how do you live the artistic lifestyle?
how can you find enough time and money to devote to art, while being able to survive and sustain yourself? it seems like I can only get one or the other. I'm on a year break from university, although I live with my parents I'm still mostly supporting myself with a grocery store job. I work so much and am so tired by the time I come home, I have no motivation or time to work on art seriously. I also have very little money to spend on anything; most of it is paying for my art degree. My parents agreed to let me stay with them as long as I am in education, which seemed to me like the best way to get artwork done and improve myself. but now it just looks hopeless, an endless cycle of having to choose between reality and doing art.
are there any jobs I can get that allow lots of freedom for a lifestyle centered around art?
I thought about being an art teacher. Or a professor, but I think that requires a graduate degree which is uncertain for me at this point.
I work in a warehouse, loading trucks and putting orders together. My boss knows I'm a painter and fully supports it - I can come in whenever I want, leave when I want, and get paid $12.50 an hour. I was upfront and honest, and since it's a family business they're a lot more flexible than a corporate job. I was busy setting up shows in a different city and didn't show up for work for a month, but when I went back in they didn't give me any shit - just asked how the set up went. It's baffling, really.
I've worked so many terrible, shit jobs and feel so lucky to have found this gig.
wew, I typed more than I meant to.
TL;DR: what careers will keep me financially stable while giving me the expendable income and enough freetime to pursue art?
I totally understand your situation. Perhaps a solution might be to try a different kind of art that is suitable to your life's circumstances.
Maybe lots of drawing with abstract simplified forms that can be done very quickly while you are on lunch break or in the bus.
Get a pen and paper, these are one of cheapest mediums, and start inventing your own style. And start selling these figurative sketches online for cheap, to cover your costs.
>>2313198
I get what you're saying, and I sometimes make sketches of things around me when I get the chance, but its not really a serious devotion that I can live with.
its like telling someone whose dream it is to be a folk musician -- just download garageband on your phone and make music on the bus. its not the same as your passion
>>2313198
>start selling these figurative sketches online for cheap, to cover your costs
sounds simple but it isn't
>>2313210
>having a passion for something
Consider yourself lucky
If you're serious about art and have a deep passion for it, you'll figure out a way to make it a priority.
For example:
>I work so much and am so tired by the time I come home, I have no motivation or time to work on art seriously.
Then wake up a few hours earlier and do your stuff in the morning before you go into work. Practice on your days off. Instead of playing videogames, practice.
>>2313210
So what kind of art do you want to make? Oil or watercolor paintings? Charcoal drawings?
>>2313227
I mean, I try my best, but I am a human being who requires sleep and whatnot.
This was moreso a question about the future rather than the current situation, though. As in, how I can work towards a career that fits this desired lifestyle.
>>2313228
painting, various methods of photography, collage art, all of the above together, etc.
i.e. things that require
>money for supplies
>gas
>time
>interior space (which isn't currently a problem, but will be when I move out)
>>2313179
>although I live with my parents I'm still mostly supporting myself
lol. there's no shame in living with your parents but don't tell people you are supporting yourself.
>>2313251
>mostly
>mostly
>mostly
I'm paying for everything I have except rent and utilities
...and christmas cookies :)
>>2313246
>I mean, I try my best, but I am a human being who requires sleep and whatnot.
You work at a fucking grocery store, dude. You're not a goddamn ER surgeon or air traffic controller.
>>2313210
you might want to post some work because I seriously doubt you have mastered drawing to the point where practising won't make you any better than you are now.
It sounds like you are just making excuses you stupid fucking cunt.
>>2313268
yea before I became a highly paid wage slave and I was a poorly paid wage slave doing menial work art was an excellent escape after being bored all day. Now that I have actual stress and difficult problems to solve, even though it's often rewarding, the temptation to be passive and have a few beers and read a book or just play with my kids is much more strong than it was when I was pushing grocery carts in the 90s. Sounds like this OP isn't going to make it.
>>2313256
oh boy I remember when I was 16 and didn't understand anything about money
Anyone know how to go about selling art? One of my friends is really good at oil painting. She always talks about how people will make false promises on payments or never have the money to pay for art. She doesn't really have any connections besides teachers in art school and even then she's a bit shy to ask.
