How To Stay Motivated and Finish Your Digital Art Projects

You’ve got skill. You’ve also got passion, drive, and creativity which fuels your amazing digital art projects. Well, at least until you lose all motivation and leave a project unfinished, rejected, and forgotten, as you move on to the next thing that suits your fancy. For some artists, finding the motivation to finish projects can be extremely difficult. Here’s our take on finding motivation and recommitting yourself to digital art success, whether it’s a side-hustle, full-time gig, or even just a fulfilling hobby.

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Find Ways To Hold Yourself Accountable

While everyone’s situation and reasoning are personal and unique, one thing you may have experienced is the fear of failing. Sometimes, this fear quietly holds us back from completing a project or wandering out of our comfort zones. Think about it. Isn’t it so much easier to start an exciting new project, rather than finish one you’re unsure of? The project that is so close to completion, if only you could overcome those last few hurdles, or shut out the voice in the back of your head that says, “what if this one doesn’t work out?” Too often we give in to that voice, throw in the towel, and move on to something else, because starting new projects is comfortable, and seeing them through to the end is hard.

So how do you stop yourself from heeding that doubt when it settles in? One of the best ways to do that is to find ways to hold yourself accountable, both to yourself and to others.

Associate Yourself With an Art Community

This is one of the friendliest and healthiest ways to find accountability for your digital art projects. A sense of belonging and friendship is going to benefit you in many more facets of life beyond art accountability, though it can be great for that, too! When you’re regularly sharing updates about your project with fellow artists who understand what you’re experiencing, they’ll naturally provide encouragement and maybe even a healthy amount of competition and pressure to see a project through. Just having someone you value ask you for an update on your project status can be a big source of motivation to keep working on it and see something through to completion.

Money Talks and It Begs You to Make More of It

We get it, this might sound vain. It probably is, Carly Simon. So let’s be frank, yes, art is about more than making money, we acknowledge that, and hopefully you do too. If art was easy and lucrative everyone would do it. It’s not. Making money off of your art takes hard work and probably just as much luck and good timing. But without a doubt, money is one of the most powerful motivators in society. So using it as such shouldn’t be shamed.

If you’ve ever worked a job you didn’t love, why did you stick with it every day? Sure, you might be looking for a better job along the way, but usually, you keep working until you find that job. Why? Because we need money in our society. Maybe you liked your coworkers, but primarily, you woke up and went to work each day because of your paycheck, right?

Tie yourself to a financial obligation, and you are far more likely to deliver, no matter how hard it is to face a difficult challenge or get over opposition that would otherwise keep you from completing a project. Just be careful to find joy in the journey, and don’t let contracted obligations turn your passion into something you dread doing every day! Here are some out-of-the-box ways to learn how to sell digital art online and make money.

Ways to Make Money Selling Your Digital Art

There are a lot of ways to help you feel obligated to complete projects and make a side-hustle or full-on income stream out of your work.

Patreon

A great example, that ties in both community and money motivators, is an avenue like Patreon. Patreon is a great way to build a community and incentivize them to give monthly or annual support to your work. If you aren’t familiar with how it works, someone can create a Patreon account and offer various tiers of support levels. In exchange, you offer people perks or extra value that is hidden behind a paywall. Usually, as low as 2-5 dollars, these perks can attract fans of your work who want to receive extra attention, give you support, or see behind-the-scenes content that isn’t put out to the rest of the world.

YouTube

Many creators have a YouTube and a Patreon, and this is a smart tactic. Sure, ad revenue from YouTube isn’t going to be all that great, but for many creators, they see value far behind ad revenue. Subscribers are community members. They’re people who like you and your art and whatever else you offer to them as a community. This can be a great marketing tool when you offer them paid projects. You can also use it as a funnel to find new Patreon supporters as well!

ArtStation

This platform is so important for 3D artists. If you aren’t using ArtStation, we highly recommend you create an account. Any digital artist who is serious about working in art industries, selling digital art, making money off contract gigs, doing concept art for entertainment and video games, participating in contests, gaining exposure, and finding a sense of community, will thrive in this platform. This website is well-known and respected. It will serve as your portfolio, can bring you new clients, help you land full-time jobs, and also has a marketplace where you can sell content. Before you put effort into things like Patreon and YouTube, you should consider putting your focus on this platform first.

Exploring New Avenues Like NFT Digital Art

Finally, our last advice on how to sell digital art online and make money while staying motivated to do so, is to consider exploring new avenues like NFT digital art and the rising metaverse. Throughout history, art has always been progressive and avant-garde. Artists are often some of the first individuals to test boundaries, push limits, and try things that haven’t been done before. Perhaps this is what attracts many artists to explore new, exciting technology.

While NFTs aren’t a guaranteed ticket to success, they are an innovative and interesting new way to explore art and monetize your work. If you have felt your passion growing stale, diving into a new environment can be invigorating. There will be a lot to learn and research to help guide you through your foray into NFTs, and for some, this exploration might be enough to motivate you toward project completion. If you’d like to see firsthand how NFTs inspired one published Daz artist, check out our highlight on Mario V.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Give Up

If we can close with one last message, it’s don’t give up. If there’s any takeaway from this friendly accord we’ve shared today, just remember that it’s okay to want to make money off your art, and sometimes that is a great motivator. On the flip side, it is equally okay to not care all that much about the business side of it and to just enjoy making art as a hobby and a way to feel belonging in a community.

Incidentally, these are two great benefits of being a part of the Daz family and community. With opportunities to pursue avenues as a published artist making and selling content in our marketplace, to just participating in our great community by sharing your work in the Gallery and chatting in the forums, Daz has so much to offer beginners and successful 3D artists.

If you haven’t tried Daz Studio yet, head over here to grab a free download and start your epic journey today! Thanks for reading, and as always, stay healthy and keep creating!

Featured image: “The Big F!x by RevidNav in the Daz Gallery.