Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. It's truly important to shed light on the reality that many artists face, especially as they gain visibility or achieve success. The misconceptions about what it means to make a "good sale" or have a large following often overlook the personal and financial struggles that can still exist behind the scenes. You're right—artists are people, too, often juggling multiple challenges, and it’s unfair to equate them with big corporations just because they're doing well occasionally.

I appreciate you using your platform to speak up about these issues. It’s a powerful reminder to everyone to be kinder and more understanding. Supporting each other in the creative community is so important, and I completely agree that we should celebrate each other's successes rather than criticize or compete.

Sending you positive thoughts, and I hope things get easier for you and your fellow artists. Your resilience and dedication to helping others, even when it’s tough, are truly inspiring.

Take care and thank you for all you do. 💖

Agreed 100%. Never understood why people get upset at artists seemingly doing well for themselves. I couldn't imagine trying to be a freelance artist in this hellscape of an economy when income can fluctuate as often as the weather.

Add the mentality of "Ew that artist is doing personal art while they have commissions on their queue" because how dare an artist want to draw stuff for themselves in between from time to time instead of dedicating their life to commissions 24/7 like an art pooping AI...

That said, honestly i'm happy for artists who break trough because it's such a rare opportunity; good for them to be able to charge what their art is actually worth and maybe be able to actually live off of it

Say it louder for the people in the back!! 💖💖

Absolutely this. I once had someone rage at me because I was making 500$ a MONTH on Patreon. I had to explain that minimum wage workers make way more than that WEEKLY. Sure, you can be upset at artists that charge $1,000+ starting, I get that. But when people do 5 slots or whatever at 150-200 a pop, most of that money won't even hit their bank; it goes to rent, utilities, food, bills. A $200 commission is a bill and a half for me.

Yes, preach!!!

Artists 👏🏻 Deserve 👏🏻 RESPECT!!! 👏🏻

To add on!

I've also seen a lot of artists retire early BECAUSE of all the negativity and needless drama that happens to them.

People think drama ends after high school or college, it doesn't. I really wish it did...But that's life. We just gotta roll with the punches that it gives us. But that never gives anyone the excuse to act entitled or like a "Karen/Cameron".

No one should be entitled. We are all equal! ♡

I agree!
Even if someome DOES do well then as long as they are ERANING it aka a good perosn then who cares? Let them enjoy it?

Yeah any business where you rely on direct payments from customers like semi independent games or personal projects where just a small portion of enjoyers, the 'whales' (top spenders who say, spend 1,000$-10,000$s on games or arts can kinda have some warped stuff.

I think when you buy a burger from a mcjob, you know for your 5$, you get a burger, the business pays the work some of it, buys ingredients with the rest, and the rest is profit.

With game development or art, you do see people do stuff like. "I want a game, with THE BEST QUALITY.. A game as big as the biggest mmorpg, with graphics as good as Crysis/Red dead, a 500 million dollar budget, and f2p, no mtx, and nothing that could ever make the money back again. Oh, and i should be able to pirate it!"

You kinda can see a lot of people run into a course where they know what they want but might not consider the other person. Like playing a game of chess where your "1 turn to checkmate queen rush", doesn't have the person develop stupiditis and move their pawn into a illegal checkmate.

Everyones struggling for money to live and corporations did indeed price jack. I think people did the math and in the 1950s, it wasn't a joke that a single earner family with a ged out of high school could buy a house at 18-20 with a mortgage and own a restaurant worth 500k-1000k now just working at a local 1950s diner.

They produced half of gdp, but we were rebuilding after ww2, politicans didn't want to be corrupt to a trained for war ww2 millitary populice after a few corrupt politicians who had 'legally aquired the homes of soldiers in local elections' while the men were at war and women couldn't vote, just found that not all people's humor went far and most people knew it was a ill advised game to play.

In the modern world with modern advancements, we do produce twice as much gdp a head, but most of the productivity is in enhancements. Look at nvidia's 'stock crash'... They made like 200% of last year's profits off price scalping the ai boom.. people paid 200$ to 700$ for gpus during a price scalp and they sold to botters... Yet the crash all over r/wallstreetbets was a -4.53% crash.. On a thing that made twice it's money.

We call nintendo as a money hungry company but even then without stockholders, there's a point someone is a billionaire and they go. "Uhh. this seems like enough money. i don't want to make 47 more marios in my 80s. I want to retire".

Meanwhile, the us system, good or not, seems to rely on infinite growth. While good for trimming fat, eventually the fat runs out, and then meat starts getting cut into.

