It depends what you mean by "artist". There are different levels for different social classes, and each level is a different job/world which requires a differen

It depends what you mean by "artist". There are different levels for different social classes, and each level is a different job/world which requires a different skillset. There are light years of difference between getting a slot in a small-town gallery or show (not hard...), getting a slot in a Beverly Hills gallery (much harder, but not necessarily dependent on quality) to becoming a name on the mainstream NY/London circuit (needs insanely good contact management and party skills, and an ability to write/speak art bullshit with a straight face). You can also be a successful niche artist who panders to a popular audience (Kinkade, Vettriano), a full-time Etsy pro, a full-time Deviant Art pro, someone known locally for pet portraits, and so on. For the top gallery scene I'd suggest books like Art of the Deal by Horowitz and Dark Side of the Boom by Adams. For art in general try Grayson Perry's Playing to the Gallery. For an inside view of the top go to as many big art fairs as you can - Art Basel (Miama, Basel), Frieze (London), the Armory Show (NY), Scope (NY, London, Basel) - and ask gallery staff how the system works. Tell them you're doing a research project or something like that. Do not try to sell them art. Don't be surprised if some laugh at you or cut you dead, but a few may take an interest. Also, don't underestimate how good the best artists are. There's plenty of bullshit, but there's also plenty of solid talent - not so much basic drawing (although it can help), but a kind of abstract visual intelligence and feel for composition which not everyone has. Look at a lot of art, and try to understand visual metaphors, shape and use of space, dynamics and movement, social references, and other abstract features. Representational skill is the least interesting part of it.