So most of you know that I am an artist and if you didnt. Well…you do now! I say artist loosely though because its not a title that defines any real income to me. I certainly have earned my fair share in some good money from my skills though and if i wanted to, i know how to source and sell myself enough to pull in some extra money from my drawing. But let me tell you how I got here as thats the more interesting part about a lot of artists.
I was about 12/13 years old when i first started drawing and like everyone when they start out, I wasn’t that great but it never stopped me. I loved Astro boy, Yu-Gi-Oh and Sailor moon and so I wanted to be able to draw like them. I was good at copying drawings but not at drawing something from my own mind. Art was an escape for me and a way that i could release and express emotions of a troubled teenager. We all had a way, mine was gaming and art.
Moving Forward. It was Year 12 and we had to start thinking about uni and such. I scored 44 on my UTI which would get me into sweet fuck all. But! I didnt care. I wanted to draw and for that i didnt need a high mark, just decent drawing skills. I enrolled in AIE and did a Cert 4 in 3D animations just to learn that gaming is a hard industry to get into and more so in australia! I didn’t dwell on it and moved onto a career that would pay me well (and now im in IT and love my job) but that doesnt mean i gave up drawing, instead I moved to kinda freelance
Its EVERY artist dream to make money from their hobby and passion. I know an Artist who makes like 100,000-150,000k a Month! Its insane! Honestly for me though, I was happy just drawing for fun, to improve and to learn. I got some commissions from friends here and there. I got a Job for a government agency once for concept work that paid really well but it took me 4 long days to deliver the project while working full time.
Honestly back then when i had time to draw there wasn’t platforms like patreon and instagram that could be used as they are now to advertise and sell your art and make good money from it. If I knew about it back then i may have kept my drawing up. However life happened and drawing was something i rarely did in my spare time.
Very few people are good at something right away. You see artist’s art improve over the years. What you don’t know is if you stop, you lose some skills you had. Because my drawing time went from once a day to 2-5 times a year my drawing style and picture quality went down and I couldn’t draw as well as I did many years ago. It happens! Thats why we have the saying, practice makes perfect.
Now I draw what i want, when i feel like it, and take on commissions as they come in (its like once a month!) which is good. Drawing for me is a hobby. I don’t do it to make money, I do it to express myself and to calm my mind.
Anyways as always, if you have questions let me know! A lot of my old artwork is on DeviantArt if you want to check it out.
https://www.deviantart.com/yukipandaz/gallery
Or check out my Instagram
@yukipandaz
Take care !
Samantha xoxoxo
Cosy With Tea 