Creative Sources for Artistic Income

The term “starving artist” hits too close to home for many of us. While the opportunities for selling art have grown tremendously with online technology, finding reputable opportunities can be more difficult.

Of course, there’s always the old stand-bys like CafePress and other websites that cater to artists who can place their work on clothing and merchandise. Zazzle.com is a close cousin to CafePress, working with the same end-product but using a more intuitive publishing interface.
I haven’t heard many people that are too happy with the old stand-bys, though. Instead, they want something creative, a way of gaining an extra income with art that doesn’t require watching it rot in the virtual halls of a website. They want to see their art being used, appreciated, and … well, paid for.

So, here’s a run-down of some of the most creative and reputable sources for artistic income online.

MSN Avatars – http://www.msnicon.com/msnupload/login.htm - MSN Avatars are the small display pictures that show up when you are talking to another person using MSN Messenger. If you haven’t seen these before, take a look at the main site, www.msnicon.com, to see what they look like.

Basically, this website offers you the chance to earn money by creating 96 x 96 pixel graphics. What’s the drawback? Well, there’s really only one: the pay is only 25 cents per avatar. However, with the small size you’re working with and the limitless possibilities for types of avatars, it shouldn’t take too long before you have the full 200 accepted and receive your first payment.

Going this route, make sure that you arm yourself with plenty of slogan ideas. This site will accept mild profanity, sexuality, drug and alcohol avatars so you should have no problem coming up with ideas. Try coming up with a list of 25 ideas at a time, rip them out, and move on to your next set of 25. I was able to create my full set of 200 avatars in just under 3 days, working on them when I needed a break from my work – and I received payment almost immediately.