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It was a joke in Seattle that you always knew who had never hiked before because they were always the people with the most expensive equipment on the trails—new boots, fancy backpacks, walking poles from REI. But the real hikers went every weekend and did the tough climbs in tennis shoes, old jeans, and janky backpacks that had served them well for years. Similarly, people who are just starting out on their art journeys can feel compelled to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars on courses, ipads, apps, subscriptions before ever finding their style or even finding out if they enjoy art. Whereas seasoned artists will work with that junky old laptop they've had since their art school days, or that nub of a charcoal pencil they've been using since childhood. I spent many early years of my art journey feeling either pressure or shame that I didn't have the "right stuff;" couldn't afford an ipad, didn't have an Adobe Illustrator subscription, etc. But I decided early on that I wasn't going to buy new equipment until I could afford it out of my own profits. Which meant basically starting for free (or very cheap). Are you curious about art or pattern design and want to try it out without spending any money? Here are my tips for starting out for free. Use what you have
Paper Don't have Microsoft office or access to a computer? Do you have sketch books? Paper, pens, your kids' crayons? Here's a method for creating a repeating pattern just using paper and drawing implements. Nature Some artists create collages with leaves and flower petals, or ripped paper. It's a great way to start developing an artistic eye, while reusing waste. Check out some cool ideas here. Phone Apps Don't have a computer but have a phone? There are tons of free apps (with in-app purchases) that work for most phones; doesn't have to be an iPhone. I like Tayasui Sketches, it doesn't overwhelm you with ads and has nice brushes to choose from, including a watercolor option. You may not be able to immediately make this kind of art sellable. You may require additional tools (like a scanner or good camera) for eventual digitization. But if you're just starting out, the most important thing is to find your style, develop your skills, and build an organic following that understands your vision. Free Design ProgramsInkscape Inkscape is vector-based, so it's great for larger scale projects. It has a bit of a learning curve, but no more so than Illustrator. And there are lots of tutorials on youtube. You can’t really do a lot with texture, and sometimes the interface can be unstable (so you should save your work often). But it’s a great way to get started. I created several of my first collections on Inkscape, as well as some still-popular designs. For the cat design on the left, I created some watercolor textures in a free phone painting program (I don't know if it's still around, this was a few years ago, but you could always use photos of watercolors you've made). I then used "clipping mask" to map the texture onto the cat shapes. The most helpful tool in Inkscape if you're just starting out is the Seamless Pattern template. It's so helpful for getting a feel for how repeats work, because it has a preview area so you can see the whole repeat while you work. It really helped me learn how to make non-obvious repeats. Because it is vector-based, the files can be saved as SVG, which can be opened by Illustrator. This can work if you have a client who needs an Illustrator file, or for if you decided to upgrade to the Adobe Suite later in your art career. You can download it here. Gimp Gimp is a free photo-editing software. The interface is similar to Photoshop and the capabilities are similar. I don't personally create patterns in Photoshop, but I know many artists who do. It's a great tool for people who tend to paint or sketch by hand and then want to digitize their work into patterns. Download it here. Krita While writing this blog, I came across a new-to-me program called Krita. It's a painting program that also saves in SVG, but has many more brushes than Inkscape. It's used by illustrators and animators, and I don't yet know what the capacity is for pattern designers, but I'm going to play around with it and see what it does. You can try it out here. Learning for freeThis isn't going to be ground-breaking information, but there's a lot of helpful stuff on Youtube. Here are a few of my favorite for getting started:
Another free way to learn is by following artists you like on Instagram. Many artists (including myself) post time-lapses or in-progress pictures so you can see behind-the-scenes. Another option for those with a library card in the US is LinkedIn Learning, which offers a bunch of free classes when you login with your library card. Basics of art and software, color theory, history of art, etc are all available here. Sharing your work for freeThe real question here is: do you need to have a website? Personally, I don't think this is necessary, especially if you're just starting out. I still get more contact and traction through Instagram or by having my work on Print on Demand sites than through my website. It can make more sense for new designers to find and build your audience on social media rather than trying to learn to play the SEO game to help people find your website. Plus, social media (for all its flaws) is free. I've found both Pinterest and Instagram to be good options for me. I generally only share partial patterns or use watermarks to protect my work on these sites. Entering design challenges on Spoonflower and Instagram are great ways to get exposure and build your skills. It's always great to get feedback and encouragement from other artists or from your audience, as artists tend to work alone. If you want a website or portfolio site, Weebly (which I use), Wix, and Wordpress all offer free options (generally www.sitename.weebly.com or something similar for the free version). The world is yours.I struggled with this post because I know that there's SOOO much I'm leaving out. These are the things that worked for me when I was starting out, but there's so many other ways of building skills, because there's so many ways of being an artist.
The most important thing is just to do it! Don't let not having the right tools hold you back. Begin with what you have and you'll be amazed at how quickly you can make progress. The most important tool is your own creativity!
