Artists make art, gallerists make artists. My dad is a pretty great artist, he studied under Peter Prendergast, and Mike Knowles (professor emeritus at the Slad

Artists make art, gallerists make artists. My dad is a pretty great artist, he studied under Peter Prendergast, and Mike Knowles (professor emeritus at the Slade). Outside of the local art scene he is completely unknown. My observations lead me to conclude that the greatest artists and musicians of the world are, like my dad, totally anonymous. Becoming successful in the way you describe requires a dedication to business, PR, sales and marketing. You often need to be a shameless self publicist, or extremely lucky, Van Gough died poor and unknown. Practising the skills required to become popular and "successful" diminishes the time available to practice your art skills. Even though you said you don't care about making money, earning recognition in art means making money. You could refuse to sell your art, but then no galleries would take you on, and no auction houses will mobilise their PR machines to promote you. To sum up, I would: 1) Go to night school drawing classes. 2) Practice, practice, practice. 3) Find a degree course with a good teacher. Who you learn from is way more important in art than where, or what you learn. 4) Make art Then, if you want to become a commercial success and be invited to soirees: 1) Study business, sales, the art of persuasion, social skills, etc. 2) Use connections from your art school to promote yourself. 3) ??? 4) Profit.