FAQ and Top Tips as an Artist Starting Out in Australia

When I decided to become a professional artist, the journey wasn’t easy. Not only did I face personal challenges with finding my confidence in creating art but also had to navigate an industry that was new and foreign to me. As my profile began to build amongst other artists, I started receiving more and more questions about how I got started. Here are my top questions answered on how I became an artist:

How do you go about turning your art into a career?

It's no surprise that my most asked questions revolve around how I started my career as an artist. Well, it always starts with the same story - I always loved creating since I could be found drawing under my Mum’s desk everyday as a child! As an adult, I was working in architecture and knew I wanted to pursue art more fully as a creative outlet. I was burnt out and burning for something more. I always always had this vision of myself locked away in a studio just painting away on a huge canvas. But of course I thought it was just a dream or hobby as I never really knew you could make art your career and well not be starving as the saying goes.

As I was desperate for a creative outlet, I had a graphic design and illustration side business for about 5 years. I kind of just decided one day (when I received a specific spark of inspiration which is another story) that I wanted to create what I wanted to create, and not just an illustration someone else wanted me to make. So I got out a canvas I had sitting in the garage, and with what few paints I had I just started painting. AND IT FELD SO GOOD. I think I spent almost a whole weekend just painting this piece. I had that moment where I was like wow I actually love painting so much and something inside of me is desperate to do this on a deeper level. I decided that day that I had to pursue it. I started gathering evidence that it was a viable career from Australian artists who were killing it in the industry. Most importantly I realised being a professional artist was really possible. So I kept going, did an online course in ‘selling your art’ and slowly started to build a body of work that I wanted to put out in the world.

This is when I decided to create my online presence as an artist and start telling people about what I was doing, pushing myself out there with confidence and backing myself (because if I don't back myself who will). Through networking, events, collaborations and just showing up, I was able to grow my profile. It was a huge leap of faith. And wow did I make the right move! Despite feeling scared of feeling completely on my own at times, every new challenge always reminded me why I made this decision in the first place and grew my level of comfort zone.

 What advice I would give to aspiring artists?

Being an artist is a wild ride, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I want to encourage anyone else wanting to take this journey by letting you know that the most important thing is to know your why. Know you're 'why': Before you start selling your art, make sure you understand why you’re creating it. What drives and motivates you? What unique perspective do you bring to the art world? Once you truly understand your “why”, it will be much easier to stay motivated and focused on the long-term goal of turning your passion. For me early on I created an ethos that encapsulated my why. It is my filter for every art piece and it's an intention to make "art to cause people to stop, reflect and be curious about the wonder of life”.

My biggest mistakes and how I overcame them

There are plenty of mistakes that I've made. Of the most prominent ones is not doing it sooner! In the beginning I had mistakes that derived from not believing in myself and not being confident enough to accept payment for my work; not knowing my own worth or what value I could bring to others. It took a lot of internal work and working through my limiting beliefs before I had the confidence to really own what I was doing, be confident in my prices and value I was offering to the collector and client. 

 How I keep up with the latest trends in the art world

I approach the art world with a full spectrum view. I constantly am doing research to stay up to date on the latest conversations, but I try not to be trend focussed and instead use the ever changing landscape in art as an opportunity to gain inspiration and develop my own style and just generally celebrate the other amazing works artists are doing. I know a lot of artists or creatives who have had to go through a process of 'unlearning' what they learned in university, so being self-taught I try and use the fact that I don't know rules and trends as an advantage. I do find that keeping up with conversations in local, national and international art circles is a great way of staying tuned in to talks and discussions taking place around me while also helping me learn from others experiences. I’ve found that engaging with the people in my network, reading industry news or attending lectures by well-known and first nations artists are just some of the ways I’ve stayed informed about the artistic field.

The importance of networking, mentors, and finding your community

Networking and finding mentors are vital to any artist's success. When I started out as an artist, it was its own unique kind of exciting—I was meeting people with the same dreams and passions within creative business, who were also in pursuit of living out their creative calling. It felt incredibly inspiring to me to find others to look up to who were successful and ahead of me in the game. Some of these people were people I had met through events, clients, and just being out in the community. Other mentors of mine I have never met and I connect with them by reading their books and listening to their podcasts. I highly recommend a business coach as well. It felt expensive but gave me so much clarity that it probably paid for itself very quickly.

What brand acrylics do you use?

When it comes to acrylics, I prefer Liquitex and Jo Sonja when I'm painting. Both are very high quality brands, and they come in a wide range of colour options. But at the end of the day, it's all about finding the right colours for your piece and style - don't just buy paint because it comes from a certain company. You could find that brand X is more suitable for what you need than any other brand. So really, look for colour and structure for what you need rather than just settling on one name, however quality is essential if you want to create fine art. I also love to experiment with different materials such as pigments, concrete, limestone, sand and coffee grounds.

Do you have any recommendations for canvas'/suppliers?

When it comes to finding canvases House of Print and Two Seas Creative are among my top recommendations. House of Print specialises in fine art printing and framed canvases, and Two Seas Creative provide custom canvases, stretching and framing. Leftbank Art Group also do prints and scanning for your artwork so you can sell your prints.

I'd love to know whether you did any courses in art? I'm struggling with some imposter syndrome!

Admitting you're scared of failure and feeling like you don't belong can be a hard step, so props to you for admitting it! When it comes to courses in art, I am self taught. Besides some online tutorials (I really liked the one on Composition by Joy Kinna) I have learned through making more pieces over time. 10,000 hours to mastery right! I continue to build up my confidence by practicing, play, experimentation and vulnerability with my art. So even though the imposter syndrome is tough to beat, it's worth taking a step back to recognise what you know and knowing that you can tap into other resources for development. Oh and knowing that if you just keep picking up the brush you will get better! Imposter syndrome is a whole discussion in itself I would love to cover soon.

Final Thoughts

Being an artist can be a challenge, but it is also very rewarding. At the end of the day, you need to back yourself and believe in what you are doing and why. Taking risks and facing fears are essential to make progress. Fear is actually an opportunity for practicing courage and confidence. Who wants to live in the comfort zone anyway! So go out there and be the artist you have always wanted to be. Good luck!

And if you ever need any help with anything art related, please don't hesitate to reach out. I'm here for you! :)