We think the world needs more artists, more creatives and more folks unwilling to spend their days as a cog in a giant corporate machine. We don’t necessarily dislike cogs or machines but we think the world clearly needs more artists and creatives and so we wanted to try to figure out how more artists can make it work financially since this is one of the major obstacles blocking so many artists and creatives from pursuing their art full time. So, we asked folks who have been able to make a full time living through their creative work, how they did it.

Jay Ness

There are uncountable factors that can get in the way of creativity. Not to mention, every individual’s creative path is different. Speaking strictly about my own experience, earning a full-time living has been accomplished by utilizing the very thing that defines me, “creativity”. Over time I’ve had to find creative ways to earn a living as an artist. Read more>>

Nadia Garver

Earning a full-time living in a creative career is accepting that my life is not going to look like everyone else’s. My passion and love for what I do really carries me, as I often look around and feel that many moments and relationships pass me by, simply because of the demanding nature of my job. I believe there is a a lot of misunderstanding, when it comes to being a full-time creative. Read more>>

Bryan Maurice

I have been able to be lucky enough to be able to make a living from my acting. Read more>>

Ryan Driscoll

As you may know, the entertainment industry can be extremely difficult and exhausting at times. Many artists are living paycheck to paycheck, gig to gig, and show to show. The majority of live entertainers must supplement there income with day jobs or part-time jobs outside the industry. Read more>>

David Pancake

I found myself unemployed in November 2010. I had just finished five difficult and unhappy years as an art director for a furniture companies advertising department and then I was unemployed. I really wanted to make a go of earning a living off of my own art. Unfortunately I was struggling with feelings of inadequacy and doubt from a lifetime of nay sayers telling me it was impossible to make a living as an artist. Read more>>

Jon Noeth

Yes, I was able to start earning a full-time living supporting my family of five after six years in business. I always had a passion for videography and did study it when obtaining my Bachelor of Arts. After I graduated, I was not employed in the creative arts and supported myself as a full time server and working in a surf shop. Read more>>

Jenny Collins

Back in 2008 I was nearing the end of grad school at the Colorado School of Mines, working on my PHD in material science engineering. Even though I was so far along, I was unhappy with my career choice and was looking for a creative out. I was only 16 when I went to college and entered grad school at age 20, so I stuck to what was safe and what other people told me I should do. But I knew I wanted to do something creative instead, even though that seemed nearly impossible. Read more>>

Allan Teger

I had been the school photographer all through high school and college. Later, when I became a psychology professor I put my photography on hold except for family photos. When my teaching moved from social psychology (group dynamics, decision making etc.) to psychology of consciousness (meditation, eastern philosophy etc.) I wanted to see if I could express in art, the things that I was teaching. My first attempt to do this was the development of my Bodyscape photographs. Read more>>

Twyla Gettert

My first chance at showing with a gallery was given to me by Tatum Gallery in Fort Lauderdale. I also began presenting my work to corporate building developers, interior designers, and some galleries. Over the years, I have cold-called galleries and businesses, either in-person or by phone, and I have always had to be involved in promoting my work. Read more>>

PETRA SPRECHER

At 22 years old, I signed a 3-year touring contract with Cirque du Soleil for Quidam’s North-American tour! I had my own high-flying act, called the Cloudswing! I enjoyed it so much. Back then I didnt really understand that I’m getting a check every week for my Creative work, because I just came out of Montréal’s National Circus School and in my opionion I just kept doing what I love! Read more>>

Andres Labrada

I have not been able to achieve a true full time schedule for my creative work just yet. Unfortunately, I think if you want to make a ton of money you’re better off doing anything else but comics! Read more>>

Mikey Giovanni

All through high school I knew I wanted to do hair. I got good grades during high school enough so to get into great colleges. My friends, classmates, teachers and even my parents doubted me in being able to make a living off doing hair. I always knew I’d be fine but never thought Id be doing this well. I went to hair school and immediately after finishing moved to Beverly Hills California to assist a colorist I worked with her for 2 years and after that started taking my own clients. Read more>>

