Art as a Side Hustle

Welcome back printmaking nerds! I hope you had a chance to make something new this week. I am back in the studio and am happy as a freshly made quesadilla.

In this week's issue:

• Side Hustles

• Introducing Creative Fabrica Classes

• We talk to Susana McDonnell 

Let's dive in…

Cartoon of the Week

The Importance of Side Hustles

I grew up poor. My family migrated to this country in 2002 because of that very reason. It is not something that I am ashamed of, rather it is a fact. Coming to the US has shaped me in more ways than if I would have stayed in my home country.

If you are not an immigrant or don't have any family members with recent experiences of migration, then let me tell you that it is one of the hardest things you can possibly experience - except going through labor that is. Women have super powers.

When you've grown up with limited means, you get really creative at making every dollar stretch and at having a side hustle.

One of the very first side hustles I had was in the 4th grade, when I worked weekends at a steakhouse washing dishes and bussing tables. It wasn’t strictly legal, even in Mexico, but it came with free food and tips.

Once in the US, and with a very limited English and stricter child labor laws, I started collecting aluminum cans after school. I made a few extra bucks each week and that was more than enough to pay for my extra school lunches. I say extra because I had the habit of ordering extra chocolate milk and cookies that wasn’t always covered by the free and reduce lunch program. I was a growing middle schooler and was always hungry.

In high school, I was able to take a trip to Yosemite National Park during an October break. I not only fell in love with Yosemite, but discovered I was decent at making art. I entered a couple school art contests and won. By the end of high school, I was making a few dollars each month making tattoo designs for seniors and I even illustrated an entire children’s book for a teacher for a grand total of $100.

My first job after graduating was painting a mural in downtown Stockton. I was extremely under paid for that, only making $300 for three week’s work, but hey, there is a piece of me that will always be on the walls of my city….until the city finds a more talented artist.

Since then, I’ve had side hustles in construction, cleaning yards, selling books and used clothes online, and sometimes I still go and collect recyclables for a few extra dollars.

I am lucky to be living my own version of the California Dream! Yes, it still exists, despite how faded it may seem. I live in an incredibly beautiful state, bursting with creativity and diversity that has provided me with resources I needed to grow.

As I continued making art by drawing and painting, people started asking me if they could buy my stuff. I made a few dollars this way but the money was extremely sporadic.

Once I started viewing my art as a serious side hustle and began sharing my work online, a slow and constant revenue stream followed.

These are some of my earnings since I started selling my art.

• 2019 - $500

• 2020 - $1,980

• 2021 - $4,308

• 2022 Q2 - $5,177

By 2021, my art “hobby” had turned into an average of $359 a month. This money was outside of my regular paycheck. It has been enough money for the state to send me a kind letter explaining to me my tax responsibilities too. I could use this income to pay for my art materials and even help pay for other expense’s or even save a little.

By the second quarter of this year, I had already surpassed the total earnings of 2021. I began treating my side hustle as a full blown business. I applied for my sellers permit, rented an office address and obtained a business license. It has been a lot of work but it sure has been rewarding.

My ultimate goal is for my side hustle to make $1,000 of extra income a month. The art market is fickle. In February, I made $360.75 while in June, I made $2,406.87.

How you can Nourish your Side Hustle.

1. Figure out what you’re “ok” at

Look, I get it, I wish I could draw or paint photorealism. The truth of the matter is that I neither have the patience or the skill set for it. Before you settle down on a side hustle, identify something that you are “ok” at. Maybe it’s art, consulting, graphic design, or walking dogs. Find something you are “ok” at and start refining the skills around it so that you become good at it.

2. Free trials

While you build your skill set, start testing the market by giving away freebies. Give a sample of your products, services, or knowledge. This not only helps you build your salesmanship skills, but it get’s you access to an audience who will not feel cornered into buying a product/service that is not worth their time/money. Sorry, if it sounds harsh but it is true. I often found that people who get freebies are honest with you when you ask for an opinion. They will tell you when something sucks. Most importantly, when you have a quality product, they will tell you the magic words “you know, you should be charging for this.” That’s when you know you’re golden pony boy!

