Whats life like as a Freelance Artist?

[Ven S]

I always wanted to know what its like as a freelance artist. Is it easy, hard? (Ok thats a stupid question to ask.. -.-) Whats it like, is it better then full time, do you have to take a second part time job,when did you start doing freelance work,etc.

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[Izi]

Well, sometimes failing to become a success monetarily the artist commits suicide if he does not die in poverty and sometimes becoming a monetary success causes the artist to commit suicide. There are inbetweens...

[dpaint]

Freelancing is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned. I like being able to set my own hours, if I want to work in the evening instead of the morning I can do that most of the time, even in crunch. You tend to get more respect and better pay as a freelancer. If your smart and hard working that ends up being a better yearly income than inhouse even without vacations and bennies.

[element1988]

Freelancing is the only way to go as far as I'm concerned. I like being able to set my own hours, if I want to work in the evening instead of the morning I can do that most of the time, even in crunch. You tend to get more respect and better pay as a freelancer. If your smart and hard working that ends up being a better yearly income than inhouse even without vacations and bennies.

Setting my own hours is the reason i wanna go freelance... im not much use before 10am

[ikken]

I've seen a few studios being flexible about your working times, like you can drop in by 11 am and leave at 8-9 PM. as long as the work gets done, they don't care.
but I'm not sure if it's really common in the West, our job market is quite different here, less organized and less corporative or something.

[bcarman]

But beware. Free-lance is as much about business and motivation as it is art. Sometimes more. And sometimes the hours choose you and not the other way around. Free-lance is pretty much the the norm in illustration but it takes hard assed work to make a living.


Bill'sStudio

[Qitsune]

Nothing worth doing is easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

[bcarman]

Just a heads up. I can't tell you how many students think it's just like having any other job. It's not. Some people just don't have the personality or the motivation to free-lance. I try to help people go into things with open eyes. Just because it's worth doing doesn't mean every hard worker can.

[shrunkendesigner]

I've been freelancing for about a year now and I have seen many of the for's and against's to freelancing. I've had really great clients, awkward clients and one who canceled so close to completion.

Some months, the income has been a little like a stream of water in the hot sun and some its been like a tidal wave (a modest one I should say, enough to live on).

I've found that I do a great deal less personal work which has made me a little sad really but I have also expanded my professional skill set in using programs I wouldn't normally use to execute work.

I've had weeks where I've worked about 60 hours and some where I've done very little. Sometimes getting up really late, sometimes early (and the same for going to bed). All in all, I've seen and done a mix of things but in no way have I experienced it all.

For me, I love the freedom of hours and the learning new programs and techniques but I've missed the banter of working in an office and don't see as much of the sun as I would like. I think that freelancing may seem like it isn't for everyone but if you can adapt to the way of life, you can make it work for you.

I think I need to be more consistent with my daily work and try my hardest to do more personal art, strive to improve (always) at drawing and not let commissions get in the way of enjoying being creative. Plus, I miss allowing myself to play computer games...

[PsiBug]

My experience in the last two years has been much like shrunkendesigner's

When I made the decision to turn in my resignation at work (crazy town), I had fairly realistic expectations of the difficulties of becoming a freelancer. I had money saved up, and I figured I'd try freelancing for about a year and then make a decision about continuing or looking for a new job. Ultimately, I agreed to continue working 2 days each week at my former job while freelancing the rest of the time.

As a 9-5 office employee, you are given work and you do it. Then you go home.
As a freelancer you will need to:
- determine how much money you need to earn monthly to pay your bills, and then earn it
- find jobs
- bid on jobs
- schedule enough jobs that you can stay busy without missing deadlines
- set your rates high enough to make the work worthwhile without losing bids
- communicate with clients. cultivate good client relationships
- meet deadlines
- work as many hours as it takes to get the work finished and delivered on time.
- collect payment
- arrange your own insurance and pay for it
- pay taxes quarterly (if in the US)

It's a good idea to keep a spreadsheet of all of your projects with a job description, contact info, bid date, start date, finish date, payment date and price (plus any notes you want). Also keep a folder of all business related expenses and keep it in a convenient location in your work area. You may need these at tax time.

Repeat business with a good client means more financial stability for you, so be good to your clients. Contracts can protect both clients and artists. Clients want to get their art on time and artists want to get paid. Make sure both parties understand the details of the project. Try to be aware that personal info is needed for contracts and tax forms but can also be used for identity theft. Read more about this topic and take steps to avoid identity theft.

Make a short list of sites with good job ads and a longer list of sites that you can scour when the short list doesn't have enough projects to keep you busy.

Have a good online portfolio that represents the type of work you want to do.