Robert Jackson

I luckily have been about to earn a living with my creative work, however it is not full time. I have been a freelance artist for multiple years now ranging from video editing, graphic design, photography, and multiple other forms of visual media. By working with multiple different clients it has rewarded me the opportunity to create a living for myself while still being able to indulge in different fun projects. Read more>>

Jenn Curtis

I currently am a full time, self employed content creator working within the music industry. I predominately tour with bands and artists handling both their photo and video content from shows and daily life on the road. I also do photo and video work in town when I am home. It took awhile to find the right clients and build relationships to get to a level of touring where it is financially feasible to make a living from content. Read more>>

Eli Menezes

I moved to NYC from Rio de Janeiro when I was 18 years old. Didn’t speak any English and at first my intention was to spend a few months in the US to learn the language and play music. I arrived in NY with $500 and started playing at a church in Queens right away. Soon after, bar gigs playing Brazilian music and jazz for very little pay. Read more>>

Krista Marchand

There were two major, life-altering, mind-blown kind of moments that needed to happen for me to be able to work creatively full-time. Big, huge -obvious? – moments. (Definitely obvious in retrospect.) Read more>>

Liang Zhang

Earning a full-time living from my creative work is both a cherished accomplishment and an ongoing journey. It’s a testament to the dedication, passion, and perseverance poured into each artistic endeavor. While the path may have had its twists and turns, the ability to sustain oneself through creative expression is deeply rewarding. Read more>>

Julian Haber

I’ve been earning a full-time living from my creative work for over twenty years, though when I started out I never thought that would be possible. When began my career as a photographer I was just like many other starting-out photographers: I had one basic camera with one lens, no clients and only a vague idea for how I would make money. In the very beginning I spent a lot of time taking artsy photos that were fun to explore but not a viable source of income and I eventually gave that up entirely and focused on event and portrait photography where there were clients willing to pay for the service. Read more>>

Adam Skaggs

It’s living the dream, wake up drink a couple cups of coffee while checking emails and store sales reports and then website/Etsy orders, make a plan for the day head to the shop/garage and start creating. Repeat this process every day except when we are at an art show/craft fair which we try to be at at least 2-3 weekends a month. Read more>>

Tia Wind

I have been AMAZED at how my mural business has allowed me to work full time doing something I love! We moved down to the panhandle 2 years ago for my husband’s job. We previously owned an ice cream shop in Benton, Arkansas where I worked full time and he came in after a long day working for Caterpillar. During Covid, we remodeled our shop and I decided to paint murals on our walls. Read more>> 

BeezleBub Ross Aka Ron Conley

I originally started my career in an engineering firm doing technical work and the occasional cover design for pitches. One day I got a call from an online educational company that needed an illustrator and I just so happened to be exactly what they were looking for. I worked as a cartoonist and animator for several years and eventually landed the job I currently have as an illustrator for an online gaming company. Read more>>

Brandon Wennin

As a kid growing up I always wanted to do creative work, and self expression. I always drew and loved at a very young age taking my toys apart and figuring out how they worked and would put them back together. I really figured out what I wanted to do when I was 19 enrolling into trade school. Read more>>

Gibson Roc

I can say I have finally started earning a full-time living from creative work! This is the first year that I can say that. How this all came to pass was because of the timing and the new direction of my work. I am also a Spoken Word artist and have been for over 25 years! I never really made a living with that endeavor. I also work as a commercial actor and have had some success with that over the past 6 years or so. Read more>>

Courage Escamilla

After seven grueling years in Los Angeles sacrificing, suffering and nurturing hundreds of relationships, the fact that I have been able to consider myself a “full-time actor” for the last three is still surreal, bittersweet and relieving. As a poor child of color, pursuing any dream often comes with a price and too often I feel like the ones that were paid were too heavy but I will never take for granted this life that my mother and other made possible for me. I was carried to this point. Read more>>