Modern unregulated capitalism in the west feels like a farmer unplanting their seeds to get a 'seeds left over bonus'. People are laid off from companies who pay 2x as much to rehire untrained graduates who need 4 years to catch up to speed while giving no one economic stability.

It kinda feels like a ponzi scheme. People are cheating the shareholder metrics that get them 1-50 million dollar bonuses. But the only thing that reproduces without checks uncontrolled in wild is literally cancer.

I don't think im a complete capitalism is bad or commie guy, a lot of places starve, but i do think as people pass their 18-20s..

You do go from having to worry about dreams to adulting. I only did a couple but i knew in early art, i felt stressed out by my first few commissions and decided to bail out and do art trades instead. I saw some ugly drama and hence just made a account to talk my mind without just.. worrying about all the shitstorm having a opinion on the internet and any 50 50% divide could potentially bring.

It's right, the average money you need to survive as a single person is 2 bachelors degrees and starter house prices went up 150k-200k to 750k as companies like blackrock/vanguard bought them all. people don't have health insurance in the us, people overseas in countries with free healthcare and lower living expenses where rent is 100$ vs 1000$ can compete much easier.

Art is one of the first/most 'fully remote, pick your hours, have vacation, flexible working hours' jobs that lets you potentially pick your pay as well. But doesn't guarantee stable, ensured employment.

I worry about the sustainability and demonization of things as well. Some people especially in some other places are hypertoxic about the arts in general and i think one of the quickest ways to make a person never talk to others again, not buy again is often dehumanization, or show no empathy, or even faked sympathy or not for their plight from other sites.

I think some people think that it'd boost sales from other sites, like a person playing chess throwing a queen into pawns for a '1 turn checkmate'. But most people aren't completely stupid. I think a lot of people are stressed out about the economy, being compared to 'richer' siblings, mental health is seen with eyerolls but taking a detox can be fine.

But people need to balance being happy with being free with being realistic. Not all things good as a dream might be best as a job and/or vice aversa.

I've seen some people in the furaffinity discord servers talk about using savings and debit or even credit to buy those 100-2000$s arts, or empty their bank account to 0 to use credit cards to buy art. I think it's good people are being supported but the sustainability problems.

Many of the top whales i spent in gaming were people spending compulsively while a lot of people giving life advice for stuff they wish they had done in their 20s. was invest, pick the right career, start saving for retirement early (accumulating interest vs working in 60s).

As well as work out early before they lost their health, and avoid mistakes they only found out later in life. Like damaged kidneys/livers from over drinking, broken hips/spines from lifting/accidents, etc.

It's not the rainbows and sunshine most of us wanted to grow into. But life is life, we gotta adult and do adulting as we become adults. But it does seem sad that our 20s can't last forever. :/

Completely agree with you!
I used to be sure that a thousand dollars per month is a lot, but living in... let's say, a not very prosperous country, paying taxes, losing some money on currency conversion and having elderly relatives dependent on me (a disabled grandmother and parents whose salaries added together are less than mine) I was convinced that this is not so.
I LOVE my job and would not trade it for any other, but sometimes I almost give up when I have to literally force myself to rest, draw some non-commercial things, switch to fan art and personal projects, any fun - it seems to me that I could spend this time more usefully, or it seems that people from the outside can decide that my financial situation allows me to idle...

I mean adulting sucks, I've probably been on lighter ends of both in survival or trial modes, didn't do serious comms but i think one of my first ones was a token wage.. And it got returned because the person was on their last bits. SO i kept it watermarked and it was like a pitifully low amount, like 1$ a hr, (was pre art price hikes lol, and the art was legit 3rd year of mspaint bad, before all the art tutorials and 14 year olds moving at a rate 10x faster than people flailing out trying things blind.)

I think a lot of people are in survival mode, like even though i don't talk about it, i still have a ailing father and parents who'll get sick soon. Even in the 'better circumstances' i won't own or float anything for like 10-20+ years and it'll take like 40 years to pay stuff off.

Stuff is messed up and corporations are unironically making like 85,000$ a 15,000$ employee and finding ways to make 105,000$ by cutting wages to 10,000$ and adding robots. There's a two sided nature where cheaper for the consumer benefits the consumer but workers need job security. It's like the 4.79$ 2l ice cream mom and pop vs 1.99$ 2L kroger/walmart ice cream effect.

