Taking Stock of the Situation

Welcome to another honest blog post - where I discuss what’s really happening with my artistic career, rather than sugar-coat the situation in order to appear more professional and successful!

My goal is simple - go from being a part-time to full-time artist. But is that possible this year?

We're now well over the halfway point in 2025 - the year is speeding by. So have I actually made progress towards my goal? It feels like the right time to take stock: to look at what I’ve done, where I’m currently at, and where I need to go next. If you're also chasing a creative career, or just curious about how mine is going, I hope this gives some insight into the reality behind the art.

Let's start with this Website!

I consider this site to be my central hub. I direct people here when they ask about my art, commissions or after having bought my art or products at events.

It’s had over 4000 active users after 7 months this year. I’m happy it’s getting at least some traffic. Although I would discount at least 500 of the visitors - especially from countries like India and China, since they seemingly only visit in order to then try selling me some SEO package, or steal my content.

I’ve posted on my Blog thrice this year. There aren't enough readers to warrant posting more than 3 - 4 times per year. Plus, right now, and each 1500+ word blog post like this, still takes a large chunk of a day to write and post with a few accompanying images. I’m concentrating more on Youtube instead– using it as my current social media / content creating platform of choice.

The shop was recently updated with 16 new listings. I'm giving producing and selling stickers a try. Although, I must admit, sales of my products online have been extremely low this year. It's tough times trying to sell art or luxury items to customers here in the UK when so many are struggling to pay bills right now.

I often think about replacing my website with a whole new design, making it more focused around my shop. Selling is more important to me right now, compared to taking commissions or using it as a portfolio / online business card. I’ve been considering this for, maybe, 3 or 4 years! But I'm just not convinced it’ll make much of a difference so far as generating sales goes. I'd continue to sit on the idea until I think the time is right to act.

I'm making my own game!

Since no one was hiring me to work on their projects this year, I decided to continue with my own. A two-player fantasy card game, Total Blast.

• I gave it more play tests
• Refined the Rule Book
• Received several price quotes to manufacture and ship the game from China
• Finished off the 8 remaining art cards, which all needed polishing and then colouring
• Attempted to promote on social media (I'll discuss this more later)
• Gave it its own YouTube channel along with several promo videos
• Added it to the Board Game Geek Database

It looks great! And so much fun to play! But, finding people interested in signing up for updates about the game is proving extremely difficult. How do I spread the word that this is a good thing I’m trying to build and drum up interest? I tried posting about it on a few Facebook Groups and Sub-Reddits, but they mostly got deleted off the bat and considered spam.

Other than paid ads, I don’t have a clue how to generate interest or even get eyeballs on the project. Until I get a few hundred sign-ups, I can’t guarantee I’ll fund the game once it goes live on Kickstarter. Very Frustrating!

And so, progress with Total Blast has kind of come to a standstill. There are still a few little bits here and there to tweak, but everything hinges on knowing there will be customers interested in pre-orders.

Complete and Utter Social Media Burn Out

I posted on 30 occasions. Each time being a development update for Total Blast. The result- it seemed like a pointless exercise. It felt like each post was barely getting noticed, pulling between 0 and half a dozen engagements (like/comments/shares) per post. Not great, considering the fact my combined social media following is well over 65,000 people! 

To break this down:

Instagam: 33.9K followers
Facebook Page: 2k followers
Facebook Profile: 3.3K friends
Pinterest: 6.9K followers
Tumblr: 4.8K followers
Linkedin: 4.3K connections
X: 10.1K followers

After a month of daily posting on all my socials, guess how many I converted into Total Blast mailing list subscribers? Zero!

I appreciate most people follow me for the artwork, and me posting about a card game I’m working on each day may not necessarily be their cup of tea. But still - the levels of engagement my posts receive just makes posting feel like a pointless endeavour. I feel like I'm done with social media posting. Certainly, on my current social platforms, if discussing or promoting Total Blast. In the future I might:

1. Just post glossy, finished character art on my socials. Perhaps That will to generate interest Development sketches, photos and notices aren't cutting it.
2. For Total Blast, create entirely new social accounts and start from the ground up.