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It’s the season for courses. Every year about this time my Instagram feed is filled with affiliate links for pattern design courses and masterclasses. More than that, it seems like everybody is selling a course, their own or someone else's. I've taken quite a few courses myself, both online and in person. Ceramic, watercolor, finding your style, illustrating for children’s books. They can be great for moving your business forward or just expanding your skill set. But I've been noticing that some of these courses, groups, or masterclasses market themselves with big claims and promises about income potential; and these big promises come with big price tags. I’m concerned about the art world turning into a closed-loop market where we’re only making money off each other and someone at the bottom is always losing. And I'm especially concerned that new artists feel pressured to spend a huge amount of money to get started, as though there's only one way to be a pattern designer. So how do you choose between a course that will move your business and art skills forward vs. one that won't deliver on its big promises? When looking at courses, I have a few red- or yellow-flag phrases that I tend to look out for. One alone might not be a dealbreaker, but if you start seeing a lot of these in course advertisements, it might be worth taking a step back. (Disclaimer: these are my observations, thoughts, and opinions, I’m not an expert.) “It’s free!"Free courses are generally a sales funnel for the paid course (assuming that the coach offers a paid course). Simple as that. People rarely offer free courses for fun, they take time and money to make so there needs to be a return on investment. That doesn’t mean the free course isn’t worth taking, maybe it is. Maybe you’ll get some good information. Just know, going in, that at some point there will be a sales pitch. Ideally, you’ll have decided ahead of time whether you want to do the next thing. You’ll have looked at your budget, weighed the pros and cons, and won’t be swayed by the FOMO generated in the free course. “You’ll make back the money you spend”If you spend $168 on a yearly Skillshare subscription, you might make that back in a few months. But if you spend thousands on a single course, it might be a different story. Consider how many sales you'll need to make at a market, or how many yards of fabric you'll need to sell on Spoonflower. Consider that it may take time for people to make a decision to purchase. (In my experience, it takes between 1 and 2 years for one of my designs to begin to sell well on Spoonflower, for example). Whatever marketing or design tricks you may learn in the course, getting your work polished, out there, and sold is not necessarily a quick process. "You can make a 7-figure income"Income claims are always iffy, because everybody's experience is different. But this is especially true in the art world. I’ve seen situations where people get into pattern design because they have been told there’s so much money to be made. They paid for a course, now there’s a sunk cost fallacy, they take another course to pump themselves up…but then, they never really do anything with it. They don’t actually draw. Maybe they don't really even like drawing that much. But they were drawn to the income- or work-from-home promises. And I’ve seen other exceptionally talented people really throw themselves into their art, sometimes with courses, sometimes not, and the breakthrough just doesn't happen right away (if at all) for whatever reason. It’s not lack of talent or interest, but the timing is just wrong and they struggle to find their audience. For me it was a 2-3 year period of hustling before I made any real money. For some it's longer. For some, it happens immediately. I'm proud of the business I built and the hard work I put in, but I can also point to specific “luck” moments that allowed my business to grow. Ask any artist. Certain designs get a bump in interest because they coincide with a global event. Some people can afford to quit and pursue art full time because of a well-paid spouse. Sometimes certain designs just take off for no apparent reason. Certain personal connections give us unexpected opportunities. I could never sell a "secret sauce" to anyone else because everyone's situation is so different. Pattern design is like any other form of art. It has a lot of rewards but there are easier ways to make money. There is no fool-proof secret, no guaranteed income; and I would be cautious of anybody who tells you that there is. “It’s a mindset"Warning, I may get a little snarky about this one. I've heard it so many times. “I didn’t make money at first because I wasn’t in the right head space.” “The reason you’re not successful is because you’re just not ready for success.” But when I took a pottery class, nobody told me “It’s a mindset,” because it’s not. It’s a specific set of skills that you need to be successful. Pattern design or any form of art is the same. If you want to improve your pattern design, you need to draw. Enter competitions and post on Instagram to get feedback and grow your following. Watch Youtube tutorials. Mostly just draw. I draw while I'm watching tv, sitting at a cafe, or listening to podcasts. I draw literally all day long. You won’t get better at it by changing your mindset. You will get better at it by simply doing it. No snark here: if you're struggling to feel motivated, or you're dealing with a lot of fear and self-doubt, talking it over with a licensed therapist might be really helpful. An unlicensed art or business coach or course leader is more likely to give you motivational truisms that, rather than helping, simply keep you blaming yourself when you don’t achieve that 7-figure income that was promised above. “Limited Time,” “Limited space,” “There’s room for everybody.”These seemingly contradictory terms can actually all function as thought-terminating cliches, stopping legitimate questions in their tracks. "Limited time and space" rushes you to make a decision before all your questions have been answered. "There's room for everyone" keeps you from asking about market saturation and whether your art is bringing anything new or unique to the field. I remember a long time ago when I was given an MLM-sales pitch, the person kept pushing me to make a quick decision. "You don't need to talk to your husband about this." "Isn't that just putting off a decision until later when you could get started now?" "What would change between now and tomorrow except delaying saying yes?" But