3. Research

Once you know you are good at something, do some further market research. Identify the things a specific market is missing. Determine how you can make an existing product stand out by being different and instantly recognizable. This is where your unique skills come into play.

4. Build Good Habits

 Knowing who your customers are is helpful, but improvement is a game changer. The only way to improve is by doing something over and over again. When I first started doing landscapes, I sucked at making sketches. I still do, but I make an effort to make a sketch every day and as a result, my compositions are not as bad. I don’t always feel like sketching, but I know this reinforces a lot of my art practice. A print is only as good as its original base drawing. Sketching and drawing are paramount and the only way to improve is by having a good art habit.

5. Don’t Be Afraid of Change

Once you set off making a quality product and start making money off it, don’t be afraid to pivot when necessary. I wasn’t always a printmaker. I started my art hustle as a portrait painter. Standing out locally as a painter was hard. I was just another painter at public shows and events. People would walk by my booth and forget about me, which made sales even harder. I discovered printmaking purely by accident while browsing Instagram. When I gave it a try, I enjoyed it so much I decided to pivot away from the brushes. I honestly couldn’t be happier.

Don’t ignore your side hustle, nourish it, tune out the negative voices. If this is important to you, then let the negativity slide off you like water off a duck's back. Persistence and working on something I enjoy have been the key in making all of this happen.

You got this. I believe in you.

Creative Fabrica Classes 

Pigging back on side hustles. I am so excited to finally be able to share my very first printmaking classes, available exclusively on Creative Fabrica.

In these classes, I walk with you step-by-step to create a series of projects, from stamp making, printing on fabric to woodcut. In the next couple weeks, all five classes will be dropping and will be available on demand!

Creative Fabrica is not only a learning platform but its a resource for crafters and creatives where you can find access to hundreds of fonts, patterns, designs and most recently classes.

Thank you to Creative Fabrica for making this all happen!

You can sign-up to my classes here!

Artist Highlight: Susana McDonnell

This week we talk to Susana McDonnell, the emblematic printmaker with the stunning geometrical designs and patterns. You probably know her from those Speedball fabric samples hanging at the printmaking aisle of the art store, or as the co-host @printersolstice the one and only @linocaveprints

Daniel: What medium do you work in?

Susana: I am a relief printmaker.

Daniel: How long have you been printmaking itself?

Susana: So about four or five years for this particular type of block printing, but I did study in college a little bit of lithography, screen printing, mono printing , etc. That was in the early 2000s then I switched and did other things, then ended up retuning to block printing practice in my home studio.

Daniel: You work with a lot of color and you have great harmonies when you print on fabric. How do you choose which colors to use or is it a more organic approach?

Susana: A lot of the times with fabrics I just sit and stare at the fabric and try to have a vision and be inspired by the actual material. Other times I think well its spring lets do something a little more fun that could be a pretty rainbow mood and I pick colors that will pop and make the eye buzz. Colors that will excite the viewer so I try to work with a lot of complementary colors, and things that are very dynamic and vibrant.

Daniel: That’s awesome! Next question is geared towards beginners, what advice would you give someone just getting started in printmaking?

Susana: Um, first of all just do it like a thousand times. You will learn a lot by doing.

One of the really nice things about Instagram and the printmaking community on Instagram is that people are generous with their knowledge. They are not overprotective, I mean there are people who will want to answer and other don’t. There is plenty of classes online, I got some! Julie Bowlser got’s them, Allie Becker does them too. Go learn, you don’t even need to leave your house, you don’t have to go anywhere. You just can’t sit home with your comfy clothes, learn, READ!

Read full interview here. 

If you wish to connect with Susana make sure to give her a follow on Instagram and check out her offerings at her website

Hey Hold Up!

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Thanks for reading. See ya next week.

-Daniel