The income of a professional visual artist can be a roller-coaster ride of financial highs and lows, and knowing this, many artists naturally turn to teaching art in order to bring in some bread and butter income.

I myself have taken this path in the past, and along with my Wife we ran the largest private art tuition program in our local shire for about 5 years.

Today we still run a version of our original live tuition program, but now it lives online in a ‘Virtual Classroom’ instead, which suits our lifestyle very well…

(Unashamed plug alert! We now have Art Teacher job opportunities on DrawPj.com)

…however, if you are just starting out and are thinking of teaching art in a live setting then here are some tips for success:

1. Become an art tutor because you genuinely want to share your love of art

Your students deserve an art teacher who really wants to share what they know. Artists who are in tutoring just for the money generally don’t last very long, or grow to resent their new ‘day job’. If this is you then don’t do it to them and don’t do it to yourself.

2. Be organised, professional and business-like

If you are going to be doing this for the long haul then you need to set your art tuition business up as a ‘real business’, just like all the other real businesses in the world. Your clients will respect you for it and place more value on what you do.

3. Create a structured course

Just running short stand-alone workshops is fine and dandy but that will mean that you have to find new students every time you run a new course. This can be expensive in terms of time and money when it comes to advertising and marketing your art tuition services.

If you create a structured course it’s much easier to retain the same students for a long time. Make sure you build in progression and recognition of achievement. This will require you to develop plenty of different art skills which you can teach over a long period. It’s hard work, but it will make you a better and more versatile artist in the long run. Remember you don’t have to create your entire course before you start teaching. You can just start with a general outline and create it  ‘just in time’ if you are brave enough

4. Create great course materials which students can take home

This adds value to what you are offering and sets you head and shoulders above the rest of the private art tutors in town who are just teaching in an ad-hoc fashion.

5. Charge well for your classes

You will get more respect from your students if your classes are refreshingly expensive. Your professionalism will allow you to command a good price for your time. Don’t worry about the competition or community groups that charge next to nothing. You are not in that market. You are providing an excellent and very professional art tuition program and people will expect it to pay for it. Don’t undersell what you are offering by going too cheap.

6. Advertise in ‘Good Places’

We found over time that students who made enquiries via classified ads were harder to teach and generally did not stay with us as long as those who came via ads placed in the main part of a newspaper (usually the ‘lifestyle’ section). They also tended to be looking for ‘what they can get’ rather than ‘what they can learn’. The two audiences seem to have a different mindset. In our experience its worth advertising in places where people are looking for quality of service rather than value for money.

7. Charge up front

Many art tutors seem timid about asking students to pay up front, instead opting to allow them to pay on a week by week basis.  Don’t be afraid to charge upfront on a ‘per term’ basis, and request a deposit to secure course places. This also makes things much easier administratively.

8. Keep overheads as low as possible

Renting a hall or commercial space is very expensive, and so are art materials. Do your sums. If they don’t add up, don’t do it. Adding more students to your workload will not get you around this. It will only make you very tired, stressed and overworked

9. Share what you know freely

Many students came to us because their previous tutor seemed to be holding back their ‘trade secrets’, afraid that a students might steal a bit of their original art style. Don’t be afraid that a student will be become a better artist than you using your tricks of the trade. In our experience the students that really pick up the baton and run with it only reflect well on the master artist that taught them (that’s you).

10. Don’t forget why you are doing this

You are teaching art to support your art practice. Remember to leave time in your weekly schedule for your own art.

11. Another Unashamed Plug – Come and tutor art with us!

As you might have gathered, when it comes to art tuition we’ve been there done it, and bought the t-shirt (quite literally – we did have special t-shirts made… but thats another story!). Anyway, if you are considering taking up art tuition as a business, then have a look at whats on offer on our other site DrawPJ.com.

We have limited opportunities for passionate (about art) and caring (about people) individuals to present our comprehensive art course, both in the real world and online. With our course you can set up your own art tuition business with ongoing support from our genuinely warm and welcoming community of artists and tutors.

What are you waiting for? Hop on over and find out about Art Teaching Jobs with DrawPj.com.

Life is so busy. There are so many distractions. So many things to keep your eye off the ball. It’s almost a full time job being an administrator of your own life.

Everybody has their hand out wanting money. Bills keep coming in. Friends demand be Facebooked, MSN’ed, Twittered.

Then there’s the quality time that you must spend with your nearest and dearest. Not to mention if you also have a  job to help keep the bread and butter on the table. HDTV’s and Iphones all tempt you to fritter away time, and if you’ve got kids (like me) you could go seriously bananas with all the possible myriads of distractions.

