Artist Academy

This week’s episode features Georgia-based artist Ryan Benefield . Ryan specializes in clean-cut murals and logos for the beer industry. He started his business during the covid shutdown and went full-time not long after. He’s since built himself a very profitable art business through the process of utilizing the relationships he built at his previous place of employment. Ryan’s self-awareness all...

Happy May Mural Month! I had to end this month with a chapter from my book, Mural Money, all about how to start and grow a mural business from the ground up. Extremely fitting to this month’s mural theme, right? This is a snippet of chapter 7 that explains how I leveraged the power of a small city to create a name for myself. I used to think that I needed to travel outside of smalltown Springfield...

Transitioning from being an employee to working for yourself is a crazy mental shift that nobody seems to talk about. Today’s episode is all about highlighting some of those shifting thoughts to hopefully help you take on a leadership role faster, or at least know you’re not crazy when that shift seems tough! www. ArtistAcademy.co

This week’s episode features Michigan-based muralist Kevin Burdick . I was so excited to chat with an artist who predominantly uses spray paint since I know very little about it but want to. I was surprised to hear that Kevin uses acrylic spray alongside a roller with latex. He rolls THEN sprays using a mix of airbrush and cans. Why did I never think of combining these techniques before?! I ordere...

Happy Mural Month! Today’s episode is all about everyone’s favorite topic: art money. “How do I price my art project?” is typically the question I get asked the most, so let’s chat about it. Here’s a few tips and general overview of the things I go over in this episode: My 3 main methods of pricing: Square Foot- 100 sqft x $25 per sqft = $2,500 Time- How much time will it take me to complete this...

Happy Mural Month! This week’s episode features California-based muralist and business mind Derrik Diza. Not long ago, I came across one of Derrik’s posts in a Facebook group talking about how he’s getting new business and advising other artists on how they can too. Another business-minded artist looking to share industry “secrets” in order to help others make more money with a paintbrush? Hello!...

There’s nothing like having an art (best)friend that just *gets* you. But for those who don’t have an art-minded gang of supporters hanging around, the first question you might be asking is, “Where do I find *my* people?” 🥁 Well, first I suggest searching online. Creepin’ on someone’s Instagram can give a decent indication as to whether we would like to meet them in person or not. THEN Google the...

This week’s episode will give you a flash of nostalgia as we chat with Tim Jacobus, the illustrator for the famous Goosebumps series by author R.L. Stine! Tim shares all about his experiences in the illustration business back in the 90s and compares them to today’s digital methods. He is an open book when it comes to answering all questions about his creative process. From sketching out the iconic...

To take a deposit or not to take a deposit? That is the question in this week's episode. I’ll also be talking about the pros and cons of asking for money upfront, how much to ask for, and how to collect it. I’ll share all of the different ways I’ve taken a deposit for a canvas or mural project in the past 10 years of running an art business, so you can decide which method is right for your busines...

This week’s episode features Florida-based artist Samm Wehman. Samm has been a part of the Academy since the early days (a few years ago) and this is actually her second interview. You can find her first on episode #45. I told you she’d been around for a hot minute! We decided to do a second interview (something I rarely do) because her art business has expanded so much, along with her mindset aro...

This year’s theme is all about figuring out ways to work less while making more. A few of the ways I’m doing that are… 🥁 Pricing myself higher. 🤑 That sounds like a no-brainer, right? Make more = charge more. I feel like I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, but those low-budget projects seem to sneak on my calendar. Not anymore! Using higher quality paint and investing in tools to speed...

This week’s episode features Missouri based artist and sculptor Susan Sommer . This was a big interview for me because I’ve been hoping to connect with Susan for years now! She’s a big time artist in my area. Like, not just big on Instagram like me, but big in real life with charging $50,000+ for her original paintings. She has several popular murals in my city of Springfield and her well establis...

