Thursday, July 11All That Matters

Artist

by Pizzacakecomic
Artist


Artist



View Reddit by Pizzacakecomic – View Source

42 Comments

  • MyStationIsAbandoned

    hahaha….yeah…

    if you managed to not go to college and get into massive debt, at least you’re miles ahead of others.

    Reply
  • lessmiserables

    Everybody wants to be a rock star. No one wants to be a plumber.

    Artists don’t starve because Our Culture Doesn’t Respect Art, or because there’s systemic anti-art institutions out there, or because of fraud or grift, it’s because for every actual way for an artist to make a living, there’s a thousand artists. It’s simply supply and demand. Even really, really talented people can’t break those numbers.

    If you want to engage in art, do it! It’s fun. It’s great. But of *course* everyone wants to indulge in creativity instead of working on spreadsheets or digging telephone poles. That doesn’t mean everyone can, or should.

    Art is important, but it’s not as important as everyone thinks it is.

    Reply
  • fsamson3

    With all due respect most aspiring and professional artists are well aware that webcomics are possibly the most unstable field for financial well-being, so if the artist knew that and still continued to pursue it, the whole “starving artist” shtick is pretty ridiculous.

    Reply
  • 2abyssinians

    The most successful artist I have ever known spent at least a year homeless because he refused to do anything else but make art. He said if he had a side job no one would take him seriously, and that he didn’t care about anything else. He became pretty well known in the New York art scene, and was represented by some major galleries. His whole social life revolved around gallery openings. When the pandemic happened he had a heart attack in his apartment alone, most likely brought by heavy drinking and poor diet. His body wasn’t found for a couple of weeks. Pursuing art as a career is probably the most difficult path to take in life.

    Reply
  • Kahzgul

    It’s that fine line between drawing what you want in order to be true to your art, and drawing what the client wants in order to get paid. I edit TV. My entire job is doing art for someone else, at their request, to their specifications. If I sneak in something for myself, it’s a near certainty that it gets taken out later because the work isn’t about my vision at all.

    So how to cope?

    For me, I find joy in the actual craft of it, rather than the end result. It’s like a puzzle, where the pieces are all random shapes, and I’m told that they need to go together in such a way as to make a penguin. And then, after I make the penguin, I’m told that, no, actually it’s a sports car.

    And my job is to solve that puzzle using all of the tools of the craft at my disposal. My ability to adapt to the ever shifting and often bizarre requests from my clients is what allows my art to earn me a living.

    And so we arrive at the truth of your work here. This is beautiful and accurate. For the majority of artists, dancing to someone else’s tune is the name of the game. We are all drawing for food. And shelter. And clothing. And whatever else we need. The sad fact of art school – most anyway – is that they completely fail to teach the business side of the craft. How to find clients; how to talk to clients; how to charge clients. And so, lacking in that fundamental, we all – for a time – find ourselves starving as we lack the clients we need, are unable to interpret what the clients we have want from us, and charge them too little for the end results.

    This, too, shall pass. Practice the business of being an artist with all of the gusto and fervor that you practice your art, and that right hand panel will shift into a comfy chair at a sturdy desk.

    In my (limited) understanding of the business of being an artist, children’s books seem profitable. Illustrating, sure, but also writing them. What is the story of the character in your panels? It seems like it could easily become a picture book about following your dreams being both not what you imagined but still rewarding. I think you’ve really got something there. Good luck!

    Reply
  • drugusingthrowaway

    *Goes to 7-11 counter with pizza, places pizza on counter, and attempts to pay with Reddit upvotes.*

    “Ma’am, this is a 7-11.”

    *nudges Reddit upvotes slightly further*

    Reply
  • Interesting_Earth_79

    In Ireland when you are getting a social welfare payment we call it drawing the dole. Hence there’s lots of artists who draw in Ireland.

    Reply
  • tomanonimos

    Every artist goes through a “rough patch” before they make a decent income from it. The reason why so many successful artist come from middle class and rich is because their family support the artist during this rough patch. Those without this support can’t recover or do a career switch. I commonly see artist, with no support, getting “distracted” which hurts their momentum/growth.

    Reply
  • allminionsmustdie

    i hate this. the concept of a professional artist is legitimate and more prevalent than you may think. graphic designers are needed for every website and printed thing you see; illustrators/animators are needed for every illustration and animation you see. furniture designers, industrial designers, architects, all create the world around you. the fine arts push conventions that show up in consumer goods and political ideologies down the line. a professional artist is a real and worthwhile livelihood.

    Reply
  • Jacob030816

    Kinda wanna just save money so I can go to every artist that is struggling and pay them a ton for just one drawing.

    Just to help them out

    Reply
  • Kriket308

    I have two art degrees. Yep, you heard that correctly. TWO.

    I’m now an artist for a AAA game company. Won’t lie to you, it was a FUCK TON of work to get here, but now I’m financially stable, and love the piss out of my job. So all in all, totally worth hearing this kind of crap for decades. 😁

    Reply
  • Life-Is-a-Story

    People joke about this all the time , the ironic thing is once upon a time artists were one of the highest paid workers out there , Mainly if you did religious pieces but still. That rotated out , came back for musicians , rotated out , came back again when film industry blew up , rotated out and blew up again in the late 90’s for website artwork.

    The starving artist is temporary , The starving socialite is forever.

    Reply
  • ClockworkArt

    As a full-time & fairly successful artist, I find a lot of folks are dismissive of art as a career because they haven’t considered a world devoid of creative professionals. All of the entertainment we consume isn’t manifested in a void (well, perhaps debatable in some cases); artists create it.

    There are plenty of ways to make a living as an artist that don’t involve the gallery world. I have friends with successful gallery careers & also friends who rock it in TV & film, photography, music, dance, literature, journalism, web design, illustration, the gaming industry & so many more. Freelance & contract gigs can definitely be feast or famine, but many of us find balance through multitasking.

    As another Redditor pointed out, it’s rare to learn the business end of things in art school. Not every artist has the desire to do art as a living & that’s okay. But for those of us who care about bridging the gap between making cool stuff & finding the means to monetise it, that process can take years. Being part of a supportive & encouraging art community (online & in person) has opened doors I didn’t know existed & my experience allows me to help other artists through that process too.

    Patreon helped a lot of us through the pandemic when galleries were closed & conventions were cancelled. Unlike social media sites, it’s based on intentional interactions, posts are chronological instead of algorithm dependent, and it’s add-free. It’s a pleasant & inspiring platform, so no shade to Patreon.

    And for artists without the privilege of wealthy parents or partners, it’s not the worst thing to juggle art making & a day job. It comes down to passion & persistence. It took me 15 years to turn art into my full-time career & I can now say with a completely straight face that I’m a professional crazy cat lady; my cats are my art models & they totally pay the rent.

    So I encourage fellow artists to do what makes you smile & find a community that loves what you do too.

    Reply
  • daath

    Well, historically all good artists had patrons to survive and make nothing but art. Where do you think the phrase “patron of the arts” comes from? Now everyone can be a patron of the arts 😉

    Reply
  • LaughingBriand

    What’s the difference between an artist and a bench?

    ​

    …A bench can support a family.

    ​

    ​

    (This joke was brought to you by a year 2 art major please help)

    Reply

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