks for sharing! Can't wait for your next video!

[@rjohnbernales]

Thanks so much for this. I had no idea 🤯. I’d love if you made some more videos like this. Wish you more success 🤝

[@beanables]

It was really helpful to hear your path! I've watched many similar videos, but none touched on quite as much as you did or the perspective of growing from cons. Thanks for sharing! :)

[@Inkwell]

Happy to hear! Thank you 😊

[@mikecowie2553]

Thank you so much for posting this video. I think my son will be very interested to hear about your experiences. He studied as an animator but unfortunately in Australia that's a hard road. Your experiences are food for thought in particular the detailed breakdown of income and expenses. Thank you again.

[@thenekobean]

The cat is a paid actor ~~ So excited to see more videos from you, woo!

[@Inkwell]

He is very expensive, that's why his screen time is so little. we couldn't afford anymore

[@glennfreo6651]

deeeym! you got tons of amazing work! love your style!

[@deshibasara9150]

This video is a wealth of knowledge. Thank you!

[@ToshiSalvino]

😭💕 thank you sempai. This is fascinating and giving me a lot of insight into the way I go about doing things.

[@Inkwell]

lol your always killin it! I bet you have some pretty good insights your self!

[@majestics0ck]

Saw your booth at ACEN this year! Thank you for sharing all of this information and the numbers as well. Going to do my first art market in a couple weeks and am super nervous. This video is making me feel less nervous about it

[@OhMisfit]

Thank you for making these videos, you really inspire me to do better and achieve my goals

[@Uniacoty]

I love when artists make these kinds of videos. Really helpful to those who want to start making a business from their art. BTW, if you dont have one already, you should definitely consider getting a travel credit card. With that much travel in a year, you will be getting some free hotel/flights and lounge access.

[@Inkwell]

Oh I have 2, I don’t go anywhere with out them!

[@JessWasHere]

Thank you so much for this video and your transparency. I also make most of my income through conventions, and a huge chunk of my revenue goes into expenses. You have my sympathy!! 😂Your art is so good, by the way! Not surprised you're doing great :)

[@larryra]

Thanks for the video, the transparency was so necessary. Artists need to know that just like any other business, there are highs and lows. For the most part you have to spend money to make it, but there is no greater investment than in yourself. I hope your 2023 is even more successful!

[@PhiTonics]

Thank you for making this, as a starting artist its very helpful. 🙌🙏

[@optomix3988]

Thank you for this video and the realistic look at expenses.

[@lbennett5027]

Great video! This is the first I've seen someone break down costs and mention taxes.

[@mon9rch390]

Super helpful vid. Great food for thought regarding lots of facets of art production and financing :) Thanks heaps mate

[@sebastiancevallos8274]

I'm really interested in the wholesale/gallery representation you mentioned. Never really thought about it for digital artists and I wonder if you could go into more details in the future! Specifically how you came about such an opportunity and what it's been like dealing with that space. Thanks in advance! Thanks for sharing such important info with transparency, very much appreciated!

[@salasart]

Hello there!, artist here too, working for Paizo/Pathfinder RPG. Thank you for this sobering view of your business. 240k on the thumbnail sounded clickbaity, and it was, but in a good way, you really explained all the related expenses, and that is key. Besides your presentation is clear and fun, I absolutely suck at self-promotion, and learned a ton from this. Thank you again.

[@qnlnix]

Really appreciate these type of videos❤ thank youuuu

[@seanpaints]

Amazing transparency, this was super valuable. Would love a follow up on how u feel about it- like do u plan to reduce expenses? Are you happy with the income for the effort? How much art making vs. con managing is there? Etc!

[@Thechangelingpnw]

I enjoyed this video! I’d love more on the business side of art, it’s super helpful!

[@RandyAT]

Thanks for this business side of art video you made, I was thinking of doing online shop and cons when I’m good enough for it, the expenses part are really needed, thought it was gonna be another profit video without mentioning anything about expenses

[@beans9288]

Thank you! Very informative, had no idea cons were so important, good to know 👍

[@UWdashMADtown]

Thanks for the content!! Super helpful. I'd love to see a breakdown of what you sell at cons and what people are most interested in.

[@namelessone3882]

Congrats man. You're successful to being an artist. You give me a motivation.🔥

[@mendaciousreality8459]

Your videos are so insightful man thanks so much. I’m a tattoo artist & been trying to figure out ways to diversify my income & your knowledge & advice helps heaps so thank youu 🙏🏼

[@GabrielDishaw]

Great video, as a fellow artist I appreciate the level of detail and insight you provided.

[@Inkwell]

happy to help!

[@lisamedin]

Super interesting! Thanks for sharing. My circumstances are quite different seeing as I'm an artist from Sweden and don't really do a lot of cons (it's been mostly illustrating chapter books and doing workshops these past years), but a lot of the stuff you go through apply in some sense no matter where you live and work. I'd love to watch some more videos like this. Subscribed! ^_^

[@felixoesinghaus]

Thank you for this video! I was pretty happy to get a couple of commissions after like 6 months of drought after starting this independant art journey last July. I'm gonna start doing conventions this years, so I'll know if that will work for me. Getting everything ready for a visually pleasing booth is also pretty pricey, on top of all the tabling and traveling costs you have to pay upfront before making a single buck D:

[@christinemyshka118]

Thanks for sharing all the details on running an art business. It is very helpful.

