ghirahimbo

[ghirahimbo]

“Dad, why aren’t we allowed to go outside?” your daughter asks one day. But she already knows. There is no outside anymore.

#laugh tag #fav

[ghirahimbo]

i learned about Tim Wong who successfully and singlehandedly repopulated the rare California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly in San Francisco. In the past few years, he’s cultivated more than 200 pipevine plants (their only food source) and gives thousands of caterpillars to his local Botanical Garden (x)

#!!!

[ghirahimbo]

What is the highest number of notes on a post you have made? What's your most "successful" post?

#huh #looks like 'got any orbs' broke 80k at some point

[ghirahimbo]

why'd I just see a job posting asking for someone "detailed-oriented"? 😒

#i may not be perfect #but at the very least i'm probably detailed oriented enough to write their job postings for them

[ghirahimbo]

My first time posting art :)

Sooo..- i got inspo, from the lovely ink landscapes made by @ducksdontdraw

And I drew my first black and white art piece- trying to replicate inking on ibis paint. I hope I did good-

(I don’t know how to post well-)

#loz #botw

[ghirahimbo]

oh here we go

barbie official: we’re gonna put all our movies on youtube for free!

youtube, still selling their movies: huh? what’d they say they were going to do?

[ghirahimbo]

Ayo! New follower here. I love your art and your mind set of just messing around to make cool stuff. but I’ve also seen you love been to at least one convention (I didn’t scroll far enough to see more about conventions) and I wanted to ask. How you did it? I really enjoy making art and I would love to make it a career so this boils down to :

how did you do it? And how can I do it too?

not just like first steps but what happens after that? I’m young enough that if this doesn’t work out I have plenty of time to look into other careers before worrying about paying for rent or necessities with money from my future occupation. I know that everyone’s experience is different but I still hoping you can give me a somewhat clear answer.

thank you for inspiring me

(sorry this ask was so long)

Hello there! Thank you for your message.

These questions are large and hard to answer. Being more specific in your questions helps. "How I did it" is very... large in scope. That question could be answered just by saying, "I did it by never wanting anything else and never losing sight of my goal." But that doesn't help you much. So I'll just try to touch on some key points and contexts.

I'm 32. Only in the last couple years has my practice been enough to make a living doing it. I've always wanted this and literally everything I've done in my life has been to get here. I've worked two jobs my entire working life (age 19-now): retail/customer service and art stuff on the side. Because of the pandemic, I got double unemployment and stimulus checks, which became my initial investment into merch and savings safety net to get started. I started therapy to address my fears of asking for help, my negative self-talk, and catastrophic thinking. (Therapy has helped me with my art so much.) Then I was laid off for real in 2020 and hit the ground running with art. I split rent with roommates, I live very very cheaply, and art is my passion. If art for a living is what you want to do and you're happy to make lots of concessions to get it, this career works. It takes a while to get momentum and regular sales/attention-- just don't quit. The more stuff you do the more people will recognize you and like your work.

It would be dishonest to not address my privilege here, too. My parents have always emotionally supported my practice, my friends too, and I got to go to art school with no debt. I did outside of school art mentorships. My art education experiences taught me a lot of art techniques and self-employed skills and that only happened due to the support of my folks. I had resources a lot of people don't. (Which is why I want to help new artists learn this stuff as much as I can; not everyone is as lucky as I am.)

My advice for you if you want to do what I do, which is being self-employed making and selling art and art merchandise for a living:

Get used to making concessions right at first. Your art career will probably not start out gangbusters, so get used to low sales and saving money and working hard. Make things within your means and grow from there.

Fuck around and find out. Try making merch, try making videos, try things you see other artists doing, try everything and see if it works for how you like to make stuff. I learn so much from YouTube, to be totally honest. Artists are good sharers.

Follow a shit ton of artists and see what works for them. Join artist groups and ask thoughtful, specific questions to learn from those already doing it.

Learn how to write about your art. Write about why you make it. It helps make it more compelling to others. "How to Sell Your Art Online" by Cory Huff is a good book to read for tips on this.

Develop a healthy relationship with art-making. If you sit down at a blank page and it terrifies you: address that first. Don't try to start a business if you're still struggling with making art regularly.

In fact, don't start a business until you're really ready. Art comes first. You can easily do art and build skills and do commissions and run an online shop along with working a job that pays bills reliably while you grow into the artist you're meant to be.

Don't pigeon-hole yourself into only one channel: don't JUST apply to cons, try street fairs too. Don't JUST sell online, get your work into cafes as well. You'll see which routes are more profitable/worth the time as you try them out. Eggs in many baskets, you know.

There's probably a whole essay I could write on this. And you're right--mileage varies between person to person vastly. The part of the world you live in, your access to transportation, education, your mental health, what type of work you like to make, etc. Art careers almost never look the same 1:1 even in fandom spaces like furry/anime. If you're self-made, it will reflect that.

I recommend the YouTube channels Rafi Was Here, Robin Sealark, Cat Graffam, and the website The Abundant Artist (again by Cory Huff) for more resources.

Don't be afraid to take leaps of faith. Try everything. Be true to what works for you and what doesn't feel sustainable. Be authentic with your art and stay true to your interests. And good luck.

#rereblogging so i don't forget it #art #reference

[ghirahimbo]

whatcha say

[ghirahimbo]

@rand0mt0tk heyyy okay so I made a video to answer your ask because it seemed easier at the time, but then I crashed my phone trying to upload it? 😭 gonna give this one more go and see if tumblr will be nicey 🥺 ha ha but thanks for the ask!

#reblogging this mostly out of curiosity at this point #will it appear on the dashboard if another blog reblogs it? or is it stuck in limbo? #edit: it did not #appears on my blog but not on my dashboard #the unshareable post...

[ghirahimbo]

#just you wait #i'm gonna get it together

[ghirahimbo]

my brother’s playing breath of the wild and says he knows exactly which character will be my favorite

and he just sent me a pic and it’s that shark guy everyone’s lusting after

i can’t wait

#this really was so funny in hindsight

[ghirahimbo]

#fav

[ghirahimbo]

my notes have still not recovered from the combined force of revenge boops and "I don't want delicious recipes"... blease...

texting my lawyer brother like a normal person

[ghirahimbo]

texting my lawyer brother like a normal person

[ghirahimbo]

I LOVE THIS

#perfect

[ghirahimbo]

occasional posts from users

#i do post occasionally

[ghirahimbo]

remember to keep your pockets organised, lads 🍊

#animal crossing #fav