Are you a professional artist or a fan artist

More of a hobbyist. I made around a thousand dollars drawing commissions, participating in artist alley shows, etc., and I still don't have the gall to call myself a "professional." Honestly, if you consider yourself a "professional" artist, and you haven't been featured in museums/shows, work under a company, or make a constant salary, then that's just being narcissistic. ANYONE can buy your art; just because you sell an artwork does not make you a professional, and that idea is pretty laughable. You're also undermining artists who do ACTUAL professional graphical work, character design work, 3d model work, etc.

^ I'd agree, with most

Hmmm how can you really be a professional artist? So I guess those with a bachelor's or master's degree program in art or design are the only ones that can be called Prof?

@spectreunit89: Of course it's a subjective topic, so in my opinion, unless the freelance artists are getting a stable income, then no, they're not professionals. It's almost comparable to someone who participates in a highschool play and thinks they are now an actor. @Aly: Even if you have a degree in art, unless you do something with it, then you're not even considered a professional yet. It's only when you actually start a career with it, that you can be labelled as a professional. I know plenty of people who have never gone to school for art, and they work under a company for graphical design and character design. It definitely helps, but not necessary.

Professional? Hmm, nah. Don't think so. I don't depend on doing art for a living (not a full-time artist), so it's not my actual profession. I'm not really much of a fan artist either (most of the stuff I draw are original works). Perhaps it's better to stick to just Freelance/Commissioned Artist?

Personal artist is more suited for me. I started off as a writer and just thought how it steamed me that I could envision characters but couldn't portray them well enough for a quick introduction to my friends. So I picked up drawing so I could do that. I do find it a lot of fun tho! It's exciting and now I get quite ...creepy... whenever I get near stationery. xD I specialize in black and white ink drawings using the same materials that mangaka do. (I guess you could say I admired the style [sadly I kind of suck at coloring]) I've done a few drawings for others but never for money. More for favors or just because I wanted to. I do have a lot of respect for people who can do it for a career. It's a lot of hard work and you have to be extremely skilled with a lot of experience. But I guess I just never wanted my art to become "work".

Professional artist. Graphic/web designer graduate, but not yet employed under my degree major. Hopefully that'll be fixed soon.