At the back of your mind though is the nagging thought that you must do something towards your life purpose, your grand dream, your big goal, the thing that you dream of doing above all other things. If you’re not careful you’ll  start to beat yourself up over not doing the things you need to do to work on that too.

What can we do? What should we do?

For me the answer comes packaged in two short phrases:

“Pyjama Time” (or Pajama time if you prefer the US spelling)

and

“Just show up at the table”

These phrases were coined by my Wife, Cindy Wider, when she wrote her book “Paint In Your Pyjamas”

Often, when it comes to our big dreams and aspirations we think that we need to set aside big blocks of time to achieve them. We promise ourselves that one day we will reserve some uninterrupted time to work on them. The trouble is those big blocks of time never come. Life stays busy.

Pyjama Time refers to the small blocks of time that we have in our day to day lives that, if left unattended, can be just frittered away on other unimportant things. In a super busy life the trick is to be ready to recognise and grab these bits of time, and use them to progress on whatever goal we have in mind. These blocks of time might actually be when you are in your pyjamas (for instance, first thing in the morning before the rest of the family is awake) or during the day when you have a spare 5 minutes here or there, minutes that otherwise might be wasted by zoning out in front of the TV or picking up a trashy magazine.

To use your pyjama time effectively you need to set yourself up so that no matter where you are or what you are doing, if you spot some pyjama time, you are ready to use it effectively towards your big goal. The idea is that over an extended period of time all these little pyjama time moments add up until eventually you reach your goal.

The phrase ‘just show up at the table’ encourages me to do something towards my goal even when I have no idea how to achieve it or I am completely uninspired to do anything. For instance this morning I had no idea what I was going to write about, but that did not deter me from just showing up at the table (ie sitting down at my desk) knowing that the very act of doing so would make something happen, even if I did not know what that something was.

So if you’ve been promising yourself that you really should get on with creating some new artworks for that exhibition you’ve dreamed of, then why not try using your pyjama time and just show up at the table! Eventually all those little pyjama time moments will add up and you’ll find yourself at your own glittering art exhibition opening night. Surely that’s worth turning off the telly for (or whatever it is that you spend small spare moments doing right now).

That reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song that my parents used to play. “I took it one piece at a time, and it didn’t cost me a dime..”, referring of course to an entire Cadillac car that (in the song) was built by stealing one little piece at a time over a number of years.

Go on, steal some pyjama time for yourself, and just show up at the table. Off you go now. You’re wasting valuable pyjama time by reading this article any further!

We’ve all seen the deluded souls on Pop Idol shows, absolutely convinced that they are the next big thing, staring open mouthed in disbelief as the judges proceed to tell them that they have no hope whatsoever of going anywhere anytime soon with their dream.

Are you the equivalent of that person in the art world?

If you are thinking about making the big leap into the professional art world or even if you’ve been in it for while with limited success, here are some very good reasons why you should bring your dreams to a screeching halt and go and live 9 to 5 in a cubicle.

1. You are really not very good at Art

Yes, your Mum says you are ‘so very talented’, and Uncle Ernie used to paint a bit so it must ‘run in the family’, but really, are you any good at art whatsoever? Good art has a certain something about it, an aura, special magic or just down to earth old fashioned skill embedded deep within it. It outshines other lesser art when placed on a wall beside it. Can your art do that? Can YOU do that? I suggest you think about this very carefully before you embark on your journey as professional artist. If you haven’t got the chops go and learn some technique. If you haven’t got any original or interesting ideas then go and learn how to think like a professional artist. Be honest with yourself. If you are crap at art go and get a real job instead and save yourself a lot of disappointment.

2. You are Lazy

Art and being a professional artist is hard work. Yes, you may of heard about artists who seem to stumble from bar to bar, retreating at night to their studio to throw paint at canvas for a few hours of creative angst, but is this the reality of being an artist? Can you be a lazy stumbling bum and make money in this game? The reality of being a professional artist is that it is hard work, with lots of effort, thinking, organising, marketing, strategising, researching, learning, networking, and pure relentless obsessiveness with no guarantee of financial return as you make a name for yourself. Sure you might be able to slack off a bit when you finally ‘make it’, but in reality you’ll probably be in so much demand that your art dealer keeps wanting more and more from you. If you are bone-arse lazy go and get a real job where you can expend a minimum amount of effort to get by and still get paid.

