{"id":6330,"date":"2020-08-11T09:15:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T16:15:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu.shop.wacom.eu\/us\/?p=6330"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:31:18","slug":"sell-your-art-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/sell-your-art-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Sell Your Art from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"I'm a digital sculptor, video game artist and avid 3D printer. 3D printing is an accessible medium for artists wanting to produce their creations for an eager public. Freakfinity<\/a> is a Malta-based online store, which I created to sell my merchandise, including my Wacom pen holders, 3D signs and other desk accessories. At Freakfinity, we are strongly committed to our mission of making your desktop a fun, inspiring, and happy place. With a little luck, the world will be a happier place too.\"Wacom\n\n \n\nThese days, many artists are trying to make a living selling their art from home, now that almost all of the conventions and in-person events have been postponed or cancelled, and Wacom asked me to share some of the tips I've learned over the years creating and selling my products online from home.\n\n
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Do you have these symptoms?<\/h1>\nLet's begin with the hard part - getting over the hurdle of simply starting. Artists are particularly good with negative self-talk and self-doubt, sometimes referred to as imposter syndrome<\/a>. I've listed the symptoms of imposter syndrome below alongside a counter argument for each. Perhaps we can change your mind and get you motivated to starting your own business.\n

My art isn\u2019t good enough yet.<\/h3>\nCounterargument: <\/em>You don\u2019t have to be the best. Perhaps just competent. Don\u2019t wait forever to be perfect.\n

I'm not original enough.<\/h3>\nCounterargument: <\/em>No one is. Or has to be in order to make a sale. Make what you love and add your unique touch to your creations.\n

What if nothing sells? I\u2019ll be embarrassed.<\/h3>\nCounterargument: <\/em>Life is nothing without failures. Take what you have learned and refine and improve your ideas.\n

I'm not sure I have the right personality for customer service.<\/h3>\nCounterargument: <\/em>As it turns out, if you choose the right places to sell, customers are lovely human beings who respect and look up to you and your work. Nasty customers are very rare. Dishonest customers sadly do exist, but are the minority.\n\n\"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows<\/a>,\" as Rocky Balboa once said.\u00a0 Take them in your stride, keep moving forward.\n

Why bother? My art will never make me rich.<\/h3>\nCounterargument: <\/em>Big things have small beginnings. Make a start. Who knows what you may have built years from now?\n\n
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\"Get<\/h1>\n

Ready? Let's go!<\/h1>\nSo now that all your demons have been slain, let\u2019s get your art on the international marketplace of ideas.\n

Creating<\/h2>\nBroadly speaking you can create anything you want. I recommend digitally sculpting it on your Wacom device; it doesn't even have to be a fancy one to create an amazing product. I\u2019m using a Wacom One<\/a> creative pen display.\n\nYou could simply 3D-print your creation and sell it to a customer. That would certainly be one way you can go about selling your art. But for long-term success, you need a system that involves a repeatable, reliably-printable product with a unique aesthetic or modicum of utility. Tinker around in your imagination for a while and you may come up with just such an idea.\n

Ideas and the creation process<\/h2>\n
\u00a0Ideas are easy.\u00a0 Execution is key.<\/blockquote>\nIn some forms of\u00a0 3D printing there are some very rigid and unforgiving rules to follow. You may quickly find that only a few ideas are actually printable without some seriously-grueling post-processing, like removal of printed supports, sanding, and filling.\u00a0 3D printed supports do give the freedom to print just about\u00a0 anything you like, but the tradeoff is nasty artifacts left on your print that you'll have to deal with later.\n\nI myself strive for a perfect printed surface. I'm going to get into how I do that below. Hang in there!\n\n\"green\n

