Junior Mariel Rodriguez accomplished what many art students aspire to do on Nov. 18-20.
Sell art professionally.
Rodriquez, an IB Art 1 student, attended the Anime USA art convention in Crystal City to sell her art for the first time, although she has displayed art at several other conventions.
“Like a lot of kids, I’ve been drawing since I was really little,” said Rodriquez. “I started seriously drawing in middle school.”
This particular convention did not have an age requirement for art vendors, so it permitted Rodriquez to sell her artwork. Anime USA was the only convention that Rodriquez has attended that allows artists under 18 to sell their work.
At the convention, Rodriquez sold prints for an average of $15 and made a profit of $262.
“I think it was really cool that people found my work interesting and wanted to pay money for it,” said Rodriquez. “It’s weird that someone has it as a poster on their wall.”
Rodriquez sold different posters or key chains, many of which were fan art. This means that she drew characters from comics or television shows that she liked, but in her own style.
“The most popular ones were the art of television shows ‘Number 6’ and ‘Adventure Time,’” said Rodriquez.
Rodriquez plans to return to the convention next year to sell her work and would like to sell pictures at other conventions between now and then.
Though this is the first time Rodriquez sold her art publicly, she participated in online sales and sold work to fellow students who are interested since she still has a few pictures left over from the convention.
Rodriquez also posts her work online, which leads to people asking her for commissions. These commissions allow her to draw specific pictures for a profit.
“I’ve drawn various scenes and characters that people want to see drawn,” said Rodriquez.
Rodriquez would like to have a future in drawing but recognizes that it is a tough job to acquire. Rodriquez hopes art will remain a constant in her life regardless of an artistic career.
“You shouldn’t do art just for profit,” said Rodriquez. “You should do it for fun.”