You may be able to improve your earnings by bidding on jobs that require special skills. These jobs may have fewer competing bids.

I don't generally recommend doing free samples, but if you plan to bid on a certain type of project, do samples for yourself and add them to your portfolio.

If you are able to win more bids than you can handle, maybe you can increase your bid prices. If you are not winning enough bids then perhaps your prices are too high or your portfolio needs improvement.

My personal experience has been that over time a freelancer becomes better at selecting jobs and clients, and settles into a good pricing plan. Referrals and repeat business are a big help.

Hope that helps!

[QueenGwenevere]

Well, you get to work in the nude. That's always a plus.

All right, you get to work in the nude at 5:00am while eating ice cream and blasting the music of your choice and having personal projects open on your screen simultaneously with paying work. I think that sums up the pros of freelance pretty well.

But yeah - you NEED to be able to self-manage if you want to freelance. There's nobody to tell you what to do, or how to do it, or when to do it, so you need to be your own boss, and you need to be a pretty good boss if you want to stay afloat.

Plus you need to do your own marketing, and your own negotiating, and your own accounting, and learn to do your own taxes (and not the easy kind,) and sort out your own health care and retirement funding, and do your own IT troubleshooting and maintenance (I hate this part,) etc. etc. etc.

If you're the sort of person who needs an external structure to be productive, or you really hate having to deal with the business side of things, freelance might not be the way to go. On the other hand if you love being in control, it's perfect.

Also something to keep in mind... Getting started as a freelancer can be VERY hard, and you will probably need to supplement it with other part-time or full-time work for a while (preferably something vaguely related to your chosen profession.) The more jobs you get, the easier it becomes to get more jobs (usually,) but finding those first jobs and getting the ball rolling takes time, and it can be awfully bleak for the first couple of years at least. If you plan to freelance, be prepared to scrimp and save, or build up a financial cushion first.

[The Jeso]

There is a lot of very useful information in here, thanks guys

[PsiBug]

If you're the sort of person who needs an external structure to be productive, or you really hate having to deal with the business side of things, freelance might not be the way to go. On the other hand if you love being in control, it's perfect.

Also something to keep in mind... Getting started as a freelancer can be VERY hard, and you will probably need to supplement it with other part-time or full-time work for a while (preferably something vaguely related to your chosen profession.) The more jobs you get, the easier it becomes to get more jobs (usually,) but finding those first jobs and getting the ball rolling takes time, and it can be awfully bleak for the first couple of years at least. If you plan to freelance, be prepared to scrimp and save, or build up a financial cushion first.

I completely agree with this and I think it is a valuable insight!

[dpaint]

You have to be good in business but not in every aspect. I pay someone to do my marketing for me, I also have an accountant I pay to do my taxes.
I learned a long time ago I can fix things myself and have it take three times as long as someone who does it for a living or I can pay someone to do it. Its cheaper to pay someone.

Why should I do an oil change on my car when I can pay jiffy lube 25 bucks and have it done in thirty minutes. If I did it I would have to have the jack stands, the oil pan, the tools and the time to do it. My time is better spent working on what I do best not being a plumber, mechanic, computer tech, and accountant.

[QueenGwenevere]

You have to be good in business but not in every aspect. I pay someone to do my marketing for me, I also have an accountant I pay to do my taxes.
I learned a long time ago I can fix things myself and have it take three times as long as someone who does it for a living or I can pay someone to do it. Its cheaper to pay someone.

Depends on the individual. I grew up in a family where we did everything ourselves (including building our own house,) so I'm very much of the mindset that if I can do it myself, I will. Then again I'm a control freak. Other people prefer to call somebody else.

Also, unless you've reached the stage where you're making lots of money, paying an accountant and bookkeeper and agent etc. is NOT cheaper, and is probably well out of most starting freelancers' budgets (unless they've got a buttload of money saved up.) Just sayin' from experience...

Also paying a not-so-competent bookkeeper or accountant or marketing agent may actually result in losing a lot of money or even land you in trouble with the IRS. (Also sayin' from experience, not my personal experience thankfully...)

So even if you hire helpers, it's good to at least KNOW the business and financial side of things so you know if you're getting screwed over by your bookkeeper, accountant, and marketing people. And you WILL still have to manage those people (at least I sure hope you do,) and make sure they're doing their job right and not just sucking up your money.

I've watched people who didn't know enough get royally screwed by hiring incompetent bookkeepers and agents.

[dpaint]

Depends on the individual. I grew up in a family where we did everything ourselves (including building our own house,) so I'm very much of the mindset that if I can do it myself, I will. Then again I'm a control freak. Other people prefer to call somebody else.