Pic related. One of her potraits.
>>2313309
Critiques welcome
>>2313309
>She always talks about how people will make false promises on payments or never have the money to pay for art.
Story of my fucking life.
Tell her to nut up and get some confidence and to take her work to smaller galleries, join a co-op, or enter her work into local open-calls.
>>2313311
I'll try. We are from a small college town so our options are a bit limited. I really need make her grow a pair.
>>2313276
oh boy I remember when I was 4 and couldn't read or understand sentences and spouted random bullshit
>>2313313
Contracts? Nah man we are still in college. She's a freshman at a local university..she wanted to go to a bigger school but couldn't afford it. We are literally going to a small college in bum fuck no where.
>>2313319
I'm not sure why that changes anything. Using contracts ensures you get paid and makes the entire thing a professional agreement. If you are just going around like "lol i'm a college art kid wanna buy a painting?" then obviously you won't serious responses.
>>2313319
If you don't sell yourself like a professional ain't nobody gonna treat you like a professional.
>>2313321
Oh I'm sorry. I misunderstood what you were trying to say. I thought you meant like a contract with a company or something. I'm retarded.
And to answer your question that is a No. I'll mention that to her though Thank you
I'm sitting with a painter of 30years tomorrow. Her advice? You can't make money off art, her husband pays the bills and stretches her canvas, she loves him.
My advice, get a dead end job at night. The low activity will save your energies for daylight hours. I was doing night audit and spending 7hours painting per shift. Now I work Subway graveyard and have 5-6 hours for working on art.
Get a shit job ,be broke, suffer, make art.
Just don't get cushy enough to have floral painting look like a good option. This when you know your work/subjects are getting empty. Be dumb, chase the chroma through the streetscape. Believe in magic, disregard currency.
Pic related: Took two weeks at a construction gig that had me working 12hour days under the table. No energy to paint, I was dead. "Troy Miller Still Owes Me 900$"
I'm a contractor for a design firm of sorts.
It's got its ups and downs. I like drawing for money, but the drawings I do for them are never my best, or even halfway decent. But it pays $50 and hour. But I'm only a contractor, so I get hit hard with self employment tax and my hours aren't guaranteed if clients take too long to respond or work isn't being sold. I do shit for a lot of big name companies that everyone knows of, but nearly all of our work is for internal use only and so I can't share a little too of what I do. I've learned a lot about animation, but not enough to work for an animation studio.
I draw a lot on my own. I'm working on a comic and have a writer helping me make the store not awful. I'm studying animation so that I can apply for a job somewhere else so that I might be able to work full time. But when I have a day or even a week off from work, I use that time to get better at my craft. I try to learn something new each time I work, because I didn't go to a very good art school and I really should be a much better artist than I am right now.
Some days I don't have the energy to draw after work. Somedays, I'm up really late drawing. My gf hates that I don't get a lot of sleep, and it's hard for me to explain that I value my work more than my sleep. I know that's not healthy, but drawing makes me happy, and sleeping makes me feel lazy because I'm not drawing/doing errands/etc.
I still live with my parents. I only have $5k left in student loans, then I'll start looking for a new place. Unfortunately, I live near one of the top 3 most expensive cities to live in in the US, so places are either nice or affordable, but never both.
I just want fellow artists to weeb out and make doujins with. I live in a small autistic town and I'm the biggest autist of all. How can I make artist friends when I don't go anywhere and don't understand others?
>>2313654
Oh, I should mention I got my job off of Craigslist. My school did fuckall to help me find work. One professor said she knew someone who worked at Marvel and could get me a job.
I watched her write my introductory e-mail in all caps. I never heard back.
The rest of my work career prior to my current contract job was all retail. When I applied for my current gig, I embellished my accomplishments (changed "runner up in a contest on a website/magazine" to "featured artist on a website/magazine, that sorta thing) and they either didn't background check or didn't care because my portfolio was strong enough.
/blog
>>2313657
If only there was a way to communicate with other people around the world...
