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View Full Version : Some opinions on art and business


MarieElana
August 4th, 2008, 07:14 AM
Of course, I don't think I'll ever get into the business of doing art. Sure, I could go to an art college and be a pro, but I feel content in the amateur category that I am in now- that and this may sound funny, but I have a *passion* for accounting.

However, I can appreciate good art, and I do like to support other artists by taking commissions, though right now with the meager amount of money that I make I can't do it as much as I'd like to. I come here though to as for some opinions on a few matters that I am seeing on other websites(*coughdeviantartcough*).


So here it is- one is fishing for free art. There was a contest awhile back from Square-Enix, it went as this: they wanted people to make art for their new game on the DS with a deadline to the contest being two weeks from when the contest was issued. The prizes were a copy of the game for 10 winners and one of them gets a grand prize of a critique from the square enix art staff. Of course part of entering the contest was giving them rights to your art, and Squeenix lately has this tendency to just design characters with trendy clothes. All I see from them is belts and zippers.

You'd also think a company as big as them could easily hand out a scholarship for a prize.

The second thing that I see on the site are people who hold contempt for artists that sell their work. There's this attitude held mostly by a bunch of tweens that it's evil to sell your talent and art should be about art for art's sake. I also noticed a lot that say this are still in the amateur category like I am and yet claim to be offered many commissions. I could pull up some quotes like this for an example though-

"Why the hell would anyone want to get paid for art? I still don't understand that, art isn't about money, at least for me. I would feel like a sell out pig if I ever got paid to produce art work. People tell me all the time that I should become a professional artist, I've even gotten requests for commissions, I refused to hear a word of it because thats not why I do what I do. The only thing I've ever put up for sale was a little napkin drawing that I gave to my uncle to sell in his coffee shop, I did it because some no talent ass hole was charging 5,000 dollars for some bull shit paintings of celebrities, that really sucked, so, to piss my grandmother off I gave him this shitty used napkin that I drew on and told him to smack a 20,000 dollar price tag on it, just to piss her off."

Said person is 18 and calls anyone who makes money off of art as selfish, a sell out, etc. Not to make any blows at people's art though but if this (http://aotp.deviantart.com/art/Sample-picture-74006607)
is the best one can offer for art then I really wouldn't say one should have input on what the pros do with their art.

Anyways, that's all that comes to mind right now that I wonder about, so if anyone can offer opinions I'll be more than happy to read through them.

Hyskoa
August 4th, 2008, 07:58 AM
Your first problem is: You went to deviantart.
Your second problem is: You went to deviantart.
And your third problem is: Seriously? Deviantart?

Stoat
August 4th, 2008, 08:05 AM
I can has mortgage payment?

Duq
August 4th, 2008, 08:12 AM
I can has mortgage payment?

No, builld a tree house using canvas and broken pencils. You sell out.

Black Spot
August 4th, 2008, 11:29 AM
Of course, I don't think I'll ever get into the business of doing art. Sure, I could go to an art college and be a pro, but I feel content in the amateur category that I am in now- that and this may sound funny, but I have a *passion* for accounting.


Spooky! I’m in accounts with a passion for art.

What Hyskoa said.

jhgoforth
August 4th, 2008, 02:14 PM
meh You could be an amateur artist and still sell paintings if you wanted to. It wouldn't be your 'bread and butter' income but still money is money. Sell out? Were Da Vinci and Michelangelo sell outs for working for the "man", or as it was known for their time, the "Church"? The whole 'sell-out' thing is retarded, just like the extremely false idea that you need an art degree to be a 'professional' artist. Art is one of the few careers out there that is truly based upon your own skill, motivation and business sense. Social Darwinism in action (ok, maybe i'm stretching there, but it makes me grin). Many artists have interests other than just art alone. Some of us are fascinated with literature, history, science, etc. True Renaissance type people that are enamored with the idea of 'knowledge' and 'exploration' of the world than anything else. Now...off to figure out how to sell some work to pay for the bills.....

TheDrawingIrish
August 4th, 2008, 03:20 PM
There is nothing wrong with selling your creations, no matter what the profession is. And people WANT to buy other's creations. Thats the beauty of it. Someone may love Art (Paintings, drawings, photos, etc) but not have the time / inspiration / desire to create it for themselves, so they pay someone else to have the all that for them.

If this person "loves" their job, then its even better because they are thinking "this is awesome, I can't believe someone pays me to do this. So I don't need a job doing something else to pay for my hobbies!"

Its the same reason I don't design/engineer/build my own cars... someone else loves that more than me, and is therefore much better at it than me, and I appreciate their expertise and compensate them accordingly.

