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Ah what the hell.
Posted 6 years agoLet's upload everything.
Time to get to work.
Posted 6 years agoWhen life lets slip a little extra time, what do artists do?
Draw like mad.
Draw like mad.
Art hangups and a Question for Paid Artists
Posted 8 years agoI'm an artist, and I'll be honest: I'm struggling.
A couple of years ago, I was an adult with a job making money enough to save and use for life expenses. Then a few things happened.
Death. Illness. Medical troubles. Depression.
Fast-forward a few years and I still don't have a steady job. I mow lawns on occasion. The depression doesn't have me entertaining suicidal fantasies (anymore), but it does knock me off my feet every other day and make it really difficult to take care of myself. Acts that are luxuries for other people (exercising, going outside, interacting with friends, employing relaxation techniques) are simultaneously coping mechanisms, chores, and time-devouring necessities that drain me but keep me from downward-spiraling into a joyless, unsympathetic, thoughtlessly fasting, bedroom-dwelling slime mold.
My art has suffered the most. I still sketch. Sometimes. I don't finish anything because I can't justify the time spent versus spending it looking for work or training or mowing lawns. I would like to change this. But since my time is at a premium, I hesitate to start something for the sake of having a hobby.
Some people will say that artists shouldn't make money off of their art because they enjoy doing it, ergo, "not work" and therefore "shouldn't be profitable." I disagree, mainly because the process of making your art into your work involves a lot of the advanced skills necessary in any job that pays above minimum wage. The self-made artist has a hand in everything from time management and marketing to invoicing and accounting, not to mention that most commissioned works are, by their very nature, not inspired. They're requested by someone who is not the artist. Art-for-fun IS inspired and comes from the artist's...mind or heart or soul? Wherever it is that art comes from.
So commission work is not inspired, ergo, not art-for-fun, ergo, work.
You may notice that I didn't say anything about pre-made work. However, if you were paying attention and know anything about the pricing of art in general, you have already realized that when you buy pre-made work, which often costs a fraction of the price of commissioned work, you are actually paying for the man-hours of time management, marketing, invoicing, accounting, customer service and straight-up drawing compounded with the inherent value of having the job done by a skilled artist.
Because it does have an inherent value. Art is like carpentry, watch-making or welding - it's a labor-intensive work that not many people can do and that takes years and years to learn - in the artist's case, often a lifetime. When you pay for ANY art, you're paying for the inherent value of not having to spend a lifetime learning the skill yourself.
So even art that isn't self-inspired, on top of involving all of the work necessary to make art into work, gains value from the mere act of being drawn, crafted, or otherwise created by the skilled hands of an artist.
Needless to say, I want in.
(Actually, I guess it needs to be said? What with this being the first thing I've ever done on this account?)
I don't like get rich quick schemes and this is definitely not one of those. This calls for dedication, hard work, persistence and, most of all, a...... *sigh* a focus.
Those of you who do art for money, how do you focus on just one kind of art? (I draw, watercolor and sculpt, not necessarily in that order.) How do you know what to sell, and to whom? What was the first thing you ever sold, and what's the story there?
I would really like to do something with my art and since my time is at an unfortunate premium, turning it into a profitable pastime seems like the way to go. I appreciate any advice any of you are willing to share.
A couple of years ago, I was an adult with a job making money enough to save and use for life expenses. Then a few things happened.
Death. Illness. Medical troubles. Depression.
Fast-forward a few years and I still don't have a steady job. I mow lawns on occasion. The depression doesn't have me entertaining suicidal fantasies (anymore), but it does knock me off my feet every other day and make it really difficult to take care of myself. Acts that are luxuries for other people (exercising, going outside, interacting with friends, employing relaxation techniques) are simultaneously coping mechanisms, chores, and time-devouring necessities that drain me but keep me from downward-spiraling into a joyless, unsympathetic, thoughtlessly fasting, bedroom-dwelling slime mold.
My art has suffered the most. I still sketch. Sometimes. I don't finish anything because I can't justify the time spent versus spending it looking for work or training or mowing lawns. I would like to change this. But since my time is at a premium, I hesitate to start something for the sake of having a hobby.
Some people will say that artists shouldn't make money off of their art because they enjoy doing it, ergo, "not work" and therefore "shouldn't be profitable." I disagree, mainly because the process of making your art into your work involves a lot of the advanced skills necessary in any job that pays above minimum wage. The self-made artist has a hand in everything from time management and marketing to invoicing and accounting, not to mention that most commissioned works are, by their very nature, not inspired. They're requested by someone who is not the artist. Art-for-fun IS inspired and comes from the artist's...mind or heart or soul? Wherever it is that art comes from.
So commission work is not inspired, ergo, not art-for-fun, ergo, work.
You may notice that I didn't say anything about pre-made work. However, if you were paying attention and know anything about the pricing of art in general, you have already realized that when you buy pre-made work, which often costs a fraction of the price of commissioned work, you are actually paying for the man-hours of time management, marketing, invoicing, accounting, customer service and straight-up drawing compounded with the inherent value of having the job done by a skilled artist.
Because it does have an inherent value. Art is like carpentry, watch-making or welding - it's a labor-intensive work that not many people can do and that takes years and years to learn - in the artist's case, often a lifetime. When you pay for ANY art, you're paying for the inherent value of not having to spend a lifetime learning the skill yourself.
So even art that isn't self-inspired, on top of involving all of the work necessary to make art into work, gains value from the mere act of being drawn, crafted, or otherwise created by the skilled hands of an artist.
Needless to say, I want in.
(Actually, I guess it needs to be said? What with this being the first thing I've ever done on this account?)
I don't like get rich quick schemes and this is definitely not one of those. This calls for dedication, hard work, persistence and, most of all, a...... *sigh* a focus.
Those of you who do art for money, how do you focus on just one kind of art? (I draw, watercolor and sculpt, not necessarily in that order.) How do you know what to sell, and to whom? What was the first thing you ever sold, and what's the story there?
I would really like to do something with my art and since my time is at an unfortunate premium, turning it into a profitable pastime seems like the way to go. I appreciate any advice any of you are willing to share.
