Passive income for artists – 5 ideas you can try today

In the United States, people earn $13,673 on average from passive income. And lucky for you, there are lots of great ways to make passive income for artists.

In a recent interview for The Creators’ Diary, Cristina Gómez told us that “an illustrator must have an active and passive income”. But the same can be said for graphic designers, musicians, and even crocheters (yes, that’s a real word).

So to help you find new ways to make money on the side, I’m going to walk you through five passive income ideas for artists. But first, let’s talk about what passive income actually means.

What is passive income?

Passive income is a way of making regular income without needing to put in regular effort. The idea is that, by doing some hard work upfront and setting yourself up just right, you can move on to other projects while the money rolls in.

Think Airbnb. You have a house, you have a spare room, and by renting it out you can easily make yourself $1,000+ every month. Sure, you have to clean the room each time and make sure there’s plenty of coffee and toilet roll for your next guest. But your returns far outweigh the ongoing effort.

With me? Great! Let’s dive into my five passive income ideas for artists.

1. Sell digital downloads of your art

One of the most effective ways to make passive income for artists is by offering digital downloads. This makes your art super flexible to all the different sizes people may want, or the things they want to print it on.

Here are some of the most popular types of digital downloads for artists:

• Art prints and photography – individual PDF files for printing at home or at a local printing shop
• Wall galleries – a collection of 5-10 PDF files that work well together in a gallery wall, again for printing at home or at a local shop
• Illustrations – vector SVG files that can be printed on everything from t-shirts to tote bags
• Wedding invitations – customizable design files that fiancés and fiancées can edit, adding their names and other details about their big day

Once you’ve created your art, you can list it on your website or a marketplace like Etsy as a digital download. Then you can sit back and watch the money roll in without needing to worry about logistics or printing costs.

Example

You create a series of typographic art prints that people are going crazy for on Instagram. So you decide to list them on Etsy for $10 each. Etsy takes a $0.20 listing fee and 6.5% transaction fee, but you still see $9.15 for every print you sell.

With a bit of promotion on Instagram and some great five-star reviews from your customers, you’re soon bringing in a passive income of $500/month from your digital downloads. 

2. Sign up with a print-on-demand site

Where do you think websites like Society6 get their art from? People like you, of course!

By signing up to a print-on-demand site, you can make money from your art without the logistical nightmare of printing and producing everything up front.

You’ll get exposure to a huge audience who would otherwise never get a chance to see your designs. And the site will take care of production and shipping for you. Naturally, there’s a lot of competition. But what’s the harm in putting yourself out there?

Here are some examples of print-on-demand products you could sell:

• Wall art
• Clocks
• Cushions
• Blankets
• Tote bags
• Backpacks
• Coffee mugs
• Coasters
• Socks
• Makeup bags
• Picnic blankets
• Yoga mats

I think you get the idea – pretty much anything!

Example

You design a repeating pattern that works on all kinds of homeware products – Orla Kiely style. So you sign up with Society6 and list a bunch of different products featuring your designs. Then you set your artist’s markup (this is the amount you want to get for each product you sell).

With some occasional effort on Pinterest and TikTok to promote your products, you start seeing some reliable monthly returns.

3. Earn royalties by licensing your art to brands

We’ve already talked about how art marketplaces get their designs from artists like you. Well, guess what? Brands do too! So when you just have to have that print t-shirt from Levi or jazzy pair of socks from Nike, it’s not because you love the brand – it’s because you love the artist. 

But before we get into the how, who, and how much, here’s a quick 101 on art licensing. 

Art licensing is the process of selling (or licensing) one of your designs to another company. This gives them the rights to use your design on anything from hats to sneakers.

Now for the how. The first thing you need to do is put your art out there. List it on Society6, shout about it on social media, put it on your website. Then make sure your contact details are easy to find in case a buyer or art director from a big brand stumbles across it.

Another option here is to make a shortlist of your favorite brands, track down the relevant people online, and pitch your designs. My advice would be to explore both avenues and see what works for you.

Once you land a deal, there are two main licensing options:

• Limited license – You give the company rights to use your design based on specific terms set out in your contract. This gives you more control over where your artwork is used and means you retain copyright.
• Buyout – You give the company full rights to your design. This means that you no longer own it and can’t use it for other licensing opportunities.

Example

You get an email from someone at Makers Collective. They’ve seen your new mermaid-on-a-horse illustration on Society6 and they love it. They offer to pitch it to Target on your behalf, and you accept. Fast-forward a year and you’re making thousands every month in royalties from just one collaboration.

4. Create and sell an on-demand course

Online learning is big money in 2024, making it a great source of passive income for artists.

From small tech startups to global agency networks, companies are offering their employees generous personal development budgets to splash on talks, courses, and 1:1 coaching.

This creates a huge opportunity for artists. From graphic designers to video editors, creatives are always on the lookout for things that can give them the edge. And the great thing is that your course doesn’t even have to be live. You can write and record it, put it out there on a site like Domestika, and let the passive income start rolling in.

Here are a few examples of on-demand courses by artists that are live right now:

• Portrait Sketchbooking: Explore the Human Face
• Procreate for Beginners: Digital Illustration 101
• Digital Fantasy Portraits with Photoshop
• Design and create a ‘stained glass’ embroidery
• Daily Sketching for Creative Inspiration

That last one costs $39.99 and has been bought 140,439 times. You do the math.

Example

You’ve written a few articles about how to create a typeface from scratch, and they’ve gained a lot of traction. So you decide to monetize your expertise with a course on Domestika. You submit a proposal, then they fund and manage the production of your course.

A few weeks later, you get paid an advance before anyone even takes your course. Then, once you’ve had enough students for the platform to cover your advance, you start earning royalties for every student who signs up.

5. Sell helpful resources for a one-off fee

Artists are born creators. Every day, you’re making stuff for your clients, for personal projects, or just for the hell of it. So why not package those things up into resources you can sell online?

Here are a few resources you could sell:

• Design templates for logos or PowerPoint presentations
• Fonts, icons, brushes, and textures for designers
• Special effects for video projects
• Patterns for knitting and crochet
• Guitar tabs and sheet music for musicians

Example

You create a bespoke set of brush strokes and textures for one of your design projects. But rather than keeping them to yourself, you decide to list them on Figma Community for $20. This gives you massive exposure to tens of thousands of designers.

Sure, Figma takes a flat fee of 15% for every sale. But you can still make a few hundred dollars each month with little to no ongoing effort.

Final thoughts

Passive income is a way of making money on the side without having to work too hard for it. So for any artist or digital creator looking for new ways to make money, it’s a must.

You could sell digital downloads of your art, sign up for a print-on-demand site, or offer helpful resources to other artists for a fee. The only limit is your imagination. And lucky for you, imagining is what you do best.

_{Featured image by Andre Taissin}