3. CA$H! Your are purely motivated by the lure of easy money

‘I could do that!’ you exclaim as you walk around the art gallery. ‘$3000 for a paint splat. Money for nothing! I want in on that action!’ you think to yourself. In reality the artwork that you see on the wall selling for many thousands of dollars is probably created by an artist who has spent many years developing his or her reputation to the point where they can justify a high price. There’s a whole story of development, exploration and experimentation going on behind the scenes that you just don’t see by looking at an artwork hanging on the wall. Then there are the costs involved such as advertising, materials and the gallery’s percentage. Pretty soon that $3000 is whittled down to $1200 profit for the artist. Coupled with the fact that this artist might actually only sell one of these paintings every month, the Ca$H angle starts to look a little pale if that is the only income that the artist has until their next big exhibition, which might be only every two years with a serious gallery. If you want in on the easy money scene there a plenty of other ways out there described in downloadable ebooks with ‘guaranteed systems for generating CA$$H with absolutely no effort on your part whatsoever’. If these don’t work for you, then consider a real job where the easy cash pops into your bank account simply for turning up to your cubicle every day and looking busy.

4. You have no business sense

‘Yes’ you have decided, ‘I will be a professional obsessive artist, creating fantastic artworks in my studio, the value of which will skyrocket when the world finally sees them and recognises my genius’. The question is who is the person who will get those artworks out of your studio, into the world and in front of buyers? Who will put them out there day after day until one day there is a breakthrough and you finally become recognised for your genius? Certainly at the early stages it will be YOU; at least until a super high profile Gallery director steps in to take care of all that nasty business related stuff like schmoozing collectors, marketing, sales and paying the bills. Exhibitions cost real money. Art materials cost real money. Marketing costs real money. You could seriously go down a financial black hole if you’ve been working on an exhibition for the last six months only to have the exhibition completely tank. If you have no business sense go and get some before you start. Even if you do manage to avoid this by finding someone who ‘takes care of business’ for you (who you would presumably pay handsomely for the privilege), you are leaving yourself wide open to being ripped off if you have no clue what’s going on in your accounts or your business. Go and get a real job if all of this business stuff seems too much trouble.

5. You like financial security

Oh how comforting is the steady ebb and flow of money into your bank account as you work away in your day-to-day job. The bills are paid regularly, there’s food on the table and your retirement plan is building nicely for when you quit work at 60 and sail around the world on a never ending cruise ship holiday. When ‘the system’ works it’s great. Everything is taken care of and that’s why the system is designed this way. Comfort. On the other hand, picture this. The artworks you make cost you time and money to create. There is no guarantee of sales. Occasionally someone buys one of your artworks and bumps your bank account up a bit. You have an exhibition to prepare for and all the time you are working on this you will not be paid. Your Gallery Director tells you that half of the exhibition expenses such as advertising, food, drink and staffing will be taken out of the up front sales of your artworks, so you won’t make any money until you sell a few thousand dollars worth of paintings. Oh and the gallery takes 40 to 50% commission too. Does this sound inviting to you? If you are already financially independent then go for it. If like the rest of us, you still need to get paid in order to get by then think very carefully. You’re a bit like a venture capitalist, investing in your own future potential to make lots of money. Do you have the confidence to back yourself? Will you bail when the going gets tough? If you love your financial security blanket I suggest you be happy with your lot as a “Sunday Painter”. Don’t give up the day job.

6. You think that being represented by a Gallery will be your ticket to financial security, fame and fortune.

Out of the thousands of artists in your area, only a few are actually represented by your local upmarket art gallery. You think to yourself, ‘surely if I can get my art accepted by that gallery my work will sell’. Let’s face facts. Yes, there are galleries out there which just by being represented by them will confer some kind of specialness and value on your art. They can command many thousands of dollars for each artwork by their artists, and art collectors buy from them because they know that the chances are the art they buy will appreciate in value. If you can get into this gallery then the chances are that you have done a substantial amount of work to get there. You are an established and serious artist. These kinds of galleries tend to only look after a small stable of artists and don’t tend to bring new ones in very often. You may have to look elsewhere for gallery representation, towards the galleries that take a chance on new and emerging artists. They turn over new artists all the time, looking for gems to build up a stable of steady sellers so they too can become established and serious. There is no guarantee that you will sell anything in these galleries, but they are the ones that may take a chance on you. Yes, being represented by the right gallery can be a ticket to fame and fortune for some, but it can take years for a gallery to build your reputation. Are you willing to hang in there long enough until you are an established artist? If you are impatient try representing yourself. At least you will get to keep all the money you make. Otherwise go and get a real job, save your money, make some wise investments and you might get to retire early and live out your artist dream some way down the track.

