What's the most important factor that determines whether an artist will be successful?

The number one thing all successful artists have in common is simple: they’ve been consistent and they’ve never quit. Time and consistency is the cheat code. If you can stay consistent in your efforts for months and years without quitting, you will make it. Your business will continue to grow. This applies equally to everyone—the artist who’s never sold anything, the artist who’s sold a few pieces, the artist trying to go full-time, and even the artist already selling tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands a year. There’s no magical number of hours required; what matters is that you stay at it consistently without stopping. Some seasons you can give one or two hours a week, other seasons ten or thirty hours. It doesn’t matter—just never stop completely. Momentum is real: as you do the work, you’ll get wins, your emotional reservoir fills up, you naturally invest more time, and it feeds on itself. 99% of artists never stay consistent, so the 1% who do automatically win.

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Asked by artists wanting to know the key to success · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-05-22