Hi guys. I've been doing art on and off since October 2018 now. Motivation is always something I've found hard to maintain especially since I've experienced more than a few major life changes since then. So to be frank I probably haven't progressed as much as I should've.

So fair I've only made art for people whom have asked for commissions via mail.

Right now I feel like I finally have the skills to meet the demands of shop. I can do color changes, make markings, adjust lighting (somewhat well), create my own backgrounds, and paint small features/accessories, eyes, hooves, and hair on my own now with general ease. It still takes me a long time, but I can manage. I haven't really done much to advertise or sell myself much in the art realm. The only achievement I have to date is winning the first artist rumble, albeit tier three. So hence why I'm a bit on the fence here. With that being said it would probably take a bit to snag customers but I think decent art sells itself.

I think what I'm asking for here aside from the ramble is whether or not I should take the leap? If it's a wise decision where should I put myself?

This is a somewhat recent account since I lost track of my last one. So it only has a small sample of my work.

Your art is beautiful and you're more than capable of creating a shop and I'm sure it would get plenty of orders. However, I see a lot of artists start shops and then get burnt out and overwhelmed on orders, and you say you're already inconsistent as it is, so I'd be worried that you would find yourself a bit overwhelmed.

I have had art made by you before and I am very sad that I somehow lost it, but I can say with absolute certainty that your art is gorgeous. If getting burnt out is something your worried about then maybe start with a premade shop? Then maybe open a commission shop with only three slots open and once those three are done open another three slots? I basically know nothing about art pricing, but I think you could probably start as a Tier 2 artist!

Yea if you are concerned you might get burnt out you could try making a premade shop and just having a new piece up every two to three weeks to try to get yourself in more of a routine sort of. I know that is hard because motivation comes and goes but that might be something you could start with and then go on to move to an actual shop. Your art is gorgeous by the way and maybe start in tier 3 or tier 2. Tier 3 with maybe higher pricing. But your art looks awesome and good luck <33

I'd think high T3. Maybe low T2 ^^

I would say high tier 3 or low tier 2, somewhere around the general area of 50k. If you're worried about getting burnt out, you could try not opening very many slots at a time so you don't get overwhelmed. I tend to have two slots at a time, but you could go for one if you'd rather. Like other have suggested, you could also trying holding off on the commissions and only doing a premade shop if you're worried about inconsistency.

I wanted to go ahead and thank everyone for their advise. I followed through with what was put in my direction and opened up a shop in tier three. I'm trying to keep my fees reasonable for now so I'll probably hang out there until I get pushed to do otherwise.

I also wanted to point out that I have an auction thread for premades. With that being said I think I'll just swing between those to things when I've had enough of carrying out custom orders. That way I can still practice and keep something of an edge.

Much love to you guys for helping me out!