u/elie_castonguay

I’m super curious about the mindset shift here. Like, was there a specific moment or milestone where it clicked for you guys?

Did you wait until you made a certain amount of money, or till you got your first big commission? Or maybe it was just a random day where you looked at your work and realized "yeah, im actually doing this."

It feels like it would be so hard to say out loud without getting major imposter syndrome lol. For anyone who already made the jump, what finally gave you the confidence to change how you introduce yourself to people?

I am curious to know what had to be present in your life to make you take the leap and go full-time with your art?

I am very interested in understand what was going through your head and the elements present in your life that actually made you DO IT.

(Did you have a mentor who helped you? Did you have enough money aside? Did you have an agent or a person doing sales for you? etc.)

Hey, I have been talking to a bunch of creators lately trying to get a realistic look at the business side of thing....

the amount of work just to get a single client looks completely exhausting. Seems like you have to spend 90% of your time on social media or playing sales rep before you even touch a canvas.

Many people tell me the same thing; the constant ghosting and screaming into the void completely tanks their mental health. just that constant stress about money sounds brutal.

for artists here, whats the biggest struggle with finding buyers? and how do you actually cope with the burnout from the hustle? would love to hear how you actually deal with the stress.

Hey everyone, I’m trying to get a realistic picture of how full time art businesses are structured nowadays.

Im noticing a lot of mid-career artists are getting totally burnt out trying to chase original commissions constantly, while others pivot completely to low-ticket prints or digital products.

Obviously people say "diversify" but trying to market to a fine art collector AND a $20 sticker buyer at the same time feels like running two separate businesses lol. Its exhausting.

For those of you past the 50k mark, what does your actual percentage breakdown look like between high-ticket originals and scalable prints/merch? If you could start over, would you change your focus?

Would love to hear some real world numbers from people actually making it work right now. Thanks!