Artist Academy

This week’s episode features Ukrainian-born, now New Jersey-based, artist Olga Muzician . About halfway through this interview I realized - we have two very different work styles. Olga has the drive and need for perfection in everything she does. Everything is organized, clean, and as efficient as possible. There is no room for spontaneity or winging it in her work life. This interview is a great...

This is what the seasons of my business typically look like: Winter: Planning, practicing, resting - Do I want to repeat last year or change some things? How can I make this year more enjoyable? Spring: Experimenting, pitching - Stick to the plan and welcome new, fun opportunities. Summer: Hustling - Let’s go! Fall: Slowing, regrouping - Avoid burnout. Listen to this week’s episode to hear an expl...

This week’s episode features art marketer Jessica Craddock . Jessica mentors ADHD artists who are tired of marketing strategies that don’t align with their personality to sell 3x more art. I like talking to other business minded creatives and I used this interview to extract some art marketing advice that I don’t regularly teach. Jessica comes from a business background and gives a clear look at h...

This week’s episode of the Artist Academy Podcast features an Atlanta-based multi-passionate artist Elise Garcia . Elise has a positively infectious energy about her that I know will spill onto you to brighten your day. Her outlook on living a fearless life is commendable as she has some hilariously terrible travel incidents to share with us today. On the art side of things, Elise is still very mu...

This week’s interview is with a muralist/surfboard artist who is living the RV lifestyle, artist Nicole Miller . Her artwork is solid, and her marketing efforts are on point, so it’s no wonder Nicole is making a great living as an artist even though she’s traveling around every couple of years to a new location. Yep, she’s starting over every time she and her husband (and 2 dogs) change locations,...

This week’s interview features New York artist Dean Christensen . Right out of school, Dean created a series of paintings then turned around and sold those paintings at an art show. He used that money to buy a one-way bus ticket to New York where he stayed on a friend’s couch for 2 months until he was able to get on his feet financially and kickstart his art career. This interview aims to inspire...

Join fellow muralist Samantha Cox and I as we play a different version of the game Never Have I Ever... 🍻 Are you familiar with this game? We will be taking shots of kombucha while reminiscing through the mistakes moments of our mural careers. "Never will I ever do (BLANK) again!" Listen (and probably laugh) through our hard lessons learned. Use the code ANDREA for $30 off at www. MuralCoProducts...

Before we begin… I just wanted to let you know that TODAY is the start of our   31-Day Challenge  aka January Paint Challenge, whatever you wanna call it: 31 paintings and 31 days! You can paint like me, or redirect it to whatever your business needs most. 31 social media posts, 31 drawings, 31 photos/videos… 31 whatever! Sign up:  31-Day Challenge Commit by ANNOUNCING it to your au...

I’m in shock that this year ended up being my highest-grossing year ever (by far). On paper, I’ve always made a little more than the year before, so it would make sense that this year would be my best year yet. But number projections don’t account for life happenings. Specifically, being home with a newborn in the first quarter. Then opting for daycare just 2 days per week (because that’s all I co...

This week’s interview features a major successful illustrator, author, and podcaster: Andy J Pizza. If you fancy lighthearted creativity mixed with some art business talk and a dash of internal inspiration, then you’ll enjoy this chat with Andy.  He has his hands in a number of things. We talk about where his income is coming from, plus the benefits of diversifying.  This is a friendly r...

This week’s episode features doodler extraordinaire Ian Glaubinger . Ian shares the tough truths of navigating the art world and working with big brands. He’s created product designs for companies such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and so many more household names. The guy knows how to negotiate his way through an illustration deal in order to create a great product and experience for both the artist...

This week’s interview is with Utah-based wildlife artist Joel Pilcher . His charcoal drawings are incredibly realistic, but the thing I loved most about this interview was hearing how much of a marketing guy he is. I’m going to spoil this interview for you a little bit to give you the details of Joel’s backend systems because that’s what I was really curious about when questioning him. About 90% o...

