Is it even possible to make a better living as a fine artist?

Absolutely. If you know what you're doing.

If you've sold your art, that's evidence that you could be selling more.

Yet, most professional fine artists are fearfully clutching a confidence-crushing formula.

1. (WORK) hard.
2. (SHOW) which we know doesn't mean selling your fine art.
3. (HOPE) that a better representative will choose you.
4. (REPEAT) until your dignity is destroyed and you give up.

No one can guarantee your success, but the same tired formula guarantees failure.

Hint: Build a profitable fine art business instead of building an art career.

Introduction

A Moment of False Hope

I remember one seemingly innocent moment during an early afternoon in November 1999.

It was a short-lived moment when I believed that my dream of becoming a successful living as a fine artist was about to come true.

Your moment of false hope could have happened one year, five years, or even decades ago.

My moment happened while visiting Wayne Thiebaud at his art studio at The University of California at Davis.

Perched on a weathered, paint-splattered wooden chair, I leaned in, my hands tightly clasped, eagerly awaiting an art critique from a living legend.

True to his reputation, Wayne Thiebaud offered an insightful artistic perspective. Then he handed me my letter of recommendation.

After reading Wayne's letter, I found the courage to ask him a pressing lifelong question. How can I make a living as a fine artist?

One of Wayne's paintings had just sold on the secondary market for over one million dollars, so I figured he could tell me how to become successful.

I didn't know that when Wayne's painting sold on the secondary art market, he didn’t receive the proceeds; the seller and the art auction house made the money.

Yet, Wayne started scribbling the common failing four-part formula for artistic success into my mind, work + show + hope + repeat.

I don’t know, he added. I’m not a businessman.

My inside voice said, The Internal Revenue Service sure thinks you're a businessman.

He didn’t intend to become a businessman so he didn’t see himself as one.

Wayne's casual comment pointed out the persistent psychological divide between making art and making money, one which has needlessly crippled artists for too long.

In the United States, if your annual earnings from selling art are $400 or more, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires you to submit a profit and loss statement for your business.

Check with your tax advisor to see where you stand.

Although Wayne Thiebaud was one of the few fine artists to win the rigged lottery run by the art establishment, he had to gamble his entire life for an incredibly slim chance of earning a respectable living from his time and talent.

Most fine artists are following the familiar failing four-part formula and they will do so until they give up or die.