Also, unless you've reached the stage where you're making lots of money, paying an accountant and bookkeeper and agent etc. is NOT cheaper, and is probably well out of most starting freelancers' budgets (unless they've got a buttload of money saved up.) Just sayin' from experience...

Also paying a not-so-competent bookkeeper or accountant or marketing agent may actually result in losing a lot of money or even land you in trouble with the IRS. (Also sayin' from experience, not my personal experience thankfully...)

So even if you hire helpers, it's good to at least KNOW the business and financial side of things so you know if you're getting screwed over by your bookkeeper, accountant, and marketing people. And you WILL still have to manage those people (at least I sure hope you do,) and make sure they're doing their job right and not just sucking up your money.

I've watched people who didn't know enough get royally screwed by hiring incompetent bookkeepers and agents.

We just disagree. Even when I started freelancing my time was better spent working on art not fooling around with things not art related. Like everything in business you can't be an idiot about it, my business associates come from referrals and I checked their references. Why do it yourself when I can pay a professional to do it and their hourly rate is cheaper than mine.
I grew up in a family where we did everything too and it is the biggest time dump; plus you have to have a separate house to hold all the equipment you need to do the work. Then you have to maintain the equipment so it works properly.
If everyone thought like you they would never hire an artist, they would just do it themselves.
I’d rather spend my time making money painting or other art related stuff.
My agent gets paid on commission so when they make me money, they make money. It doesn’t cost me anything up front. I have always had an accountant and agent, they are worth their weight in gold. I had been trying to get into this gallery for a year and my agent got me in within a week of giving her the list of places I wanted to show in.
We even have a house keeper, because my partners and my time is better spent not doing menial tasks all day long.

[Aly Fell]

The point about the hours picking you is well made. Every night right now is a late night. Every rise an early one. And every client sees their job as the priority. When you have deadlines sorted in your head, and you know what you are doing, then will be the time the client decides they need something sooner, and if it clashes with another priority, you have to make them balance.

Freelance is not all skittles and beer, but it can be so rewarding when it works. But I've never worked harder than since I quit my 9 to 5 (or because it was 'games' 9 to whenever they say it is!), the difference being I can choose the projects.

As far as doing other things apart from 'scribbling', I love being with my wife, tinkering with cars, writing, seeing bands having a social life, and those things are paid for by my clients - through the work I do and with respect are not 'fooling around'. My job is not my life, ie: doing what others ask me to do (as much as I enjoy it) although at times it seems that way. But my personal work is what I really want to develop, and one day my freelance will pay for that as well.

[QueenGwenevere]

I'm just saying I wouldn't advise a new freelancer to go into business without knowing anything about business. That's a great way to get screwed. Even if you get referrals, how do you know they're any good? What if you don't know anybody who has good referrals? Most kids fresh out of school won't have those kinds of contacts, and won't be able to tell a good referral from a "hey-my-cousin-does-accounting" referral. Nor will they be able to get good agents, because good agents won't be interested in kids fresh out of school. My teachers generally advised new grads to not jump right into an agent situation, but to build up some creds and experience first - and then decide if they actually need an agent.

I've seen people get screwed BADLY by presumably professional bookkeepers, accountants, and salespeople. Hence why I advise knowing enough to know if their services are any good. And the thing is, if you tell some beginners "oh, just get an accountant" or "oh, just get an agent", they'll use that as an excuse to not learn what they need to know to manage said accountant or agent.

[Black Spot]

As an accountant I would personally like to shoot some bookkeepers.

[Dusty]

- pay taxes quarterly (if in the US)

Could you elaborate on this and why it's important?
Someday I am considering making the switch and this is valuable information to know.

[dpaint]

Could you elaborate on this and why it's important?
Someday I am considering making the switch and this is valuable information to know.

Because the government likes you to lend them money for free

[QueenGwenevere]

@Black Spot: I know some so-called bookkeepers I'd like you to shoot, shall I send them over?

Could you elaborate on this and why it's important?
Someday I am considering making the switch and this is valuable information to know.

Estimated quarterly taxes. Go here: http://www.irs.gov/ and look up form 1040-ES and the related instructions...

Also look up Publication 334 while you're on there.

Basically the government hates the fact that they can't siphon money out of your weekly paycheck, so they make you give them large sums four times a year and then a larger sum on April 15 (unless you paid enough in quarterly installments.) If you don't pay what they consider to be a reasonable amount over the course of the year, you'll have to pay an even bigger lump come April 15 and they'll find excuses to charge extra penalties and will probably cause you grief. Because they can.

And yes, it's all pretty much guesswork until the fourth installment.

If you make more than a certain amount in non-wage income per year (i.e., freelance income, or anything that doesn't have taxes taken out in advance,) you're required to pay quarterly taxes on it. If you make less than the minimum, you don't have to pay it.

