Art for Money - How Do I Get In?

I'm a freelance artist (I draw for commission), and I'd love to make money with my art (drawing portraits of people, pets, or other, etc.) I'd LOVE to be able to work for celebrities (or other higher end customers, because they seem to be the ones to have to extra money to spare) and draw portraits of pets or such for them. I'd even like to work for a corperation where I can maybe design CD artwork, or draw for customers. My artwork doesn't sell well around here, and not because it's not quality art, but because I live in a "fork in the road" farming/ranching community and no one buys art around here. I guess I don't know how to really market myself, I have a website and such, and I try that route, everyone loves my art, but isn't willing to pull out wallets, as I'm not well known, everyone wants art from well known artists... well how do I get my chance to become one of them? How do I market my artwork to get people to purchase portraits of their pets and family? Anyone been there?

Art for Money - How Do I Get In?
Do you have any dog or cat shows in your area? The ones around me all have dealers booths where at least one person is doing pastel portraits of pets (off of photos, they take commissions). Etsy.com is a good site for this as well. Getting onto some artist bulletin boards or talk forums is a good idea, as the internet can expand your potential audience by a huge amount.





Do you have a website where you've put up some of your art? Having a place to send people to go take a look at your style is important.





Have you checked out the Artist Market 2008 yet? Pet portraits also work well as spot illustrations which can be sold to magazines and for other uses.
Reply:go to art festival around the world and try there. put an ad in the newspaper.

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