Making money as a freelance artist, especially consistent money, can be difficult. Many artists are constantly searching for new job prospects and avenues of income. However, one seemingly untapped niche is the furry fandom.
What Are Furries
For those who are unaware, furries are people who are interested in anthropomorphic animals and also often create anthropomorphic depictions of themselves known as fursonas. These can be wolves, dogs, cats, bears, hogs, or rats, it doesn’t matter; a fursona is essentially a person characterized as an animal.
The issue is, that not all furries have the artistic ability to make these fursonas a reality and instead must commission an artist to do so. This is where freelance artists come in.
How Much Money Do Furry Artists Make?
It’s hard to pin this down to one number as it varies so greatly from artist to artist. There are many factors that play into it such as the complexity of the pieces the artist is working on, the volume of customers an artist has, how often their commissions are open, etc.
Having said this, some artists charge upwards of $100 for some of their pieces and this isn’t that outrageous within the fandom. As well as this, some artists charge around $20 for pieces that they can pump out several of in a day. Many furry artists have been known to make around $50,000 annually from art commissions alone.
How Do I Make Money As A Furry Artist?
Freelancing Sites
As we discussed in our article on ways to make money with procreate, “Fiverr”, “Upwork” and “Etsy” are extremely useful tools for freelance work. Now here’s the catch, rather than marketing yourself as just another freelance artist, forcing yourself to compete with hundreds of thousands of other artists who do the same thing as you, narrow your niche and instead market yourself as a “furry artist”.
There is also a demand for such a wide variety of types of art for furries that it’s almost inexhaustible. There are headshots, busts, full-body portraits, reference sheets, chibi art, pixel art, badges, the list just goes on. The furry fandom is only growing, at approximately 1 million members in 2018, fursonas are almost a necessity for the community meaning that furry artists can stay in business.
Set Up Your Own Site
Making money as a freelance artist doesn’t necessarily mean you have to exclusively promote yourself on freelancing platforms to make money. It is easier now than ever to start building your own website and promoting your work. Sites like Fursonafy give buyers an alternative to one-to-one commissions like with freelancing sites and instead have a team of artists on board that creates art.
Twitter Commissions And Adopts
Twitter is also a great resource for both those looking to commission art and those looking to promote their own art. Unlike with Fiverr where artists’ rates are inflated to compensate for the percentage of commissions that Fiverr takes, Twitter allows artists to charge way more affordable prices for their art. Daily posts and promotions, as well as seasonal deals and relevant hashtags, should garner some attention from people looking to commission art.
Or maybe if commissioning art doesn’t suit you, customers can adopt fursonas that you promote on your Twitter. This refers to when a customer, instead of having the fursona designed specifically for them, buys a pre-existing fursona that was made by the artist beforehand. This means that artists can just make whatever fursona they feel like and promote it on their twitter for anyone to buy.
However, one downside to using Twitter is that it isn’t as reliable as a primary source of income and instead should be used in combination with freelancing sites.
Final Verdict
In conclusion, making consistent money as a freelance furry artist is definitely viable. It has been proven time and time again as it is constantly in demand and has been for the past decade or longer.