I’ve posted to my existing accounts several thousand times over the years, and it feels like it would be a shame to give up on that. But it certainly seems like I’m not connecting with an audience who is genuinely interested in my projects and artistic endeavours.

It's crazy to think just how much time was poured into social media posting, replying and commenting, when instead I could have been creating art or simply doing something else.

It just felt like this was something I had to do if I ever wanted to build an audience and potentially end up making a full-time living from my art. Maybe I still just wasn’t using the platforms the ‘right’ way? Or perhaps I should have waited until my artwork and products were better before attempting to show them to the world?

Growing My Own YouTube Channel

Platforms like Instagram seemed to be failing me, and in the face of an AI take-over, I felt as though I now needed to prove to the world that I’m a human.

And so, I continued uploading videos to YouTube. I’ve been consistent, posting up a new video at least once per week.

39 videos created this year so far, plus a few shorts.

The quality is getting better, and while I’m never going to be perfect in front of a camera, I’m actually proud of a lot of the content I’ve created for the channel: be it my own personal rants about struggles to make it as an artist, or tips to help fellow creatives. Perhaps It feels like such an achievement because I know just how much effort it is for me to be front-facing and put myself online? As a neurotic introvert, it's not easy to say the least!

I have a goal of reaching 1000 subscribers.

Although ideally, I want them to be active, dedicated subscribers. Unlike the 65,000 I mentioned earlier on other social platforms, which have seemingly all deserted.

1000 subs (along with increased watch hours) also means I can monetize the channel, and YouTube will then give me half the money they’re making via the ads being attached to my videos.

To be honest, I thought it would be easier to build an audience than it’s currently proving. I feel like my content is good enough to warrant at least 4-figure views, but breaking double digits is often just not happening!

I don’t expect a million views on a video, but I’m waiting for my bit of luck to strike. For my 1 video to “blow up” or at least gain the attention it deserves. I'm committed to continuing with it. But in the mean time, I’m finding it very challenging to pour hours into creating content, knowing that its target audience is highly unlikely to ever know it exists.

I'm Still Selling my Art and Taking Orders

Approx. 150 orders have been fulfilled for Art prints, T-shirts and so on. Great that I’m able to get some orders in despite my social media efforts proving to be more effort than they’re worth.

Worryingly, orders are down around a shocking 75% from 2022-2023, and I think that’s mostly due to the rise of AI art.

I’ll continue to take orders, since I have the art prints here and ready to go. And I’m using print-on -demand services to fulfil shirt orders as and when, so that I don’t need to keep an inventory.

I kind of enjoy packing orders too. It's a welcome break from the screen; to roll a print, pop it into a postage tube along with a flyer and attach the postage label! Sometimes you just need to low-cognitive overhead job to give you some respite! And, of course, it's always very fulfilling to know a customer bought your art. Out of all the artwork in the world, they choose yours! That's pretty damn cool.

Selling at Comic Cons

I've attended just one con so far this year (MCM London in May), and will possibly do another two. The bigger shows here in the UK are just about worth visiting. Smaller shows aren't really worth it any more since I have no idea if I’ll even make any money or break even.

With over 40 shows under my belt, it's got to a point now where they feel more like hard work. I'll never forget the first few times attending large comic cons- it felt magical and exciting! I would be buzzing every time someone wanted to chat or make a purchase. I still enjoy some of the interactions I have with customers. Although many positive feelings are now somewhat replaced with apprehension, as to how many sales would have dropped this year over last, based on current trends.

One thing I did was to create a bunch of stickers. 16 designs, based on designs I already use on Art Prints and Tees. I found a good supplier in China, and they certainly sold better than my How to Draw Manga books. I'm glad I tested them out. Of course, selling a few stickers here and there is never going to earn me enough to consider myself a full-time artist, but as a side project, it's worth having them to sell in addition to my other products.

Job Applications... And Rejections!

I brushed up my CV, and created a new mini portfolio PDF. It included just 10 of my best works with a little extra info. I sent it to several companies and agencies who were looking for an artist with my skill set. And I waited…

I didn’t result in anything. No interviews. No replies. Actually, there was one reply- to my application. It was from an agency that specifically asked to work with me. They replied just to tell me that they don’t want to work with me!