The first mural I ever painted was for free and took me an entire summer to complete. Obviously, procrastination played a part in that, alongside using the wrong brushes, cheap paint, and having no actual idea how to apply paint (large scale). I learned a lot with that first one. Fast forward to today... This week I’m painting a large mural for the local college where I earned my painting degree....

This week’s episode features Pennsylvania-based artist Andrea Fairservice . What I liked most about my chat with Andrea was how relatable she is. Aside from having the same name, she reminds me a lot of myself with all the different art things she has going on. She does commissions and prints, live streams on Twitch, has subscribers on her Patreon, sends out email blasts and all the art marketing...

Pricing art is a hot topic and one that I believe truly has no right or wrong answer. However, this pricing strategy is one that has helped me book more commissions and often increase the budget of my customer’s projects, as opposed to getting ghosted. The strategy involves giving your customer 2 options…. Meaning, give a price and design that you think would fit the customer’s needs while not bre...

This week’s episode features Victor Ving of the Greetings Tour. Ya know, the “Greetings from…” murals we’ve all seen in various cities around the United States. I even replicated a version of the idea to paint in my own hometown of Springfield, Missouri and have gotten several jobs simply from the recognition of it. I am a huge advocate of finding out what works, making it your own, and putting in...

Things go wrong all the time… so let’s chat about it! I put together this list to hopefully give you a heads up on what’s to come, so that you don’t make the same mistakes as often, but also to normalize that having things go wrong is just part of the job. It’s no big deal. Scheduling- AKA not leaving enough time in between projects. Using the wrong materials, mostly the wrong paint. Forgetting th...

This week’s episode features Washington state-based nature artist Gianna Andrews. Gianna has figured out her niche (nature), created products and takes custom commissions surrounding said niche, and written a book on the subject to help aspiring artists learn to do the same. This all came after a bike accident that left her hospitalized with a body brace and nothing to do but sit still, heal, and...

My New Year’s resolution is to figure out how to work less and make more while sticking to a quality work/life integration schedule. Heavy on the “life” part, specifically family, specifically my new baby boy. So, how is this even possible with all the things requiring my attention? It's possible because I don’t fill my weekday painting calendar to the max. Leaving just one workday per week comple...

This week’s episode features Cleveland, Ohio-based muralist Lisa Quine. I really enjoyed my chat with Lisa. She has this positive, honest energy that comes from someone who has just come out of the thick of building her business, already having figured out so many things, while at the same time still growing. We chatted about her unique pricing strategy and how it came to be her standard way of do...

This week’s episode highlights some of the Artist Academy Advanced members who have successfully made $100,000 or more this past year. I asked them to summarize where their sales came from, how they attracted customers, and to give their best piece of advice as to how they got to where they are today. Because that’s what we all want to know, right? How the heck are artists out there making a great...

This week’s episode features Australia-based artist Carmel Jenkin. Carmel has built her art business up to what most artists aspire to live up to one day: Someone who creates from the heart rather than constantly running on the commission hamster wheel. Yep, she paints whatever she wants and that happens to be a series of abstract female figures. Her unique niche has attracted the attention of mul...

If I had to do it all over again, this episode is all about how I would go from having no commissions on the books to making six figures quickly. Looking back on past years at things I’ve done right, the things that ended up being a waste of time, what’s been most profitable, and what has NOT. I now know how I would cut out months or even years from my journey to earning six figures. WARNING: Thes...

The 31-Day Challenge begins January 1st! Are you joining in? This week’s episode explains what this challenge is all about, how you can benefit from completing it and gives examples of past successes. If you’re looking to make 2023 your most profitable year yet, committing to a challenge like this will help create the success habits needed to make that goal a reality. Creating art every single day...

This week’s episode features California-based muralist Morgan Bricca. I have stumbled upon the more experienced version of myself in Morgan. I could talk to her for hours. She has the confidence and positivity of an experienced artist; One who has dealt with the past trials of owning a business but happily perseveres because she knows from years of experience how the profits far surpass the strugg...