Of course, if you manage to make billions, then you don't have to pay any taxes at all.

[Ven S]

More intense then I thought

[Dusty]

@Black Spot: I know some so-called bookkeepers I'd like you to shoot, shall I send them over?



Estimated quarterly taxes. Go here: http://www.irs.gov/ and look up form 1040-ES and the related instructions...

Also look up Publication 334 while you're on there.

Basically the government hates the fact that they can't siphon money out of your weekly paycheck, so they make you give them large sums four times a year and then a larger sum on April 15 (unless you paid enough in quarterly installments.) If you don't pay what they consider to be a reasonable amount over the course of the year, you'll have to pay an even bigger lump come April 15 and they'll find excuses to charge extra penalties and will probably cause you grief. Because they can.

And yes, it's all pretty much guesswork until the fourth installment.

If you make more than a certain amount in non-wage income per year (i.e., freelance income, or anything that doesn't have taxes taken out in advance,) you're required to pay quarterly taxes on it. If you make less than the minimum, you don't have to pay it.

Of course, if you manage to make billions, then you don't have to pay any taxes at all.

Thanks, that was a wonderful summary! I'm in the process of saving my giant pillow at the moment...so all things I learn before the "great day" will help immensely.

[JeffX99]

More intense then I thought

And then multiply by 10.

[WhatsThatSposeToBe?]

I was wondering,
How does claiming unemployment work with being a freelance artist in the US (if it works at all).
Say you pay out your taxes as a freelance artist, but work gets really, really slow and you have trouble finding a normal 9-5 job to make up for it, and you are not sure if you can pay those bills. Since you pay taxes your taxes, would you be able to file for unemployment even though you are not working for a corporation/company that pays a ui tax?

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, but, does anyone know? I think it's useful to know if there is somewhat of a safety net if everything goes to crap.

[Deadlyhazard]

And then multiply by 10.

Yeah I remember reading Daarken's freelance schedule....he works like 14 hours a day, I swear. Freelance looks crazy.

[dpaint]

I was wondering,
How does claiming unemployment work with being a freelance artist in the US (if it works at all).
Say you pay out your taxes as a freelance artist, but work gets really, really slow and you have trouble finding a normal 9-5 job to make up for it, and you are not sure if you can pay those bills. Since you pay taxes your taxes, would you be able to file for unemployment even though you are not working for a corporation/company that pays a ui tax?

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, but, does anyone know? I think it's useful to know if there is somewhat of a safety net if everything goes to crap.

No, if you are a 1099 worker you have not paid into unemployment insurance and therefore don't qualify for it.

[Lithriel]

Well I am just getting a few official gigs here and I don't know what I am doing quite yet but I will say that it is hard to work around young kids and juggling deadlines. It's nice to work in my pjs. I roll out of bed at 5:30 to 6:30 each day and I sometimes don't get dressed until right before my husband comes home from work. K, that's all I have time for. Better get back to work!

[Conniekat8]

Could you elaborate on this and why it's important?
Someday I am considering making the switch and this is valuable information to know.

It's easier to manage your money shorter term, then wait till the end of the year after you spent most of it, and realizing, ouch, I didn't send enough to the IRS.

Also, I think there's some sort of penalty involved if you don't send it in quarterly - but I couldn't tell you for sure. I mostly just follow my accountant advice on that without getting overly nosy about it. I did read up on the why's of it when it was decision making time, but it was a few years ago, and I forgot the details by now.

I was wondering,
How does claiming unemployment work with being a freelance artist in the US (if it works at all).
Say you pay out your taxes as a freelance artist, but work gets really, really slow and you have trouble finding a normal 9-5 job to make up for it, and you are not sure if you can pay those bills. Since you pay taxes your taxes, would you be able to file for unemployment even though you are not working for a corporation/company that pays a ui tax?

Sorry for my ignorance on the subject, but, does anyone know? I think it's useful to know if there is somewhat of a safety net if everything goes to crap.

No unemployment for freelancers (1099's)

However, the biggest safety net you get as a freelancer is that you have a ton more control over your destiny, then if you are an employee. Educate yourself about it, and try to make wise decisions, protect your interests.

This is a second recession for me, and I'm managing to weather this one too, by freelancing. After the last one, I eventually got myself talked out of freelancing and working for someone, only to find myself newly unemployed 4-5 years later, when the new recession hit. Hindsight, I wish I hadn't done that. Perks (financial and otherwise) of going to work for someone didn't make up for it on the long run. Also, half the promises they used to 'hook me in' didn't come true.

The suckiest part was having to try and rebuild the client interest at the beginning of the recession.