I became despondent and took a break from applying.

Creating New Art... Or Not!

Other than finishing off the Total Blast character artworks I mentioned earlier, I haven’t created a single new artwork all year!

I'm supposed to be an artist!

The ideas are starting to build up and overflow since I haven’t created anything new and original. I’m keen to work on some new things. But I thought it was better to instead push my existing content out into the world, and do the YouTube thing.

My thinking - if I create artwork, but without an audience aware of its existence, then what’s the point? I’m talking from a professional point of view. Actualising ideas is great, but that can’t happen until the bills are paid. I can’t pay the bills until I sell my art and merch, and I can’t sell my art until I’ve built an audience, or have access to interested customers. 

What Next?

I have to admit, I feel a little uncertain. Part of me wants to double down - keep creating, keep posting, keep pushing. Another part wonders if it’s time to change direction and simply take a break from pursuing art full-time.

I know I need to start making new artwork again, if only to reconnect with what made me love art in the first place. And I still believe in Total Blast - even though I’ve hit a wall when it comes to getting eyeballs on it.

I’m not giving up.

But I’m also trying to figure out how to work smarter, not just harder. That might mean experimenting with new strategies, rethinking how I use my platforms, or even taking a temporary step back from certain things that clearly aren’t working. One thing’s certain — I’ll keep sharing the process. The wins, the failures, the “not sure if this even matters” moments. And if you’re on a similar journey, I hope we can keep figuring it out together.

I want to be a pro artist!

Many kids grow up reading comics, watching animations and playing video games. At some point in their teen years, they're asked "what do you want to do for a living"?

So, they ask themselves, is there a way for their adult job to involve movies, games or the stories they enjoy? There sure is! - You could be compose music for video games, draw concept art for movies, write comics... The possibilities are endless!

Back in the 80s (when I was born), through to around 2020, a career in art and design seemed to be a tough, yet viable option. So, I went for it. I decided I was going to be an pro artist!

So, I got educated. Then found work.

From my late teens onwards, I spent 5 years in higher education, obtaining various qualifications such as A level in art, an advanced NVQ in Art and Design and a degree in Graphic Media. Back in the late 90s- early 2000s, people around me at the time said these were a necessity in order to get a full-time employed job. Were they right?

I then went on to sample various art-related jobs. I found work as: graphic designer, web designer, fine artist, freelance illustrator, and tattoo artist. I actually got paid to design and create things! Was I living the dream?

Although, as much as I hate to admit it, making a liveable amount of money with my artistic skills was seriously tough! While I did find work (some times), it was by no mean easy to come by, nor lucrative. What's more, it was especially hard to find the type of work I was more passionate about - creating anime inspired art.

I was determined to not only find a series of sporadic low-paying art jobs, but to turn my artistic dreams into a flourishing, sustainable art career. So I persevered.

From Accomplishments to Disaster.

During my artistic journey over the course of my 20s and 30s, I had many victories: I built my own websites from the ground up, I authored several best-selling how-to-draw manga books, a colouring book, created art for games, sold my artwork to hundreds of customers at comic conventions, occasionally receiving VIP guest invites to events to demo or exhibit my art.

I was proud of the things I'd achieved. But still, the flourishing art career eluded me. And after 20 struggling years scraping a living from art, Covid happened in 2020. This was a further blow to my artistic journey by putting the final nail in the coffin to my tattoo business. A venture I'd kept up, part-time at least, for over 10 years.

I decided that instead of tattooing, I'd focus on creating art to sell both online and at offline events. It was perfect timing and it started to work! Sales began increasing for the first few years and it looked like I might finally be on my way to making the artistic dream sustainable. Things were finally looking up.

But then, perhaps, the biggest disaster yet. AI became a thing in 2023. As a primarily digital artist, I could no longer compete with AI image generation algorithms, which could pump out an entire high-end portfolio of artwork in a single afternoon. My sales halved. The next year, they halved again. My predictions for 2025? Sales are likely to half once more!

As of 2025, I'm now in my earl 40s and my life as a self-employed artist has gone from difficult to completely unsustainable. My entire work life has always felt like surviving on a sinking ship, frantically throwing out water with a bucket to stay afloat. Rarely having to to enjoy the voyage... But now things got worse- my bucket has a hole and meanwhile this metaphorical ship is caught in a relentless storm!

