The fear, the confusion, the thrill: Selling your art as a beginner
Let's talk about the beginnings every creator has to battle through. Plus, see what successful, working creators think about the topic, and what you can do if you want to sell your first pieces of art.
Hi! 👋
In this newsletter, we talk about the beginnings every creator has to battle through, share some thoughts from creators on the topic, and what you can do if you want to sell your first pieces of art.
Scroll down to get ideas and share our newest article with anyone who needs it! 🎨
Welcome (back)! 🤗
This is Petra from The Creators' Diary. If this is your first TC’D newsletter, welcome! We’re happy you’ve subscribed!
Share what you think about this issue or the questions you struggle with as a creator by simply replying to this email. A real human (Petra) reads it.
Story of the week 🗞️
When I do a creator interview—and be sure to keep an eye on this space because we have multiple new ones coming—, I ask everyone how the start of their creator journey was. How did they feel? What were their questions? How did they move from point A to point B?
- Illustrator Cristina Gómez told me that she had to lose the fear of sharing her work first, then had to come to terms with the fact that she had to figure out everything on her own.
- Potter AJ Simpson told me they had many of those "Oh God! I'm not going to make rent this month!" moments (that thankfully passed).
- Naturalist and illustrator Dais Scott-Bennett told me how, at the start, she told family and friends multiple times to "Please, just go and give my Instagram a follow and have a look".
They realised that the only way to go was to move ahead. They started reading more to find answers, they looked at what other creators were doing, or if they happened to know one, asked them about every little thing they could. They started testing the waters from online tools to artistic styles.
Yes, starting a small creative business, wanting to sell your art is a complex mechanism made of so many of those "little things" that it's truly intimidating at first.
My advice is to take step by step and battle those little things one by one. Get ideas, see what is possible out there, and start testing with whatever way of selling you like. Just start doing it.It's tough out there. Every creator I talk to confirms this to me. But if you don't give up, the best thing happens: you get to see what is possible. If you give up, you'll only know what's not possible—and that sounds like a lost battle to me.
👉 We published our How to sell art: Starter guide (2025) with our recommendations that include classic choices and tips that may surprise you.
- Did you know that there are art-specific marketplaces, not just general ones like Etsy?
- Did you know that it's not a good idea to rely on only one social media profile to sell your art?
- Did you know that there is an easy way to get into galleries and museums even as a beginner?
Find the answers to these and many more questions in our article, with a list of 8 places you can sell your art as a beginner, including online and offline channels, more artistic and more commercial options, too, depending on what fits you the most.
Creator quote of the week 📌
From artist @Nathiola:
If you're not a beginner: Do you remember the first art piece you sold? What was it and how did the sale happen?
If you're a beginner: Are you already testing the waters? What are your plans? What is your next step? Do you need help with anything?
Let us know, we're actually here to help.
I read every reply and am happy to chat and point you in the right direction.
See you next week,
Petra
Petra Gönczi