Actually, all artists I meet online are either way too good to hang with losers like me, or really, really awful and I'd never hang with them. I guess I could help others get better, but I don't feel qualified for that.
>>2313452
>Get a shit job ,be broke, suffer, make art.
Just don't get cushy enough to have floral painting look like a good option. This when you know your work/subjects are getting empty. Be dumb, chase the chroma through the streetscape. Believe in magic, disregard currency.
Can't tell if stupid or 18
>>2313657
swedish?
>>2313667
There's nothing wrong with floral painting if that's what you're into.
>>2313674
Nah, worse. Kentucky.
>>2313664
>professor writing in all caps
wtf did you get your degree from a diploma mill? I went to a small liberal arts college and no professor was that retarded, or art student even.
>>2313452
>You can't make money off art
You can, I know more than one artist irl who make a living entirely off their art. I also know some mediocre old women who paint kitsch while their husbands work.
>>2313309
>She always talks about how people will make false promises on payments or never have the money to pay for art
get payed up front. is your friend retarded?
the best way to sell art depends entirely on where you live and what your options are for getting your work out there.
>>2313734
State College. But it's not a dedicated art school. It also had English, psychology, and criminal justice.
>>2313317
He's right though, if mommy and daddy still pay rent and utilities then you're not really supporting yourself, just supporting your hobbies. I know you feel like a big boy, but once you're completely self-sufficient you'll realize how easy you have it now.
>All these people waxing poetic over being a Starving Artist
>All these people telling others to get bad jobs and have shitty lives to make good art
>not having a job that leverages your artistic talents, be it an illustrator, a designer, working at a gallery or museum or print shop or running your own business
Just skip the depression altogether and cut right to killing yourselves.
>>2313707
>>2313778
I knew I was from the black belt and the bible belt, I didn't know I was from the porn belt (different anon here, Alabama)
Makes sense that ebony is a popular search term here given that blacks comprise such a large part of the population.
>>2313744
oh look another retard who can't read
>mostly
>mostly
>mostly
and
>just supporting your hobbies
what is food? what is gas? what is insurance? what is college tuition? what are textbooks? what is shampoo? what is toothpaste? what is clothes?
>>2313179
Become a NEET
>>2313707
mah nigga. Move to Louisville or Lexington both are cheap as fug and offer a decent amount of stuff to do and people to meet, especially for the cost of living.
>>2313274
>or just play with my kids
...You live with your parents, and work at a grocery store, and you have kids?
>>2313902
It's not the same person, idiot. Try actually fucking reading.
>>2313903
Well I'm looking through the post chain and it certainly seems like the same person, so I don't know what you're getting so bent out of shape over.
>>2313908
You would think that
>Sounds like this OP isn't going to make it.
would be a good clue that this person isn't OP.
I make about $1400 / month passively selling prints on sites like Society6, Redbubble, etc.
Allows me to focus full-time on freelance illustration, even if I don't always have a great source of income from that.
It's very difficult to create passive income from selling products online, though. The competition is fierce, and the sci-fi/fantasy junk that /ic/ tends to favor won't work for it.
>>2313935
Any style that sells well?
>>2313179
I'm in web design. 30/hours week job working from home and I am paid $40k/year
Plenty of time to draw
>>2313946
Absolutely. Just go onto a PoD (Print-on-demand) site and look at some of the most popular things. You'll find that things are mostly:
1. Vintage/hipster aesthetic
2. Pop-culture references.
3. Cute
This goes for pretty much all products, from wall art to t-shirts.
It's important to make what you enjoy making, but understand that people want something that will look good in their house, so you need to tweak your styles towards that. Putting yourself in the shoes of customers is crucial to making things that people want to buy.
>>2313915
kek, well look at that, guess I stopped reading as soon as the kids comment raised my eyebrows.
Still nothing to get your panties in an uproar over.
>>2313749
there's a certain kind of impurity in that thought--the idea that making art for a living will somehow corrupt the art and/or take inspiration and energy away from the purely artistic stuff in the evening.
>>2313778
>no data of Utah
>kek
also none for VA or OH either, but less funny
>>2313778
creampie!? wuts so good about that?! do those states have stromg abortion laws? seems more like a fetish