7. You’re brilliant. Everyone says so. But you’re not quite sure

You know somewhere deep down inside that your artwork is absolutely remarkable, but you don’t really like to show people because it’s not quite perfect yet, but because everyone is saying you’re so good you’ll give it a go anyway and see what happens. If this is you I gently suggest the following – “GET OVER YOURSELF and do it QUICKLY”. Perfectionism is great, but know when to stop. Nobody cares if your painting is finished in your eyes, it only has to be finished in their eyes! Here’s the news… no artist that I know of is ever completely content with their artwork. There’s always something that can be improved upon, but you have to end your relationship with your artworks at some stage because you have to sell them. If you are reluctantly giving this profession a go but secretly think that you and your art are never good enough then make it easy on yourself and save yourself from misery. Go and get some therapy for your perfectionism, work on your self esteem and get a real job so you can be a miserable perfectionist on someone else’s money while you do this. Revisit being an artist when you’ve actually read and understood the contents of your motivational book collection.

8. You expect instant success

Lots of artists are an instant success. You see them pop up all the time in the press and on the TV. They come from nowhere and suddenly command huge sums of money for their artworks. In reality though that perceived instant success as reported by the media happened as a result of years of work on the part of the artist. Like most things in life, being a professional artist takes time, experimentation and a lot of hard work. Reputation takes time to build. Prices take time to build. Your business will take time to build. Your instant success as reported by the media will take time to build. You have to be in it to win it for the long haul. If you are impatient then maybe you should look for quick success and satisfaction in a real job. Look for a job where someone else has already built a money train for you to hop onto and is willing to pay you with cash and equity to translate your impatience for success into growth for their business.

9. You like to be completely in control of everything

You turn up to your first ever exhibition opening night and look around at your artworks which the Gallery Director has hung impeccably. The show looks great. ‘But wait…that painting over there, it isn’t in the right spot, it doesn’t look right and the lighting isn’t as good as it could be. It must be fixed or the whole show could be a disaster!’ In a worried huff you decide to tackle the gallery staff about the issue. They think it looks just fine and tell you not to worry. You insist. It must be changed or your grand vision will be compromised. The Gallery Director hears the discussion and comes over. He disagrees with you. You start to get a little upset. The Gallery Director has an ego that’s just as big as yours and he starts to get a little offended that you would question his hanging of your exhibition in his gallery. Pretty soon the situation escalates and it’s ‘handbags at ten paces’. Your need for total control is about to see you ejected from the gallery’s stable of artists after your first opening night! The situation described here may seem extreme but it does happen. It’s an easy situation to get into because like you as an aspiring superstar artist, Gallery Directors tend to have large egos too. It’s a character trait that gives them an extra swagger when dealing with artists and a larger than life aura when negotiating with clients. It’s a Yin and Yang thing. If you like to be completely in control of everything and are uncomfortable about letting your gallery do what they are best at maybe you should find real employment (possibly as the Dictator of a small country or a Hot Dog Stand operator). Of course, when you become a huge success and the money is rolling in you can afford to be a bit of a diva. Until then negotiate nicely or find alternative employment.

10. You’re not willing to compromise your art by being ‘commercial’.

Believe it or not some artists do not want their art to be seen by the masses. They want it to be exclusive, for the select few who can appreciate it, thinking that this exclusivity will demonstrate that they are serious artists. These kind of artists definitely do not want to see their art on wine bottles, t-shirts, drink coasters, posters. They do not want to change their artworks in order to accommodate a client who likes cats. They do not want to do a commission because the client wants a piece that is a little bit like the one that just sold to someone else. They do not want to paint subjects which people actually like to buy. They are unwilling to compromise their colour schemes in order to make their art easier to sell to people with fashionable homes. These artists just cannot and will not bring themselves into the commercial world whatsoever lest they devalue their Art with a capital A.

Lets face facts:

• If you like to sell your work then you are indeed a commercial artist.
• The work of famous artists has to be seen by the masses in order for it to become famous.
• You will find the work of famous artists on postcards, posters, books, mugs, umbrellas, watches and other assorted memorabilia in just about any major city art gallery souvenir shop.
• Some of the world’s most famous contemporary artists work with commercial companies to create images to promote their products.
• Not everyone can afford your paintings, but if a million people want to buy your postcard for two dollars who cares?

If you can’t stand the thought of your art being in the commercial world, create your own job and become a professional non-commercial artist by writing lots of grant applications to extract money from government organisations to fund your non-commercial ideas. Does filling out grant applications for a living sound like fun to you? The commercial world of art beckons once more…really, it wouldn’t kill you to paint that cat.