How many designs to start with ?

Hello everybody! I haven't been here is ages (I was traveling) but I m back and working on my painting!

I was wondering, how manu designs do you think you should really master (aka do under 3min) before you can start confronting yourself to the public ? I was going for 4 more girly designs/ 4 boyish/ 3neutral (animals)+ some quick side eye design. What do you think? What do you do if someone asked for a design that is not one of those ?

thanks in advance !

that sounds fine for starters, especially if you have popular types of designs like princess/fairy, butterfly, unicorn, dinosaur/lizard, superhero mask, etc.

notice some designs can serve two purposes -
princess and fairy can be similar,
so can dinosaur and lizard,
if you have a basic superhero mask, you just need to change the colors and details for each character,
same for animal mask - get the basic features down (muzzle, ears, nose, stripes or spots), and vary the colors and shapes a bit for each animal.

to give you "more" designs, you can vary each design slightly -
use different colors,
blend in accent colors, use different shading,
vary the shape and placement of line work a bit,
vary the details, or do details in other colors besides white and black (teardrops, dots, stars, etc).

if someone asks for a design you think you could do, ask them to pull up an image on their cell phone, and do a version of it within your skill level.

if they ask for something you don't think you can do well, tell them the designs you have are the ones that are available, and that you can make them look good.

Sounds like a great amount to start. If someone asks for a different design you could try it if you feel like you would do it well or you could say something like "Wow! that sounds like an awesome design, but today these are the choices available. Which one do you want?"

Thank you for you opinions and advice !!! I think I still need to refine my designs and adapt them with different colors (which means I will need to buy more of them soon... oh no.... )

I had a kid ask me to do a teddy bear yesterday (which is quite rare: in France the bear is less represented in kids' books etc... so it's just a big dangerous animal to them lol) and I had to decline with what you said Kris....
So far I have:

For Girls => Princess
Fairy
Butterfly
Floral Mask

For boys => Pirate
Dragon
Spiderman (I am yet to find a superhero design that i could adapt to different heros)
Skull

Neutral => Cat
Dog
Tiger
Parrot

Side eyes/ cheek art => side Butterfly
heart
cupcake
tribal
monster

No pic yet since it's still mostly WIP ^^'

sounds like you have a good selection, have fun getting started

now that i think about how i got started, it's better to do a few designs well, than try to do a lot of designs, and not be as good.

That's my thinking too! I think I am going to wait a bit still beause I want to build skill speed !!

Here are a few designs that have already out there:








Featuring my face and my silly sister. What do you think, good enough or not yet ?

You are better than some I've seen who charge for their work. Go for it!

Also, if you want your pictures to post smaller, select a smaller width like 320 px.

Haha thank you !
I have decided that I'll dedicate more time to starting an actual business (which is super tricky here) as soon as I get my driving licence. I'm already a quite full part-time teacher so there is no rush

I tried the miniature but I'll change the size for next time, thanks!

i agree with kris! you have a good use of color and good composition in your designs, and your linework and details in the right places.

Thanks !! I'll see what opportunities I may have