any business decision requires asking questions and weighing pro's and cons. Writing up a business plan (even if you're not seeking a bank loan) can be very helpful for clarifying where your art fits into the market. For example, do you hope to work with business clients by licensing your work, or want to put your work on print-on-demand sites and see what sells? Are you ready to start pitching or still needing to learn the basics of drawing? How long will it take to make any investment money back? Anyone that tries to rush you into a spending decision without offering you all the information doesn’t have your best interest in mind. “The reviews are all positive"Out of curiosity, I've googled the reviews of some of these big courses, and I can never find anything negative online about any of them. There will be a few long-form blogs that end up being largely puff pieces with an affiliate link at the end. But this doesn't ring true for me. People have opinions about things, and love to share them. Look up your favorite restaurant, your doctor, or your local wildlife preserve, and there’s going to be someone absolutely obliterating them in the reviews. I think a lack of negative reviews is actually a yellow or red flag for a course. Here are three reasons there might be no bad reviews:
“The coach is really successful”But to tie in to the previous point, is the teacher actually successful at their art? (I’m not talking about art teachers here, I’m talking about people who are selling themselves to you as being successful “in the industry”—meaning the pattern design industry). Or are they just good at selling success? Does this course instructor have real contracts with recognizable big brands? Have you seen their work in stores? If the teacher is selling success, then they should have no problem showing receipts. What percentage of their income was made by selling courses and what percentage was made from their licensing or other art sales? Again, big disclaimer. There’s nothing wrong with being an art teacher making the majority of your income on teaching. As an art teacher, you’re working with students to teach specific skills. I know people who do this online, through Youtube and Skillshare, and others who do it in person. It’s a wonderful career filled with passionate talented people. But the key is that as an art teacher, you’re not selling your own success. Your “success” as an artist doesn’t really matter because you have a specific knowledge set that you’re passing on to others. But many of these courses are based not on specific knowledge sets but on the promise of success, and specifically the promise that you too can achieve the success of the artist/coach/leader. You can learn their secrets, gain their wisdom. They might even do everyone the honor of jumping in on a group call. You might get the privilege of buying additional time with them. But if someone is telling you that they've “cracked the secret to pattern design,” then they’d better be able to back those claims up with measurable industry success. “It’s about the community!"This one actually makes me quite sad. As I was writing this blog post I stumbled onto yet another new course by an artist that I had respected. And buried in the pages and pages of the course description was the nugget that, in spite of paying hundreds of dollars a month, you wouldn't actually get much direct contact with the artist/coach, but you were encouraged to lean on others in your cohort for advice and encouragement. Never mind that the other artists in the cohort are in the same position as you, they're all looking for the same secret to business success, and none of them have found it yet or they wouldn't be taking the course. What you're essentially paying for is friendship. But there are so many ways of building community that are free or very cheap. I've made wonderful friends on Instagram, some of whom I've met in person. Maybe there are local meetup groups in your area, or maybe you could take a class at a community college, or volunteer with an arts-based organization. You shouldn't have to pay for a course just to develop friendships and contacts in the art world. "You need this for your business to grow."Here are some of my own monthly costs:
The word I look at when spending money on my business is "measurable." Does the value offset the cost? For example, paying my accountant ensures that I don't miss important tax filings (among other things). My Adobe Acrobat subscription ensures that my contracts are all in the same place. Web hosting allows me to send out monthly emails and have a website so I'm not as dependent on social media. Is the course or coaching service you're interested in giving a similar measurable value? Is the outcome clearly defined? Are there definite steps for how the course will get you there? Is it worth money that could otherwise be spent on web-services, fabric swatches, a marketing consultant, a booth at a trade show, an accountant, or an assistant? Final ThoughtsThis article is only meant to share some of the common marketing phrases I've seen and break them down. It's not meant to shame anybody who has taken a course, whether you regret it or found it helpful. I know there can be a lot of shame in perceived "failure" as an artist because for many of us art is a reflection of ourselves. Sometimes courses can market to that shame in ways that reinforce it. But I would also never want to contribute to that shame by implying that anyone who spends money on a course is somehow at fault if the course doesn't live up to its promises. If you've found a course to be helpful, that's wonderful! If you spent a lot of money you haven't yet recouped, that's not something to feel ashamed of. Please know that you are not a failure if you don't see immediate sales or growth in your art business. Art requires playing the long game. It's incredibly finicky and unpredictable as a career. There's no shortcut, but there also shouldn't be any shame. Have you had success with a course? If so, what made it positive for you?I'd love to put together a list of courses that were helpful to people (including myself) to offset some of the red flags in this post and start waving some green flags. That will be a future post. Next time: is it possible to get started for free? The hard sell for a lot of these courses is that you NEED them, especially as your business is getting started. But I don't think that's the case. I'll share a few of the programs and websites I used to get started for free. More information:
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