How Many HAMB ARTISTS make a Living with it?

Started doing signs and autographics in 1980 and still doin it. I wouldnt recomend it to anyone. It is fun though!

 

Evary wone hass sommthing they're goud at. Mine is not spelling.
So all i can do is draw.

Emagine if Paul Revere desided '' screw it, i'm just gonna work at ye-old 7-11''

 

'Spose I do. I'm a "decorative concrete artisan".

Make very little scratch pinstriping. There's way too many folks out there slingin' enamel just to be a part of 'the scene' for me to get too involved. Hobbyist mostly. Just mainly framed stuff. However, I do see rides at shows with lines so phuqin' horrible that I have to stop and say 3 things...
1>I can do waaaaay better than that!
2>That guy got what he paid for.
3>Let the pros do it 'til you are actually ready to stripe on something other than practice glass.

 

Props to you guys that do it for a living. I studied commercial art and graphic design in HS and college but always had too many interests to dive into it enough to progress in my skills. I am amazed at the talent on this board.

 

I don't, but I should. Maybe I will figure it out one day.

 

Been doing it full time since getting laid off from West Coast last March. It's slow but steady and I'm able to make ends meet. I still look for full time work but the longer I'm out here on my own, the less interested I am in finding another full-time gig. I'm pretty tired of guy's at the top who don't "get it" directing my work. I keep getting offers to design/direct for car and bike apparel companies but I'm steering towards a few joint ventures of my own. We'll see what happens. Either way it's going to be an interesting year.

 

I've drawn Bart and the rest of the yellow hoard for 20 years this spring.
Been getting ramped up to sell more car stuff and other artsy stuff as time passes.
Hope to be starving by the time the show is cancelled and the kids are in State run
(Feds man!) College.

 

I'm a graphic designer, but honestly sometimes I think it sucks the creativity right out of me. I wish I could get paid to just do what I want to do. haha

 

Went to school for architecture, worked for a retail graphics firm for a year or so, then a sign shop for a year or two, and I've been a graphic designer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the last 4 years. Recently designed the 2010 Indianapolis 500 logo (my first big event logo).

Would like to get into pinstriping just for fun...it's always looked like something that would be up my alley, just need the time to practice!

 

i have been an artist my entire life i worked in advitising in N.Y. city tried everything . tshirt design, fine art, graphic design owned a sign company and custom paint shop. but always pinstriped and airbrushed always made a living . i cant think of doing anything else even for more money .if you run it as a business and keep the artist in check you will make money.

 

Dang Mikey , your work last ! You put your brush on the Turquoise Turd 20 years ago ! Still looks great bud ! See you at the Round Up !

 

i love that show

 

work at a grocery store for insurance (TRader Joe's), otherwise it is an uphill climb

 

I've been doing the metal art since spring '08. I was laid off from Chrysler before Christmas later that year, then took the buyout in the spring of '09. I'm looking for a millwright/welder job, but there just isn't much work in the Detroit area right now. I'm definitely staying busy, and it's encouraging that even in this economy I've consistently grown my "brand" (for lack of a better term). But around this(tax) time I realize how much I'd have to do to really make a living at it. It definitely seems more realistic than it did even a couple months ago, but I'd still rather be working full time as well.

 

Ive been doing embroidery digitizing since 87, On my own since 98. Ended up taking a day job at a little local newspaper doing ad layout and business cards Jan 1 09. Both together paid my bills. October it slowed down to the point that I was being sent home Fridays and Mondays. I started trying to drag out more Embroidery and laid myself off Dec 12. I'd already lost the benefits (Health Ins, Holiday Pay, and the Weeks Vacation Id of Gotten Jan 1 10, so I figured "If your not gonna make enough money, you might as well do it on your own terms." December was my best since 2000. It isn't easy out there, but it beats having to be somewhere and having to deal with an ass hole boss! There are plenty of others in the same boat, so atleast the company is good.

 

Wait a minute, you mean that I could charge MONEY for my artwork?! Sonofabitch!

 

I've been drawing stuff since I could pick up a crayon. It's mostly a side job right now but I'm doing time at an art institute to help me go pro.

 

I spent some time reading through all the replies... some up, others down... the overwhelming concept (idea or attitude) seems to reaffirm all I've ever known... we do this (art)work because we have to, it's who we are!

