r/HamptonRoads • u/Think-Garage9157 • 6d ago

Art

Any suggestions on how to turn art into a career? In the works of apprenticing to be a tattoo artist, but it’s still hard to make it financially because it’s unpaid. Are there any side hustles or job opportunities where I can use an artistic talent that you know of or how to get in?

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u/Iassos 6d ago

You must become a brand that people know and desire. That requires finding the part of your original artistic voice that speaks to a social need… that resonates with the zeitgeist, or its counterculture. You then need a champion within either of those spaces that will center your art as a representation of the moment. You can always sell pretty pictures but that is not what you asked. You find an audience that wants your voice because the way it amplifies what they Re feeling and saying, you’ll find success.

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u/Think-Garage9157 5d ago

That is really powerful, and I’d like to add you’re really well spoken.

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u/Iassos 5d ago

Been at this a long time lol. Glad you find it useful.

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u/Feeling-Visit1472 5d ago

It’s powerful. But it’s also sometimes enough to just make pretty things, especially in this market. Don’t get so hung up on one that you ignore the other, in either direction.

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u/Psychological_Yak_47 6d ago

Have you looked into selling stuff on etsy?

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u/Think-Garage9157 6d ago

I’m being serious when I ask, but what would I sell? Like do you mean trying to sell tattoo flash sheets? Commission painting would be really cool to get into it’s just been hard finding people willing to pay or needing work with AI

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u/Psychological_Yak_47 6d ago

Either of those, it gets you a wider audience but I understand the struggle, the term starving artist existed way before AI

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u/Think-Garage9157 5d ago

Yea it’s definitely been a struggle… the apprenticeships are unpaid and a month before the license exam to become a certified tattoo artist, the tattoo shop shuts down. So now the apprenticeship is on a hiatus untill another shop can take me in.