Where do I go from here?

I spent a long time wondering if I should be honest. Should I publicly admit to these struggles or fake the persona of a highly-successful, in-demand artist? After all, maybe a new client will stop by this website and want to hire me? Therefore, I'd best look busy, in-demand and of high-value! Right?

The truth is, it's been years since a decent, high-paying work enquiry landed in my email inbox via this website. While I've had my own art websites active and online for over 25 years (more than 99.9% of artists), right now this site receives only a handful of visitors each day. Since there's such little interest in what I'm posting here, I guess don't feel like I need to impress anyone anymore.

And while, I know my art is good enough to sell (since it does at live shows), this website's shop isn't particularly active. The occasional item sale every other week is simply not enough to pay the bills. It might 'look bad' to say the website is struggling to seduce customers into buying, but I don't think most potential customers would even read this post, or particularly care whether or not I was some big-name artist or a struggling nobody.

I've seen the internet evolve a lot in recent years. I've realised that, people are now bombarded with so much new content each day, that anything I write here will be forgotten within 24 hours. Sadly, this seems to indicate that I can't sustain a level of notoriety and significance among the changing online landscape, no matter what I post on this website. The good thing, however, is that it means there's now a new level of freedom to say pretty much anything I want. If I want to vent frustrations, be angry at a lack of success or look unprofessional. It's fine. No one cares!

Is Youtube the solution?

At the end of 2024 I decided to post weekly about my current plight on my Youtube channel. Knowing full well that I am horrendous at presenting video content and hate being in front of a camera! Youtube is my last ditch attempt to put out content into the world, and attempt to build and audience so that I can continue the artistic journey.

Even though I only update this written blog 2-3 times per year, I much prefer writing to speaking! But, like I say, no one is reading this stuff. Alternative social networks like Instagram completely dried up for me too, so I figure I'd better start making videos or otherwise my online presence will completely vanish.

My channel is there to discuss how to / if I can make a living as a fulltime artist moving forward. I've given myself until the end of 2025. If I can't figure out a way to make art pay a living, it'll be an end to a 25 year long journey.

2025 so far is bit of a s#!t show

While I'm here, I'm going to honest again and vent. This year is a disaster! Many back-to back disappointments. I'm going to list them in case anyone else is crazy enough to try making it as an artist in 2025, so that they know what they might be up against!

I've spent 52 out of 70 days so far ill with not 1, not 2, but 3 separate flus! As a freelancer, this is not good news! Time out recovering means no time to work / earn an income. There is no sick pay, no health care. Or even the option to go to work while unwell, doing the bare minimum and still get paid for the day regardless.

My laptop kept freezing and eventually wouldn't start. I couldn't work until I was resolved. It took 3 full days for me to fix. At least I didn't need to buy any new parts, as initially expecting.

I applied to sell with the online art gallery/ retailer: 'Art Finder'. They said no.

I wrote to a number of illustration agencies to ask for representation. Most didn't reply. One said no.

I applied for several full-time related jobs via LinkedIn, e.g. creating game assets for E-Slot and Casino games. I even tried several cold emails to similar companies. Barely received any rejection replies and no interviews.

After having built up a few decades of  digital art experience, I thought I'd try offering Photoshop Art Tuition to students via crowd sourcing. Even with the first lesson given for free! No enquiries.

Art Grants

I discovered a potential opportunity- Art grants. Arts council England offers up to £12,000 to level up your art business. This was just what I needed!

I literally spent days crafting the perfect application, detailing all the things I would do to help get myself deal with my current predicament; coaching, building a new website, creating a new selection of works, market research etc. I waited. Months later, I received a reply. "No". Since I had a chance to apply one more time, I tried again. I studied previous successful applications and adapted mine to fit, I went through my entire application form with a fine-tooth comb making sure it was spotless- that I put forward a compelling case, that every penny I asked for would be accounted for and worthwhile, tangible deliverables would be ready to show after finishing my levelling up process. "Someone has to get the grant, so why not me?", I thought. Again, the answer was "No". I was disappointed and confused.