Sure there are those moments of feast or famine but the rewards justify the sacrifices and risks. Be safe and succeed or fail... take risks and succeed or fail... I'd rather get busy living and forget the rest. No regrets! What i don't get is the bitterness, what's that sh*t all about? Could any artist truly walk away and give it up and really be happy? I don't think so. Those time when I've been out of work led to some of the most creative periods I've ever had. I chose to see my times without a paycheck as forced creative times and my art flourished and the end result was much more dough selling the art. When I'm selling, I'm an artist and when I'm not, I'm merely a painter. That's how my last dealer always saw it, bastard! It's true. Sure, be avant garde... be above it all, egoist! It's a game, more over it's always a business and there are rules and once you figure out where you can manipulate your surroundings... go find success!

I lived in huge loft in downtown LA for years before moving to my industrial shop to live illegally for 6 years before my wife and I got married, soon after my daughter was born. My wife is an artist and between us we don't have half the natural talent our daughter has! I apprenticed under 2 classical master painters, went to art school, won awards, had dealers and galleries (got sick of them), did warehouse shows, started an art crew, and sort of hung up my brushes to be dad until my daughter is in school. I know it'll always be there, as long as I'm breathing... it'll be there waiting like the most faithful friend. Being successful and making a living is relative. Commercial art drained the creativity out of me, I never wanted to do "my" stuff. F*ck that!!! The successful earnings were a death sentence!

"Success is obedience to a structured way of life!" -Operation Ivy

 

self employed for 5 years now..times are getting tuff though.... full time pinstriping.. now paint and body...www.cisnerospinstriping.com

 

Hey rixrex-

I forgot to answer your question, I rep'd art supplies for a art chain for a spell to help build the loft studio and pinkle all the free supplies I cold sneak out the door.

Rapidograph have gone the way of Dino, the compooter did 'em in! The closest thing you're going to find in the sizes you're talking and the permanent (fade-proof) inks are the MICRON pens. I think that went down to .005 or .0005 on the small side and up to 2.0 if I'm not mistaken. They are only disposables though.

I'm a cheap bastard, if I haven't wasted the tip, I'll refill the pens with Sakura well ink. Damn nice black! On that same note, Sakura makes a sweet brush pen that's well-worth the few dollars to pick one up.

rixrex, I hope this helps. By the way, you can still buy the Rapidograph pens and inks, they do still have a catalog. If your tips are clogged with dry ink, remember they used to sell Rapidosoap cleaner and even an ultrasonic cleaning machine. Take your tips to a fine jewelry shop, have them put your tips in their ultrasonic cleaner and 5 minutes later they'll be like new again.

Good luck and happy hunting! If you need helping tracking the stuff down, call Justin at Art Supply Warehouse in Westminster, California. He can get anything! That goes for you stripers too... squirrel hair striping brushes and the full One Shot line, Justin can get it and it'll be discounted off list.

 

Great thread! I recognized many avatars not knowing that some of you were in the business. The ad business has been good to me but after a career of fun-killing clients and ad agencies full of back- and front -stabbers I'm finally doing what I used to do - creating art for the fun of it. No deadlines, no clueless clients, no ego, no money. And I'm loving it. And I owe it all to the HAMB and the Friday Art Show. HAMB cars and the stuff HAMB guys talk about has always interested me. I've been watching the awesome Friday Art Show for so long that I finally just had to put of my own stuff out there for some feedback. It has led to some great encouragement and my first commissioned piece by a fellow HAMBer who needed a logo and liked my style. While I'll probably never get rich making hot rod art, other HAMB artists have given me enough good advice that now I'm committed to posting something every Friday just to see if I can do it. Next comes the website, prints for sale, clients and tax deductions. I only hope it's more fun than the advertising clients I still have. If you are thinking you'd rather be in the art business, find a style that's your own and start creating. There are a lot of good artists out there copying one another's stuff - and that's fine to impress your friends - but if you're serious about getting noticed, do your own thing.

 

Lucky enough to be tattooing for 34 years.Nobody has broke my thumbs,I must be doing something right.I gave Pete Chapouris his first tattoo.

 

surviving and kind of making a living...lucky I dont eat much!

 

Havn't been doin it for a livin but pinstriped a car here and there. Not many. Been pinstriping for 5 years. I admire pinstripers and airbrushers a-lot! because the hours it takes to learn these skills to even almost perfection is sometimes a lifetime.....I would like to do custom paint as a living...but for now its trial and error.