How do ya' sell art if you're a nobody

With concurring issues in life happening, i have to go back to selling art. The issue i have is that i have no recognition beside with my friends. But the friends i have either like the popular artists like Sakimichan or are broke. I used to sell art before without any problem, but i am not having that same luck. I want to figure out how i can sell/ where i can sell my stuph at.. My goal is to just have some pocket cash i can save up while i go back to working on my animations. (commissions is the word i suppose i mean when i say "Selling art" )

Enter contests, start an ask blog, lower your creation standards waaaaay low so that nothing is taboo to art. Pretty much just get yourself as much exposure in as many places as you can get. The perverted request community has surprisingly deep pockets.

well, i actually made an ask blog and entered contests (the cutsie fan art tends to win and i DAMN sure not seeking to that low level) I draw a lot of things that tends to not be looked at as unexceptionable if asked to a "normal" person. And trust me, i've made a NSFW ask blog and advertised for commissions, people only wanted to get kirabans (which i don't like) or art trades that effort would be one sided. (i'd draw details and textures, they'd give me a sketch of stupid shit and they would make an excuse or a drawing of their thing they wanted... LONG STORY SHORT; those folks dont know how art trades work.) only thing i got paid for in the past 3 years was a 12 X 20 drawing of someone's MLP OC F--king derpy...i mean he gave me $50 an additional 10 if " i made the d--k buldge through her stomach... which i did, but it was odd as hell delivering it to the guy..

No offense, but you sound angry... and have a bit of an elitist attitude. I would not want to buy from an artist like that. I haven't been drawing commissions for very long (a week to be exact), but a lot of my followers immediately asked for a commission when I set it up. I think it's pretty important to have a follower base and be kind to everyone. If someone asks for a certain commission, I don't judge them at all. If someone asks for an art trade, I'll receive them graciously no matter the quality, because they took the time to draw it for me at all.

Best thing is to make a online portfolio & a portfolio book of your best works, and update it frequently that way when you talk to people you can show them your skill too. another way is to print your works on canvas and try to sell it at conventions. you can either go: limited edition or mass-production and base your price off that CAUTION: THIS WILL REQUIRE INVESTING SOME MONEY In your online portfolio only use lesser quality (smaller versions) of your art. This way you can avoid people copy-pasting your stuff. Also: never give your portfoliobook to someone. Try to accept jobs that are a compliment to your skill. People underestimate the price of custom-made artwork, and will usually try to cheap out on it. Becareful to not let that lower your asking price, if you good, you should be worth it. I paid a friend from Indonesia 60 euro for a single A3 sized (full color) image, we both had great fun in sharing ideas for poses & art styles. eventually ending up with this beauty: http://puu.sh/jeEWh/3008906788.jpg Forums seem to be the place to advertise yourself

@cielle i don't know what part seems like i have an attitude. if it is about me not wanting to draw cutsie stuff, it's because i am being told i should draw it, not for artistic improvement, not for my well being, not for trade or anything else other than they want to see me draw that rather than what i want to draw. And as "a nobody" i don't have a following to get in cahoots with.. (being the reason behind the title) ----------------------------------------------------------------- @haikadee That is completely brilliant! I really appreciate your advice!!! Heck i never even thought of putting things as lesser quality for a portfolio. And your image had great composition and motion! Any advice? (i can never make a good background so i just make backgrounds with shadows and slight gradients [Example: http://a.nime.me/0053/9379/fb_id.png ]

No, I meant that you seemed a little rude when you think the other people would give you "stupid shit." I didn't really get what you meant by the cutsie art, so I kinda went past that part. Also, no matter what, you're just gonna have to put yourself out there; there's no way around it. Get a tumblr or a twitter and share your art, people will find you eventually. I've started drawing a year ago, and I started out with nothing, but I drew everyday and posted. Now I gained enough of a following base to which I can have someone order a commission from me everyday.

ah. The reason i said that was because i would take 2 and 3 hours to make sure i draw their request to the best of my ability, and (this has happened SEVERAL times) where they would draw a stick figure and say that's what they drew for their end of the trade, or they would link an old picture they drew saying it was a part of the art trade. it would always make me irritated because i really wanted to see things drawn in their style and they would not even try. or they would message me every 5 minutes asking when my part is done acting like that drawing is the only thing i have to do in my life. but 2 people when i asked (a month later) where was my portion of the trade, they would not even care... with nearly every trade i have done, i have gotten a really bad partner who would only want art of their characters but not want to do their share. I have 3 tumblrs, 2 twitters and a main deviantart page. I have had them for more than half a decade, and nothing. and the main things that get noticed is the blank memes i made.. that's about it.

Oh, I can see why you would get mad at that lol. Idk, at that point, I'd probably stop asking for art trades then, unless I knew the artist was reliable Dx Do you jump fandoms a lot? Because I know one of my close friends, who is a great artist, didn't get recognition online because she changed fandoms a lot. It was only recently that she got over 3000+ followers for staying in a KPOP fandom for just a year. also, it depends what you're drawing at the time :/ I know it sounds like a sellout thing, but a lot of artists draw what's popular at the moment (like touken ranbu, kancolle, or steven universe) I mean it helps if you like them, but some artists just draw certain series to make profit. OR you can borrow hardcore cash from someone and reserve yourself a table at a con artist alley; a lot of my artist friends make over $300-$2000+ gross profit from doing that depending on the con. I mean that's what I plan on doing in the future;;;

I don't really jump fandoms, it's just that unless i make a serious connection with a character, it's hard to make my drawings different from the rest. i've been the the same fandoms since their start. X3 I actually plan to get an artist table at the next a-kon -w- i'm just waiting on my tak licence to get in the mail. Even if i sell one thing, i don't mind. i just want to sell at least one thing. I have enough for a table, i just need to invest in a button machine (which is at most $400). Buttons fly at conventions. But in the mean time, i need to watch the "mainstream" things so i can know what would be good to sell at cons. ;o; it would be soo cool if being a full time convention artist could be a career option ;w;