Pros and cons of your own 3D printing business<\/h2>\n

Pros<\/h3>\n
    \n \t
  1. You only have to print when you get an order.<\/li>\n \t
  2. You yourself own the quality control process.<\/li>\n \t
  3. The challenges you solve will bring you satisfaction.<\/li>\n \t
  4. Reviews! Awwwh yeah. That feels great when you've pleased a customer. I walk around with a spring in my step and the determination to keep\u00a0 on getting better when I get a nice review.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Cons<\/h3>\n
      \n \t
    1. Noise pollution. A lot depends on the space in your home and the printer you buy. Just having one 3D printer can be a nuisance because it can be very slow and time-consuming. A 3D printer farm is essentially a\u00a0 factory. The noise can get pretty frustrating and overwhelming.<\/li>\n \t
    2. Space for this enterprise.<\/li>\n \t
    3. Storage of materials.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"logistics\"<\/h2>\n

      Logistics<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis is super important.\n\nYou got your first sale! Now you actually have to get your product to the customer and hopefully repeat the same process again and again and again. This means lots of packaging; potentially large quantities of the same sized box or variant sized boxes. Regardless, whatever package sizes you manage to work into your economy, make sure that they are carefully thought out and planned.\u00a0 The size of that boxes you have is the limiting size of your product! If you have 1000 boxes that are all the same size, you can\u2019t suddenly decide to\u00a0 make an entirely new product that\u2019s too large, or too small for that box.\n

      Economy<\/h2>\nWhat 3D printer should you buy?\n\nThis question often consumes pages of literature and indecision.\u00a0 So I won\u2019t go into depth. But trust me. If you are considering your first purchase, Get an Ender3<\/a> now.\u00a0 They are super cheap. At between $150-250\u00a0 depending on where and when you get them. This is a quarter of what a typical FDM printer cost 5 years ago.\n\n\"3D\n\nI won\u2019t be speaking much about resin printers or all the other printing possibilities. That\u2019s a huge area to cover.\u00a0 Briefly the reason is they accomplish very specified jobs, and fit specified economies. It's unlikely (but not impossible) that you'll\u00a0 be selling a resin print. They are slower to\u00a0 print and more expensive than FDM printing. Resin prints are typically best suited to\u00a0 printing master copies for mold making\u00a0 and casting, such as miniatures and\u00a0 jewelry.\n\nI 3D print using FDM printing. This is by far the most time- and financially-efficient form of 3D-printing. And unlike resins, you get loads of colorful filaments and interesting\u00a0 materials to choose from.\n\n \n

      \"FDM\"<\/h2>\n

      Pro tips<\/h2>\nPrint without supports<\/strong>\n\nI mentioned earlier that the best way to 3D print a product is without supports. What does that mean? 3D printing typically cannot print at angles with a steep overhang, unless\u00a0 there are structures printed to support them.\n\nBut those supports need to be removed after printing. You may have seen videos on the internet where supports come off easily. From afar they look like they come off cleanly, but up close they leave messy artifacts that ruin prints, especially prints that are intended to have a high-quality appearance (like collectibles and action figures).\n\n\"artifacts\"\n\nI print without supports with an upward modelling flow, so my prints look perfect (or as perfect as an FDM 3D printer can make them).\u00a0 A vast majority of printable files online are not designed this way.\u00a0 As a result, you will see many bad results.\n\nDon\u2019t print too large<\/strong>\n\nLarge prints can take hours. The longer the print, the greater the chance of failure and wasted time.\n\nI try not to exceed 7 hours.\u00a0 Most of my prints are in the 5 to 6 hour range, although I do have some larger products at 13 hours that have been thoroughly tested.\n\nIf your printing business takes off,\u00a0 you're going get very busy. So cut out as many of the post-processes as you can.\n\n \n\nAlternatively: Just sell your 3D files<\/strong>\n\nIf you have read this far and are feeling overwhelmed, you might be considering not producing the art yourself, but selling the STL files themselves or outsourcing the printing to a manufacturer.\n\nSelling STLs is a thing. You can<\/em> run a business this way.\u00a0 There are some very successful ideas out there, like the miniature tabletop or jewelry industries.\n

      Pros and cons of selling 3D files<\/h2>\nPros<\/strong>\n