It would be an interesting survey for sure. I am not an artists, but I will give my intuitions for the results I would expect. As a note, I mostly watch commissioners as I usually like a theme more than a style.

• I would expect no money, at least at start. Think about it like athletes and sports, most do it for fun, a few do it for some money, and only a small amount make it as a living.
• For those that try to do it full time, I see a lot of burn out. I have seen many try to do a drawing a day, sometimes as patreon rewards. This usually doesn’t lat more than a year before burnout. I’ve seen both transitioning to art as full time, usually after a patreon threshold, as well as moving art to a side hustle after getting a more traditional job for a more sustainable income.
• Based on rough math, I have seen about $30 k - $115 k, although the higher end is usually game related. https://www.patreon.com/ruaidri , https://www.patreon.com/fek , https://www.patreon.com/caroo . Both ruaidri and caroo do commissions and other project as well. I usually see the transition to art full time after a sustainable income is achieved, not before.
• See previous
• I would assume networking is a big part of this. Trades with big artists, pushes on social media, presence at cons…
• No real intuition, but I would assume if its doing commissions, its work, if its opening a patreon to continue working on personal projects, its not.

This is all just based on intuition and looking at it as a skill field like any other.

Non-professional artist here with a few commissions under her belt. I’ll answer from that POV.

• I mostly draw for fun so I definitely don’t expect money for it. And you definitely can’t expect money right when you’re starting out. However, I know some people who draw as their primary source of income, which leads to most of the art they produce being for income.
• It honestly can be either a side hustle or a full job, depending on the demand, your speed and your prices. It doesn’t have to be exhausting as a side hustle because you can adjust how much you do it considering your income doesn’t depend on it (unless your actual job barely keeps you afloat in the first place, in which case it could become a second job, which definitely can be exhausting).
• Again, your salary depends on your demand, speed and prices. I don’t have personal experience on this because I rarely take commissions. Though even a semi-well-known artist who can work with relatively niche needs can make a few thousand (USD) a month.
• Considering art is a luxury item, your job security will depend on the financial situation of your clients. If things like, say, a global pandemic happen and a lot of people are left struggling, you’re likely going to be struggling as well since people will of course prioritise things they actually need.
• I feel like both “get lucky” and “get noticed” apply here. Furry art is a very saturated market these days so if you can garner an audience, you’re already in a very good place. If you get lucky by being, say, one of the first furry artists on a platform that ends up becoming popular among furries, you’re going to be noticed just because you were there before the platform got saturated. I’ve also noticed that if you can and are comfortable drawing niche art (in my case, transformation), that gets noticed a lot easier. I’d say that if you have something unique to offer (e.g. a really unique style), you’re also more likely to be noticed among the mass.
• Fun or work, it varies. Artist friends who have made this their primary source of income say it’s fun for them. For me, it felt stressful to draw for money. Then again, I underpriced my commissions way too much when I did them so that may have been a factor (amount of work compared to amount of money didn’t feel worth it).

In conclusion, it’s a market with a lot of options for clients. I recommend, for any budding artists, to not think of art as a source of income first and foremost and just doing it because you love to create. If you can make some money or even your income from it eventually, that’s definitely an added bonus. c:

Do most artists draw art without expecting any money?

Definitely amateur artists don’t expect money, but as you get better and more popular people tend to start offering money. The furry fandom is more serious about this than other online spaces, they pay more and will rarely ask for free art.

Do most artists do it as a side hustle in addition to a regular job? Is that exhausting?

Artists very often have a day job, but we as the audience are more likely to notice full-time artists because they tend to be more active and prolific. Being a more popular artist makes it easier to make it a full-time job, and making it their full-time job makes it easier to get popular.

What sort of “salary” could one reasonably expect from being dedicated to full-time drawing [furry] art?

Oh there was a survey going around on this topic actually. Behold, graphs and a spreadsheet. Most artists i know are broke.

If it’s meant to be your only source of income, how does your job security feel?

It’s kind of a dream job and a lot of people want it, so supply is high and it can be hard to pay the rent with this. The quality standards are also pretty high. Add the fact that the economy isn’t doing great and a lot of people don’t have means to pay for as much art as they’d like. So no, i wouldn’t guess it’s a stable income.

Is it required to “get lucky”/“get noticed” in order to make any real amount of money?

My optimistic opinion is that putting out quality art consistently over time will get you noticed no matter what; i don’t think luck is a factor, if the goal is profitability then catering to the audience’s tastes is much more important.

The hard part is making quality art consistently. For one thing, not everyone lives in suitable conditions to work from home, that kind of luck is a factor.

If by “get noticed” you mean “get promoted by bigger artists”, then yeah that helps a lot, but it’s also possible to just grow on your own.

Is it fun, or does it become “work”?

It becomes work. Starting a drawing is a lot easier than finishing it, so it definitely requires discipline and work ethic.

But also, the kind of people with the inclination to draw for 8 hours a day are absolutely passionate about art and would do it anyway; and making art of a high enough quality to make a living requires the kind of practice that comes from drawing for 8 hours a day.

Any other interesting topics that I don’t know enough about to ask?

It’s relatively common for artists to not consider themselves furry, but they draw anthros and therefore have a furry audience. Membership in the community is not required, all that is required is anthro animals.

But, when it comes to making a living, i do think it takes a furry to know the esthetic expectations and how to subvert them, even with AI art. And a lot of artists stay away from furry because of the negative associations, so competition is not as stiff as it could be. This is especially true for NSFW furry art, that’s really a niche where you only go if it’s what you’re into.