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Going Out of Business by Thea

I never really thought sustaining illustration commissions would just trickle into nothing this year. I don't know if it's the alignment of the stars or what, but I'm going broke. I tried to do lesser works in the past, but I keep wanting to push myself more and more and spending that extra time turned into loss of profit. I can't help but be who I am as an artist, but it's not marketable to this fandom.

I'll be focusing on my portfolio project and Vancoufur 2016, but otherwise I need to shut things down to reinvent myself and try to find income elsewhere or change my style to something cheaper. I would be willing to do collaborative work, but again it needs to be sustainable income.

It's not goodbye, just that this low level of submission rate is sticking around for quite some time.

Going Out of Business

Thea

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  • Link

    Furry is too niche to live off of. It's a small pond with a lot of big fish. What your labor is worth is more than what the fandom will pay.

    You're making the right decision, I can't blame you for taking your talent to the real world where people will pay real money for it.

    But if you DO make any more art with anthro themes... please post here.

    • Link

      Oh yes I will for sure! I still have a passion for my personal furry characters and compositions, just that I don't have much free time for personal stuff. If I find an alternative non-soul-sucking job I'll probably invest my art back into mostly furry.

      • Link

        Good luck on every thing you do and all your future plans!

  • Link

    Nnngh. Sorry to hear this, you've always been an amazing person both to work with and know even as little as I do. I wish you the best with your endeavours, and do look forward to any artwork that does trickle out in the future.

    • Link

      Your characters were so much fun to draw and it's a pleasure to see you have so many different artists interpret them. I'm always keeping an eye on ya! (not in the creepy sense lol)

  • Link

    I always liked your work - I hope you're able to find a way to be profitable and still stay in the fandom!

    • Link

      It'd take some marketing miracle really. I can't seem to do it on my own.

      • Link

        Well, I don't know what the secret is, sadly, but I do have to disagree with dogpencil. I have friends that make a living from the fandom, and honestly your art is at least as good or better than theirs. I think the real secret is finding a way to balance cost vs. quality. People in the fandom are hard pressed to pay $500 for a full on, realistic painting. So I think the trick is just finding the right level of quality that fits with the pricing people want to pay. If you're not fast enough to make it profitable, then I agree that could be an issue but ... maybe that's just one more thing to try and work into the equation.

        Your are is very good, and I think the fandom needs good artists to pull the quality up the same way the cheap artists tend to pull the prices down. As for that, I'd say just do your own thing, build a following of people who like your art and rock on. I truly hope you find a way to manage it so the fandom doesn't just lose your talent.

  • Link

    I disagree with Dogpencil. I have plenty of friends who make a living wage exclusively on furry art, and they're not huge big name popufurs. It's not easy, but it is without a doubt doable with enough dedication and work.

    It's hard to give you advice one way or another without knowing exactly how much you're charging, how much time and effort you put into each piece, and how, where, and how often you advertise yourself. I do have to point out though that if you feel you're not being paid enough for the quality of work you do, the answer is to raise your prices, not to lower your quality. If you feel you can only get the price you're asking from the "real" art world, then that's what you need to do. Beware though; a lot of real world art employers are just as if not more depreciative of art and artists than furries. Just because they have more money doesn't mean they'll be willing to spend it on you.

    I recommend checking out the One Fantastic Week podcast on Youtube or iTunes. It's two successful, established fantasy illustrators and their guests discussing art and business. They talk about how to make money, how to market yourself, how to manage your time, how to find the audience you want to reach, etc etc. It's unbelievably helpful, even if you end up deciding to continue working for furries.

    Whatever you decide, best of luck. What's ultimately important is your happiness, and if you can't get that here, you have to go where you can c:

    • Link

      I charge $20-22 an hour with roughly taking 10 hours to complete a standard piece (not including the amount of research needed of said painting subjects), but then paypal takes a 5% fee off those earnings. It's 20-40% less than what the most demanded artists charge with same quality standards, but is still competitive with basic industry rates without the legal hassles. Then there's the problem of a lot of artists horrifically undercharging in the same market- or are significantly faster, or, y'know, porn takes priority in this niche. I tried things like "iron artist" with no avail to stay in competitive prices for smaller works, plus not being able to earn print sales from lesser pieces.

      I've been following Art PACT pretty closely so I know I will have a hard time starting up in a new industry, but the launch of this site gives a huge advantage in picking my clients. I've got the knowledge- just need the mileage now. I love One Fantastic Week and haven't gotten around to their archives near enough. Thanks for reminding me!

      • Link

        -nod- Can I ask if you deal at conventions?

        • Link

          Yes I've been vending since 2008, I did 3 so far this year, and two came out in the negative as much as $300 and the other merely broke even on travel costs. The most successful ever has been a local Brony convention with merch profits paying for all the prep labour it takes all month. Only furry one to come close was being a guest of honor at Rainfurrest with travel costs covered by the convention.

          • Link

            That's really unusual. I don't think I've ever made less than $500 profit at a con... All I can think of then would be something wrong with your advertising/sales front? But even that's hard to know without knowing every single thing you do lol

  • Link

    Are you on Tumblr and twitter if you need help advertising im sure your fans can help.
    I do want to comission you only life got int he way a car wreck and house things.

    • Link

      It's kinda too late to advertise, I have to close down to focus on marketing other jobs. If I ever get a lull I may take a small quota of furry comms later, and will give ample notice ahead of time.

      Otherwise I have my scrappy tumblr http://echoeslight.tumblr.com/ though it is difficult remembering to maintain consistent posting there. And my twitter https://twitter.com/echoeslight

  • Link

    Do whats best for you. just know Ive loved what you've put out thus far.

  • Link

    Sorry for the late response, but I'm sorry that it hasn't been working out for you this year. Is there anything that your fans can do to help?

    • Link

      The most awesome thing fans can do is plug my portfolio project over here https://www.patreon.com/thea?ty=h
      It's really helping me realize where I need to reinvent myself and kicks my butt into actually doing it.

      • Link

        Done! I've been a bit wary of patreon in the past, but I'll do what I can!