Artist Reyna Noriega Shares 4 Tips for Making a Living as a Creative
“There are many ways to make money off of art.”
Despite the image that we are sold about artists, passion and talent aren’t the only qualifications for becoming a professional creative.
To truly make a living takes equal parts skill and business mindset. With no clearly defined workdays or a boss telling you what to do, growth, visibility and profitability are three common challenges that artists face. When sales aren’t booming, even the most successful artists question their path.
But for those who channel the same passion they have for creating as they do to define a lucrative business model, the opportunities are endless to get paid for their art.
Reyna Noriega, a Miami-based author, educator, and visual artist, understands the power of building her brand and creating multiple streams of revenue to diversify her profits. With over 110 thousand followers on Instagram to recently hosting her own book tour, “In Bloom Dialogues,” in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and D.C., her face and work are becoming increasingly recognizable in the art space.
However, this was not always her reality. Graduating with a BA in psychology from Florida International University, she taught graphic design and visual arts for 4 years in a public high school before deciding to take the leap to entrepreneurship.
Here she shares 4 tips for emerging artists on what she did to give herself permission to embrace her creative path and make money doing what she loves.
Make it a slow pivot.
“The transition from being a full-time teacher to a full-time creative was definitely a slow process with a lot of different events that led up to my confidence building, my process getting stronger, my discipline, my organization and all of that.
I am very grateful for everything that transpired during that time. Before becoming an art teacher I was very nervous about my work. I was very insecure and compared my work a lot. Being a teacher allowed me to create freely without comparison. And it also taught me that I could meet deadlines. I was making t-shirts for the school flyers, managing two clubs, and so much more. It kind of showed me that I was capable of handling a lot of things at once.
So when the feeling started to arise that it was time to pivot my career at the time, I knew that I was capable of freelancing. I didn’t think I was ready to jump into it but I knew that it was something that I could eventually move towards. I was also taking more and more clients on top of teaching. Balancing that and seeing that cash flow was helping me to imagine what it could be like at a larger and consistent scale.”
Don’t focus on the money (at first).
My suggestion for making money off of art is a little unconventional. I say, don’t focus on the money. Focus on building character, building trust, building your skills, your confidence and building your worth.
“Research and pay attention to other freelancers and artists. Figure out what they charge. But, you have to pace yourself. I know we hear so many things, like ‘don’t charge $50 for a logo’ and ‘don’t work for free’ and this and that. I think that once you know your value and you understand the concept of value (value is not always a dollar amount) you can give yourself time to grow and expand.
For example, if I’ve never used Adobe Illustrator to make a vector logo, I can’t charge a client a thousand dollars for a logo and then give them something janky. That is not the value they are asking for. So, just because I have a friend who works at an agency who told me I should charge $1000 for that logo, I don’t think it works that way. So I would say don’t focus on the money, focus on the skill first.”
Charge what you’re worth, then add tax.
“Once you have built that skill, reputation and value, then be sure to charge what you are worth at every stage. Factor in your living expenses. Think of it as a career.
Treat yourself like a business if that is the direction you are going in — have contracts, clear consistent communication, set goals, set expectations. Do not take someone’s money and not talk to them for 6 months. Do not charge someone a high value for professional work and then disappear on them or try to put something together in between being focused on school and treating it like a little hobby. You have to be professional and know how to prioritize.
I would also say to figure out what lane you want to fit in. There are many ways to make money off of art: you can go the fine art route, go to commercial art and sell products or you can go the service route and sell your designs for companies.
Figure out what lane you want to fit in and brand yourself that way.”
Find your own swim lane.
“As a creative, my hardest challenge was thinking that my work had to be based on my pain and on experiences that were rooted in trauma. I realized that I could also touch on struggles that I went through, but it didn’t have to be the basis of what I created. There was a time when I felt that people only related to struggle — the heartbreak, the failures, the pain and things like that.
It was very liberating to create on my own terms and to celebrate things that made me happy. I had to find my way to celebrate my own triumphs, my own journey and finding myself as a woman. It was about getting comfortable with that and the joy in that and wanting to celebrate that versus only focusing on negative challenges.
I think that once I did that, and I understood that there was not one method of creativity, one subject matter that matters more than others, I was able to create from a place of authenticity.”
CRY
For more of Reyna, follow her on Instagram or visit her website.