Your money goes further at a megamart than a mom and pop with 4.79$ vs 1.99$ prices. But it also means a lot of spirit goes. Even stuff i thought i was getting a steal on, like 30$ for 50 lbs of beans and a pressure cooker for economical protein.. The best price i found, turns out the middlemen can pay 10$ for 50 lbs of beans.

And even though i still find it a economical dinner with some vitamin pills and of course meal variety like chilis, soups, stews, bone broths, chickens, tortillas, tacos. Sour cream.. It's still sobering that even on 'the best deal ever!', corps are still able to make like 60% profit, then 'we only make 2% profit' on a margin, while also giving themselves 100 million dollar /yr 'salaries + stocks' as part of the 98% 'operating expenses'.

Hell for christ sake, Red lobster went out of business against itself for tax benefits...

Totally agree. I had someone a while back in my emails trying to insist that I must be a full blown company making fursuits and that 'Willow' was just a secretary??? Like girl that's so far from the truth! I don't even charge as much as the bigger names in the suit making business and I couldn't believe someone actually assumed this of me! It just blows my mind that people even within the fandom will think artists and crafters make so much money just because we charge appropriate prices for luxury handmade/hand drawn items.

Amen to everything here. Im not surprised this is a thing but Im happy Ive never seen any of it? I guess because I mostly just post and run these days due to being busy. Shame we cant just be happy for each other.

This is so true

Personally i have a job of 20 hours a week to help me pay the bills. Tho comissioned money i get i use for around the house. Like paint, furniture, my setup, hobbies, etc

Another thing that pissed me the hell off is when people complain about the pricing

"Why are their prices so high?"

I had it long ago in my server people complained and i explained it to them that art is a luxury. Big artist has a expensive YCH of over 2K and people complained and i put them in their place for it. They have to pay bills, groceries, meds and other things. If people pay money to that then its their choise.

I sometimes hear aswell clients complain about other artists but i often ask what the problem is and i know theres always two sides of a story.

Ontop of that if a client treats me like shit i blacklist them. Ive dealt with plenty and its the best way to deal with them. Theres always someone there who does treat you with respect and is willing to pay more

Dont let people walk over you

Finally someone said it!

People (mainly kids) are so unbelievably indignant about art. Too many do not understand that art is a luxury to people! When artists price themselves according to the demand for their stuff and to take care of themselves, it doesn't mean they look down on those who cannot afford them! Good lird, I am so sorry you had to deal with any harassment/troublesome people.

Take care and keep up the fantastic work 💖

Thank you so much for saying something about this subject, I’ve had alot of similar thoughts on my mind lately. So many artists think that all of this is a competition and the moment another artist is “successful” in their view they don’t act like the artist is even a person anymore regardless of if they were friends or not as well, they stop caring about the person and they care more about the supposed “successful artist” and how that success somehow wrongs them (when it doesn’t). In almost all cases they think one or two good sales or the artist just has high prices automatically means they’re well off, but that never means anything because they don’t know what their situation is like. I have been told by artist “friends” that they were angry with me over the fact I was “successful” and they “didn’t have half of what I had” which is incredibly frustrating because I always try to share the work of others and try to share their commissions/sales. People automatically assume success but they don’t realize what I or anyone else may be dealing with behind the scenes.

Even then, if an artist is doing really well I don’t see why that’s an issue either. Let artists enjoy nice things too, but none of this should be a competition and we should all be supporting eachother and encouraging eachother, not trying to bring everybody else around us down for our own benefit

I absolutely agree. Thank you for saying this! I never understood people who get made at artists for making good money on their art. I think of it as "wow I hope one day I can get to that level of success!"

Honestly Preach wow. The internet isnt what it used to be. Say it, it needs to be said.

Oh my god, i agree so much! Just the other day I saw a rage thread on Twitter against “famous artists charging a few hundred bucks for a sketch)
I fully understand those artists. I mean I don’t charge as much personally for a sketch but I understand the process an artist has to go through to be able to put prices as high. It is long years of massively hard work to get the skill that they have. YEARS. And reading all the hate against BIG ARTISTS feels like a slap to the face…

Fully agreed. And it's more like making $3k per month just to live and not feel like you're always about to be homeless and hungry. And that's ONLY if you don't have a lifelong medical condition you need to care for. And one small emergency can wipe you out.

Honestly maybe artists and fans of artists are the most team-killing group, and I don't know why, I've even done it knowing it and also unwittingly. Why do we never question a janitor but we shred an illustrator or even a writer's living, I don't know.

*taps the sign violently* For those still doing it, stop teamkilling artists. Just stop, forever.