Jodi Trujillo is an artist currently living and working in Hawaii doing paint parties, murals, and illustrations. Jodi is part of our Artist Academy $100k club and gives so much to our group with her specialty advice within the paint party and illustration industry. I teach a lot, but I also have figured out firsthand how beneficial it is to learn from artists, like Jodi, who have done the thing I...

In this week’s episode I’m diving into sales strategies to make some extra money this holiday season. With winter wonderland windows being a hit this time of year to getting those extra handful of christmas print sales, now is the time to focus a bit of effort on your marketing plan. Let’s start with window painting… I imagine you listened to the previous episode with Scot Campbell (the window pai...

We are entering THE best time of the year to start up or gain window painting customers, and today I’m rewinding it back to this interview I did with the window painting master himself, Scot Campbell. I started writing out my tips for window painting to record a solo episode when I remembered, wait a second, I know a guy who can explain this better than me and we’ve already recorded a full episode...

I’ll share a list of painting hacks to make your life easier. Some of these tips are ones that I use but most are a collective of Artist Academy members sharing their knowledge and experience. Ten artist brains are better than one! Here’s a brief list of some of the hacks, but you’ll need to listen to this to get the full explanation of each: Rent a towable man lift for $300 for the day to access...

Olga is a former teacher turned muralist. She is about to complete her second full-income earning year of full-time artistry and is set to gross over $100,000. How did she get her start you may ask? By passing around flyers and landing a window painting job that started the domino effect into murals and more. Listen to hear how Olga isn’t working her life away while bringing in double her teacher’...

Ashley is a former teacher who recently quit her job to go full-time with painting. She has an art school background and a solid understanding of painting techniques, and I think her quick success is a complement to that. It's not necessary to be perfectly good at painting coming right out of the gate, but it helps a lot. I talk about business and making money and all that comes with it. But make...

Do you want us at the Artist Academy to help you create an outstanding website? Join the waitlist: www.artistacademy.co/website-builder-interest This week’s episode is all about helping you to make your website better to gain more business via Google and organic search. Photos are everything. Spending time taking and editing your photos to display your art in the best possible form will pay off. G...

Brittany is a muralist based in Pennsylvania and has been in the Academy for a little over a year. Within that year she has been able to quit and replicate her day job salary by diving into full-time mural work. I met Brittany at our Missouri Mural Meetup last year and watched the fire start within her. She went home with stars in her eyes, giving so much effort to her art business. Things were sl...

Michelle is a muralist based in New Jersey and has recently had her world turned upside down - in a good way. I know we all have these excuses as to why we are not making the moves we know we need to make with our careers, but let me tell you, Michelle’s story was not one that was easily made. But she took a leap of faith, worked hard, and now has a painting career she enjoys along with an encoura...

I am a painter with a goal to make money. I’m not as much of what I would consider a “true artist” who is in love with the craft and history of it all. For a long time, I was slightly ashamed to admit that. I thought wanting to make money made me sound greedy or less than other artists. But after a while, I just said, “heck with it” and leaned into my business-minded artistic side. I’m really good...

This week’s episode features Florida-based visual artist Cody Meacham of Radley Relics. Cody crafts nostalgic miniatures inspired by beloved theme park attractions and horror films. Each piece is meticulously designed, reflecting his passion for capturing the essence of iconic haunted experiences. Cody has worked on projects for Universal Studios and has lately nestled into his own business of col...

What creates a good offer? I believe, if you make a product that appeals to your audience enough to make them want to buy, then that is a good offer in itself. You don’t need to add any gimmicks if the product sells. However, if the products aren’t selling, then maybe adding some kind of element, like giving the buyer a reason to buy right now, is the push it needs to complete the sale. Or maybe d...

This week’s episode features Chicago-based shoe artist Dillon DeJesus . I really enjoyed chatting with Dillon about a painting subject that I knew nothing about. It became very apparent how little I knew about his industry the more he talked about it and I’m excited to share this insight with you too. This interview emphasizes the benefits of really diving deep into research and techniques within...