Jim Cooney

The idea of a starving artist is a myth. It’s actually a lie. The average theater artist’s annual income is the same as the average American’s income, yet we don’t go around calling any of those other people starving. Read more>>

Shanan Custer

I’ve started referring to what I do and, to a certain extent, who I am as a Theater Maker. Sometimes I leave off the capitalization so that it feels more approachable: theater maker. I work full-time in theater and my days are a combination of teaching, rehearsing, writing, performing and creating. I guess you could say that I have managed to avoid the “day job.” I don’t love the distinction of a “day job” in my line of work, as if this is somehow an undesirable part of being a theater artist or any artist for that matter. Read more>>

Nina Kawar

It was in 2021 that I took the leap and went full-time as an artist; yet it has taken years to build up my practice to get where I am at today. After leaving graduate school in 2014, I chose to follow my heart and pursue an art career as a working artist, versus teaching at an institution. First thing I did was get a studio and within 6 months I started my first craft business; all while still creating my fine art. Read more>>

Magic Al Rich

I feel very fortunate to be a full-time magician. It’s not an easy way to go in certain ways. Some months are great, and some months are slow. Sometimes it seems like I won’t make enough money for the month and then I’ll get a few last minute gigs and all is good. Read more>>

Lara Mann

While one day it would be amazing to fully be able to live off of my art, a very small amount of people are able to do this. My mantra has been “success is not linear” – some times I feel like a complete failure, but then other days I’m showing work, I’m selling work, and I’m regularly involved in my local art community. My success doesn’t look like one from a movie, but nonetheless I persist. Read more>>

E Shore Rig

I have been making music for 20 years as a hobby but also interested in pursuing it as career and make a full time living from it. I’ve always been active in taking the necessary steps to promote and expose my music as far and wide as possible, whether it be traveling to different cities to perform, running advertisements all over the world and networking with artists of all different genres of music. The most underlying issue I always faced was not having enough time to complete all the tasks necessary because of maintaining full time employment. Read more>>

Alison Evans

We live in a seasonal town, and in order to maintain the lifestyle that we wanted we had to focus on wholesale accounts around the country. Our town is busy for about 5 months. We needed another revenue source and finding wholesale accounts at tradeshows in NY and Atlanta seemed like the obvious solution. Since then, social media and our website have allowed us to focus on our collectors and become more selective with which wholesale accounts we work with. Read more>>

Magical Katrina Kroetch

This is a super great question, I can say that I’ve been fortunate enough to earn a full-time living from my creative work asa magician in Los Angeles. Mainly I focus on corporate event entertainment in Los Angeles. -but I do just about everything. However, it wasn’t an easy journey, and it certainly didn’t happen overnight. Read more>>

Raè Frasier

I am fortunate enough to be able to support myself and family through my career as an artist. Prior to becoming a full time artist I was an educator. During the time of being an educator, I had always wanted to pursue art full time but was terrified to. Terrified of being a “starving artist”. I had no clue how I was going to make it work. Read more>>

Saint Spicer

I love asking my friends “What you would do to earn money if you knew you couldn’t fail?” They always talk about how much they would love to do their creative hobbies full-time. I felt the same way. Read more>>

Syd Stewart

I have been blessed to work full time as an artist but for those who walk this delicate tightrope, you know you have to be creative with how you finance your dream. I work as an independent writer and filmmaker, and recently completed a season on Johnson which is airing on Bounce TV. I just completed a season on a new show called G.R.I.T.S from the creator of Johnson which will air next year on the AMC affiliate AllBlk. Read more>>

Brian Hoffman

There are many ways to earn a living in this great country we live in. One of those ways is finding what you love to do and then find a way to profit from it. Read more>>

Anna Bowers

I’ve been on the path to making this a full-time career for many years. My business began in 2018 and continues to grow annually. As the primary breadwinner in my marriage, stepping away from my job to pursue my art hasn’t been an option but, I continue to work towards that dream. This business has become such a passion for me! I love the joy of seeing people admire my work and am often humbled by their compliments. Read more>>