[@SimonC021]

Great video! It would be really interesting to get a similar breakdown of time management. I'm very interested in how you balance the time to create new work vs the time to deal with the promotion and business side. Going to all those cons must be very tiring and time consuming!

[@Eshan686]

hope you understand how insanely helpful this video is!!!

[@pyro2708]

Thank you so much for this video, it is actually very motivating since I'm looking to start going to local conventions this year but I'm afraid of not selling a single piece, hope it goes well.

[@ivonab.904]

I am very happy for you, I wish you all the best in your future career. Thanks for putting the costs of earning all that money up too, it really puts things into perspective, and that means a lot to me.

[@garybarker8604]

This is excellent, Dustin. I'm going to show this vid to my students. Very informative. Glad you are doing well.

[@Inkwell]

Thanks, Gary! I love seeing your posts on Twitter recently! I'll have to plan a visit at some point.

[@garybarker8604]

@@Inkwell It would be great if you could stop by sometime. The students would love tp meet you.

[@d.9882]

This was really insightful, thank you! Would love to know more about how you got to where you are if youre up to it (like how you built stuff up, kind of) :)

[@matthewberryart]

This was so informative and inspirational 😄

[@williammclean6594]

This is like really inspiring. The only thing I've been remotely good at was art and I stopped for a while because it problems with depression. I'm working at a minimum wage job now and to be honest I wouldn't want to go to school go for anything because anything that's un art related seems so boring. Plus I would probably get into a huge amount of debt and a lot of people suggest not to go to school anymore unless it's for a really specific thing you know you're going to be doing and you need to go to school for. I've gotten back into art and hopefully I can make some money off of it.

[@reidhendrick2839]

lol, "your OC is trash" - appreciate this upfront look at your experience since my vision of success involved consistent commissions as opposed to conventions! Thank you, this will help me become a more well rounded professional artist 🙏

[@ivettoTV]

Thanks for breaking down the expenses too!! ✨gives a lot of insight into what happens on the other side as well, i feel like a lot of creators tend to skip that part 🤣

[@the.uglyface808]

Hey Dustin. It was great meeting you at AX this past year. I worked the event so I didn't even get see the whole con lol but just wanted to let you know it was because of this video specifically I sought out your booth and bought the ONLY thing I took home from AX. I think it's awesome giving back to the art community with the videos your putting up and I'm sharing your posts with other artists and looking forward to seeing your growth! Have a good one.

[@Inkwell]

Ahhh thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@davidcapuzzo]

Great work Dustin. Good to see you've found success sticking with illustration

[@Inkwell]

Thanks David, hope your doing well.

[@uniandumi]

Thank you!! My brain is absorbing the awesomeness 🎉

[@Ssparda-dmc]

Really insightful ! Thank you for this video !

[@human-wm2tn]

Thank you for your transparency and kindness!

[@grayygfx2]

Thank you! This video helped me make the decision to go all in on conventions. The number breakdown made me realize how much money I was leaving on the table. 😅

[@redtwintails]

Loved the video! Its so strange for me though to hear you make so much on conventions but I believe its the difference from US to Scandinavia who has much smaller cons. I'm having an art-stand this weekend and I dont even expect to even go in surplus, but its mainly because I enjoy being part of the cosplay/anime/art scene. It gives me hope to when I will be having art-stands overseas though! Thanks for the video

[@alisengant1819]

Thank you so much for making this video. You most likely don't remember me but I met you through Illest back in 2019 and you have been so inspiring to me since. I graduated from RCAD this past May. I have been feeling pretty lost and stressed out about what to do since it has been such a struggle to find studio work and you reminded me that I still have options and other steps to take. Thank you again. ❤

[@Inkwell]

Ahhh best of luck to you! Just take things one step at a time. Things are rough out there.

[@prismaticmochi]

It's the elf girl commissions for me! But this is so useful thank you for the breakdown!!! It is very inspiring ^^

[@readyforthemoshpit]

Thank you so much for sharing such valuable information

[@bdizzle1118]

I appreciate your transparency! This is really helpful, thank you.

[@Inkwell]

Thanks for watching

[@lizzziter5556]

Thank you for sharing. Such great insight. I think it’s really hard to take the leap into full time as a creator, so seeing your breakdown has given me a little more confidence in planning and prioritizing.

[@Inkwell]

so happy to hear, best of luck

[@easyfintech]

​@@InkwellI'm in Africa, I'm bummed etsy left us behind, yet we can also give them business. Any other better alternatives for etsy?

[@claireonlinex]

Instant subscription aren't you fantastic, thanks for showing the expenses it makes it real it feels more attainable to me somehow. I hope you made loads

[@daniellobosco2588]

I would love to see a fish bag behind the scenes video. I gotta learn about kickstarter & and how you turn concepts into products ❤ Great video!!

[@Inkwell]

oh, thats an interesting idea! i'll talk to sang we might be able to make that happen

[@Bonnie_Mairead]

These are so helpful. I'm planning on opening an Etsy in the next few months hopefully, and I've been trying to understand all the costs and actual facts about doing business as an artist on my own. These are so helpful to give me a understanding and some kind of relatively realistic idea of what I'm getting into and what to expect. Thank you!

[@Inkwell]

best of luck with your shop opening!

[@Bonnie_Mairead]

@@Inkwell Thanks!!! :3

[@indiecomicempire]

This is the most informative videos I’ve seen on this topic

[@xcarxcar]

This was great, very informative

[@hydragua]

thank you so much ! very informative video !!