[Cynthia Daniel]

Tarique,

There is nothing to apologize about. The site itself is for experienced established portrait artists. However, this Forum is for everyone. I personally know of some portrait artists who are now very established but started doing portraits in malls or on the street.

Local municipalities will each have their own laws governing this. For example, in the town where I live, they don't allow sidewalk cafes. As long as you have the proper license for the town or city where you are, no police should bother you. If it is a place where others are also selling on the street, this would be beneficial in bringing traffic.

This is the type of thing that can be very popular at Christmas. But, I suggest that you hurry because many vendor opportunities get filled up for the Christmas season. For example, I'm fairly certain malls will only take so many people.

Regarding malls, sometimes they have theme shows during the year. Often, there is an arts and crafts show for Christmas. So, if you were interested in a mall, ask the mall about upcoming arts and crafts shows and get the number for the sponsor. You might be able to get in and I would think for a much lower fee. Of course, this wouldn't be an ongoing thing, but might help for the next few months.

In my area, there is a very prestigious hotel/spa/resort and sometimes in the lobby, there is someone doing quick portraits. I also saw this once in the lobby of a restaurant. But, this would have to be arranged, you couldn't just go in and setup.

Regarding people fighting over a portrait, I think as a country we are unfortunately not as expressive as what you described.

In relation to your computer skills, have you checked with the various online sources for jobs and contractor positions?

Good luck!