May: Money

“What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.”

-Julia Cameron

Things I love about May - after a long Chicago winter, I start living on my back porch. I believe all artists experience some level of seasonal effective disorder, just because we’re so sensitive to the world around us. While I do my best to make the most of winter, I’ve had it by this time of year. In May, I instantly start to feel better. I have a renewed interest in my business, and I always feel motivated to expand. That’s why, this month, we’re going to talk about money.

When you just read that word “money,” did you instantly have a gut reaction? Everyone does. Whether it be positive or negative, money is a charged subject matter. Because of this, we tend to avoid talking about it which only makes matters worse. There’s so much we can learn from each other by sharing more. Especially when it comes to income and pricing. Because of that, I’m going to be completely transparent in this post. Below, I’m giving a breakdown of what I made last year and how. I just opened my Quickbooks account and here’s what I’m looking at:

TOTAL 2023 BUSINESS INCOME: $152,556

Art Print Sales (on Etsy, Faire and Squarespace): $131,616

Client Work: $11,175

Website Sales (Subscription+Products): $1,477

Amazon Affiliate Links: $233

Other: $8,055 (this category is a hodge-podge of things like Creative Market and licensing)

Financially, 2023 wasn’t the best year I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t the worst. I was in the midst of a high risk pregnancy most of the year, so I tried to work as little as possible. On average, I never worked more than 10 hours per week, which is an amazing hourly rate ($316/hour at the least). And that’s what I’m typically looking at when assessing my success. The lowest I’ve ever made annually as a freelancer was $20,727 back in 2015, the first year I started freelancing. I had just quit my corporate graphic design job making $55,000 per year. Luckily, we had my husband’s income to supplement my lack of money coming in. The second year, I made $99,154. And my income went up every year after that. The most I’ve ever made working for myself was $204,497 in 2021. I really hustled that year because my Etsy shop was taking off and I was still doing some client graphic design work. However, last year and the year before, I probably made much more per hour because I’m no longer doing graphic design work for clients. In 2022, I made $179,653.

Hopefully my transparency gives you insight as to what a full-time freelance artist might make. Again, I want to emphasize that you don’t need to work 40 hours per week to be successful. It’s about finding that sweet spot between money made and time spent. I’ve often said that my best advice is to do more of what’s working, which is what I’ll be talking about in my video this month. I’ll also be discussing my approach to finances.

They say that where attention goes energy flows, so I hope that by looking at money this month, we can all see a little extra coming from our art.

P.S. If you’re looking for a good read this month, I would check out Real Artists Don’t Starve by Jeff Goins.

*My favorite sketchbook for gouache can be found here.

Journal Prompts:

  1. What are my current mindsets about money (good and bad)?

  2. How much money would I need to make to feel like I was killing it as an artist?

  3. How would my life change if I had more money? What about less money?

  4. What is holding me back from making more money as an artist?

Sketchbook Prompts:

  1. If wealth were an illustration, what would it look like? Put it in your sketchbook.

  2. Illustrate something you would buy if you had more money.

  3. Illustrate a page of foreign currencies.

  4. Illustrate your dream home.

Assignment:

Brainstorm as many potential sources of income you can think of as an artist. Hang the list in your space for when you need ideas.

Fun Finds:

Nicole Cicak