For artists and creatives with formal training, it may feel like you have everything you need to “go forth and create.” But at the end of the day, there are a few real-world skills artists need — and they don’t teach them in art school or university.

Becoming an artist requires a dedication to developing these somewhat obscure skills, just as much as developing your creative ones. To help out my fellow artists — so we can enjoy more art in the world — here are 10 skills they don’t teach in art school (but should).

1. How to build a business as an artist

We may be taught how to create our best work in a specific medium in school or through formal art training. But when it comes to building a business from your art? That’s not something many of us learn or even think is possible.

However, building a successful business with your art is attainable. We, as artists and creators, need to know how to sell our art and ourselves. People buy the artist just as much as the art, so creating a story, a presence and a cohesive image can help build a strong foundation for your art business.

Related: How Art Helped Me Find A Different Perspective To Business (And Life)

2. How to navigate hesitation and doubt

Who are we to create art? Who are we to try and make a living from our work, when so many other artists struggled to get by? The long-held societal myth of “the starving artist” keeps many an amazing creative from ever pursuing their skills, let alone creating a business or income source from it. Our work is overcoming it.

3. How to shift your mindset

As mentioned above, part of the work of being an artist is addressing mindset challenges and taking a deep look at where they come from. We have to address our social influences, our upbringings, our stories and our relationships with money. 

We also have to learn to personify the resistance and give a name to our fears. Elizabeth Gilbert frequently talks about how fear never goes away, but there’s something we can do to manage it: Ask it to take a backseat.

4. The power of visualization

As artists, we have the ability to bring out what we see and make it tangible. We can essentially visualize what we want to see in the world — and that’s a superpower. Visualization is a tool you can use to create art, grow a business and even create the life you really want.

This is not just an artist’s superstition, either. This is rooted in scientific fact. What does this mean for artists? There is proof that visualization works. It’s not some intangible artistic concept — we can leverage this skill to help us create our art and succeed in both business and in life.

5. How to create multiple revenue streams

As a painter myself, I’ve created multiple streams of revenue by selling my paintings:

• In art galleries (selling the physical canvas, selling art in stores, etc.)

• Via digital prints (selling paper copies of my original paintings)

• Through licensing deals (allowing companies to source my original artwork for printing, design, etc.) 

• Creating, teaching to create and selling NFTs (non-fungible tokens)

I’ve also created courses and programs to help artists like you hone your craft and establish a thriving art business. Other artists have:

• Taught their specific medium to other artists through courses, workshops, etc.

• Sold merchandise

• Commissioned artw