If you’re new to the world of digital art, here’s a rundown of the various careers available, as well as some examples of successful digital artists.
When you’re used to selling physical artwork like oil paintings or pencil drawings, selling digital art can be perplexing; if the art is digital, you’re not producing anything physical, so how can you sell it?
Does digital art sell-Ways to sell Digital Art
The more I learned about digital art, the more I realised that not only does it sell, but it sells REALLY well – I now understand how large its market is, how well it sells, and how rapidly it is growing.
Digital Art DOES sell, in many forms and in many industries, in price ranges that vary wildly and on multitudes of products around the world.
It competes with traditional, physical art and is much more commercially successful in some industries; digital art is a very viable career path, but it is not the same as selling traditional art.
What is digital art?
To begin, I should define what I mean by “digital art”; most people, including myself, will associate it with 2D work, primarily drawing and painting, as well as illustrations and graphic design.
However, it is important to note that digital art also includes 3D work and animation, and within both are numerous different disciplines, such as modelling and sculpting, texturing, rigging, animating, and so on.
While fine art tends to be a market for traditional art such as oil paintings or clay sculptures, digital art dominates the market of the entertainment industries such as film, television, and games. Book covers are also a thriving digital art market.
There are many different ways in which artists monetize and sell digital art, and lots of platforms they sell their digital art on, including but not limited to:
Some industries prefer digital art over traditional
Digital art has some distinct advantages that make it ideal for commercial projects: because it is digital, it can be easily stored, delivered globally in seconds, and reproduced infinitely, allowing it to be shared and worked on by multiple artists all over the world at the same time.
Digital art has a much more flexible creation process; if something in the art needs to be changed quickly, it’s very easy to do with digital art, but a complete nightmare with traditional art.
Digital art can also be created with very little equipment (an iPad with a stylus is actually sufficient for commercial work), whereas traditional art necessitates canvases, easels, paint and me
Because of these benefits, digital art is highly valued by the entertainment industry as a whole, including video games, board games, card games, wargaming and miniatures, movies, television, novels, comics, and advertisements, and probably a lot more.dium racks, and sand.
ARTISTS ARE ALWAYS VERY VULNERABLE WITH THEIR CONTENT IN THE INTERNET”
How much money can be made with digital art
The price of one oil painting versus another can differ greatly, and the same is true for digital art.
The amount of money you can make with digital art is determined by a variety of factors, including:
What exactly you’re selling – are you selling commissions, t-shirts, prints, tutorials, or all of the above? All of these earn very different amounts of money.
How popular your work is. The greater the demand for your work, the higher the price you can charge.
The industry in which you work, as well as the intended use of the art. Novel covers frequently sell for tens of thousands of dollars, whereas pet portraits rarely sell for more than a few hundred dollars.
What are the rights to the work being transferred from you, the artist, to the purchaser?
Just because someone purchased your art does not give them the right to start printing it on t-shirts and mugs. If they want that right, it usually comes at a cost.
How quickly you can create art – obviously, the more art you create, the more customers you can have!
How much time you have to devote to your art and business. Art and marketing both take time, so the more time you have for them, the more money you can make.
Some examples of various types of successful digital artists
Artists who work as freelancers in the entertainment industry can earn a good living.
The future of digital art
Keep in mind that digital art is still in its infancy in comparison to traditional art; the very first pieces of early digital art were created in the 1950s, whereas the very first pieces of early traditional art were created tens to hundreds of thousands of years ago!
I realise it’s not exactly a fair comparison, but you get the idea 😉
Digital art will only grow in popularity and as a medium – consider how the iPad has completely transformed the digital art market from where it was in 2010, making digital painting much more accessible to everyone.
This doesn’t mean that traditional art will die out – in fact its value may actually increase if more and more artists switch to digital and traditional art gets rarer in time.
It’s impossible to say what the future holds, but I can say it looks bright for all artists, everywhere, digital artists included.
So, do you think you’ll be able to sell digital art?
Hopefully, you can see that digital art is a viable medium, and whether you work with digital art or traditional art, there are numerous career paths available.
The truth is that the medium you choose will have little impact on whether or not you make any sales or achieve success.
No matter what medium you use, an art career requires skill, persistence, and a commitment to creativity and self-improvement.
If you can meet that standard, you will be able to sell your digital art.
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