I did all I could to put my best foot forward. It wasn't enough. Instead grant funding was given to projects such as "Research Trip to Nashville to explore Queer Country Music", "Exploring Alexithymia as an Autistic Arab Writer" and "LGBTQI+ Zimbabwe portraiture"!

You know what I learned? 20 years of struggling to make it as an artist, 20 years of practicing my craft and sacrificing a stable lifestyle without ever asking anything from anyone, until now. And then I'm basically told, "Fuck off you're not woke enough to be an artist"!

Winning Awards

On a positive not, I am now officially the 2024 UK Manga artist of the year!

It's true, but to be honest, it's not really positive - it's more like a scam.

"Lux life magazine" contacted me to tell me I'd been first, shortlisted, and then second, that I'd won a so-called 'prestigious artist award'. I was now UK Manga Artist of the year. Apparently!

They then they wanted my money to make it 'official'!

I learned that, basically, it was one of these 'pay-for status' awards whereby some random entity sets itself up, puts on an awards event then charges people to be a part of it! On this occasion, I was curious to find out if I could still receive an award before the hard-sell was inevitably introduced.

While I did receive an award, I wasn't featured in their newsletter or whatever. And you know what? I don't care. No one cares. No one in the history of humanity has ever gone to a luxury lifestyle magazine to find out which UK manga artist is worth paying attention to this year! And ironically, I've only ever produced about 6 pages of manga (comics) in my life! None in 2024.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, it's hard to know what to do next. Both in terms of, "what to draw" and how to make a living from the only thing I know- producing art. So, in the meantime, I'm working on my personal project to create Total Blast- my 2 Player head-to-head card game. Both that and Youtube are how I'll be investing my life this year.

It's all about promotion. Can I promote my game? My art? Me as an artist with a set of unique experiences and back-story? Time will tell.

Prints for sale

Print sales both online and at comic conventions have increased this year, which is a definite bonus. I've always been a commission artist; taking on projects for both business and individuals alike, and it was only in recent years I'd made some effort to produce art prints to sell. I'm focusing on A3 size and still keeping them at the lower rate of £11.99 on this website, compared to £15-£16 at other online retailers. They'll continue to be sold for this rate for at least the rest of 2019, so head over to the store for last minute Christmas shopping.

Colouring Book

I've more or less just finished working on a colouring book project. I was commissioned to create it around 3 months ago.

The title is 'Manga Unicorns' - Yep, a combination of Unicorns with manga characters! It will be released next year and will post some more info once it's available. To work on a colouring book had been on my to-do list for a long time. Ever since after the adult colouring book boom started around 2015. But at the time I was still busy to create a colouring book of my own since I was finishing The Artist's Guide to Drawing Manga, whilst working on my tattoo business. Now I've finally got one colouring book under my belt, I'm considering working on at least another for 2020. It'll depends if the publisher and I can work out the details. I'll keep you posted!

Tattoos

Despite this website focusing on my illustration and manga artwork, I'm currently devoting half my work time towards tattooing. I like the mix of both working with a customer in my studio, as well as getting times to lock myself away in front of the graphics tablet for a few hours each day.

My thought right now is finding time to produce some custom flash (tattoo designs) to pitch to potential customers. You might be surprised at how many people like and want tattoos but don't really know what they want. They often end up settling for whatever is fashionable at the time. So, if I can provide an alternative to 'pocket watches' and 'dream catchers', I'll be able to start cultivating a tattoo portfolio showcasing the artwork I'm best at, and would like to produce.

Finding the time

Like with many creative types, I think the tough part is often finding enough time to complete the many projects and ideas floating around in my head, and in that to-do list I mentioned earlier! If artworks like the ones above can take 10-30 hours or more to produce, there's only so many images that can be made each month, alongside the usual tasks of admin, social media management, and client communication. The challenge then becomes trying to narrow down exactly what to work on and when. Taking on new projects is exciting. I just wish there was enough time to turn them all into reality!

For those that don't know, I'm currently working on a Photoshop Tutorial book relating to manga and character art. 85 pages down and another 75 to get done by the end of October! It's coming along but feel like I need until the end of the year at least to complete >_<