As an art lover my whole life, i tried infinite times to emerge as a graphic artist, to no avail, up until I decided to look at it as a business, after all, the company where I had my day job, would put all the responsibility for the completions of the jobs on me.

For many years I had this romantic idea that artist have to starve, and that only the New York galleries would make money from art sales, as an idealist I measure myself up to this yardstick, then I met a friend, who totally change the way I saw art, (into the money way, yes; money and art can be in same sentence for you, not only in the magazines), but if you want to start bringing some green into your art world, here are some tips to get started:

1. You need 20 or 30 pieces of your artwork COMPLETED.(works in progress don't count, and please put the brush down, and finish the piece already, one thing...you have to let go of your favorite piece, even you promised it to your grandma, she will be happier to see you succeed).

2.Take pictures of these pieces: hire a photographer, have a friend do it , or do it yourself, but get it done, of course the more professional the look, the more money you will get in the long run, no, don't dip into your credit card to pay for this, make a small budget, something you can afford, (20% of what you make in your day job is a good way to start).

3..You need a catalog, so put those pictures in some kind of arrangement(with Photoshop, or some graphic program, if you can't do it, leran it, or hire somebody do it, just do it, it's not going to be perfect, but the most important thing is to get it done, you will have plenty of chances to do it 100 times better, (this is not going to be your last show, right?),

Write something very nice about yourself, your work and your future, please do it, you are sensitive and creative, don't come with the " I can't write", is just a matter of describing your work, you can do that,or ask that friend that secretly writes poetry to do it for you...and put it in your catalog.

Have it profesionally printed or printed yourself, but like I said, get it done.

4. Hit the pavement, go to your local art community, go to churches, schools, but try to get a gallery first, please learn how to deal with rejection, one day you will be a public figure and things like rejection come with the territory.

5.You have to get a gallery owner convinced that you are the next best thing, share the profits, they love money, give him your profits, do whatever it takes to get a show, Tell him you help organize it, tell him you'll bring the catering, (from your aunt the great cook), but you need that show, more than you need air.

6.After the show, sales or no sales, is very probable that this gallery owner will let hang one or two pieces in his space, which will lead finally to a sale.

7.Repeat from the start.

Remember,yes it take a lot of effort, and at the beginning you spend more money that you get, but get started, and don't lose any steam, the closets in the world are full of unsold art, so don't get trapped in the cycle of perfection, and get your work out there, art history books will tell if you were really good or not, but meanwhile you lived a life as an artist(even you never quited your day job).