Let me give you the perspective of someone who has done traditional art. Both myself and my girlfriend have had our oils in galleries, and gallery painters ask the same question -- how can I make any money with my paintings? It's just not something everyone is in the market for.

 She has make her most money doing huge paintings of giraffes on commission from a private collector who just loves giraffes and wants to put some in the lobbies of the buildings he manages. I have made the most money with pen-and-ink illustrations for small magazines because they are easy and cost-effective to reproduce into print. The wide range of colors and tonalities in a Poser render almost totally excludes them from being purchased by publications because they would be too expensive to print. (You can reduce number of colors and dynamic range in Photoshop for a very good reason).

The downside is that a customer will fax his pic requirements on a Fri night and says he needs all the finished product to be sent overnight to him by Mon. And then there is that nasty something called a "kill fee" which is a trifling payment for your efforts when the editor finds this month's issue doesn't quite have room for that illustration you stayed up all night to finish.

You gotta love it or you will leave it, and smoozing with editors and art directors is an absolute requirement, even if they are boring and overbearing or even smell bad. Good luck all!