This young "whippersnapper" that is going off about how they live in their parents house for free will certainly change their tune once their parents push them out of the nest (as good parents should), or once they realize they are 30 and still not able to support themselves, let alone a family of their own.

In the end, do whatever you love (within legal bounds of course) and if someone wants to pay you to do it... you're in the clear.

I sell photo prints, and I'm just an amateur photographer with a grasp of photoshop. I couldn't make a living JUST doing that since I don't spend enough time doing it. But I think it's still pretty cool to get paid for a hobby (but I really want to be doing this with art instead of photos... someday)

waranghira
August 4th, 2008, 06:21 PM
woah, this is LOLTASTIC!

the dude who you quoted was the one on the link?

Dusty
August 4th, 2008, 07:53 PM
My opinion is that 18-yr old that you quoted is a fool.
I've been drawing since I was 4 years old...all I ever wanted to do with my time is draw, paint (or these days "digital paint"), sculpt, anything. Unfortunately, shelter has to be paid for, food has to be consumed, and a family has to be provided for.

Do I get what I want (creating art) by working in a field that isn't related to art? Absolutely not. I made it my goal my entire life to get paid for doing art for a living and that is exactly the goal I have accomplished. But most importantly...I can have all of the other things that NEED to happen in life and feel like I am not sacrificing anything to achieve them.

The person you quoted is misguided and if you want my opinion...one of his friends probably said something similar about "selling out" and he thought it was cool, so he repeated it. Making money with your art shouldn't be the primary reason to create, but if you can make money at it you absolutely should!

-D

Flake
August 4th, 2008, 08:16 PM
My opinion is that 18-yr old that you quoted is a fool.

Most 18 year olds are fools, they live in the "mommy and daddy will feed me and not charge me rent, meanwhile I will make teh awesome arts which are not sellout but I will be teh awesome!!1!"" bubble.

It'll last exactly 32 minutes once they hit what some people call the "Real World".

It's not uncommon. Hands up everyone who was clueless at 18?

\0/

No? Just me then..Damn..

aesir
August 4th, 2008, 09:00 PM
You'll find the attitude of this site and other professional sites is that almost everything we do is geared toward getting the jobs that we want.

MarieElana
August 4th, 2008, 10:09 PM
woah, this is LOLTASTIC!

the dude who you quoted was the one on the link?


Yes, that is him and I found him off of another website. He made an infamous forum thread and said all these things here and there- http://forum.deviantart.com/community/complaints/1080865/

check that thread if you want to put up with dA lag. I am subscribed so it's not a problem for me.

waranghira
August 5th, 2008, 07:54 AM
pretty interesting and entertaining thread, but its so tl;dr.
Don't they have life other than arguing with a troll?

Cepro
August 5th, 2008, 11:32 AM
If you want to support yourself by yourself and make art all around the clock, you'll have to sell your work. You probably won't have space to store it anyways.
Also if you want to support an artist, don't make them do comissions, buy their personal work. It will support them and show your appreciation even more.

PsiBug
August 5th, 2008, 11:50 AM
I noticed that the 18 year old has been banned and is no longer a member of deviantArt.

MiniGoth
August 5th, 2008, 12:55 PM
Someone, help me 'sell out'.

Sheesh. There's nothing wrong with being a hobbyist, if that's your thing; there's nothing wrong with making a living doing something you love.

What an asshat.

Anid Maro
August 5th, 2008, 01:03 PM
Said person is 18 and calls anyone who makes money off of art as selfish, a sell out, etc.

His mistake isn't so much in labeling paid work as "selfish" or "selling out". He's right, it's both. The mistake though, is in presuming that to be a bad thing. When Mum and Pop don't pay your rent anymore, when you start accruing bills, being a selfish sell-out becomes a pretty good attitude to have.

It's not uncommon. Hands up everyone who was clueless at 18?

Me! MEMEMEMEME!!! Hell, I was still clueless when I was 19 too. When I dropped out of college at I said, and I quote... "Bill Gates didn't need a college degree? Why do I? I'm going to be successful without that!"

Haha... oh man I crack myself up. Working minimum wage and trying to pay my rent straightened that crap up real quick like. Thankfully by the age of 21 I'd gone crawling right back to college. :)

Zombunny27
August 5th, 2008, 01:20 PM
Did they misinterpret the concept of doing something you don't like for money vs. something you love? I think the only way one can be a sell out is to do something they are against and don't believe in for money. Even then, only that person can tell for themselves if that's what's happening or if it's a means to an end.

People are captivated by aesthetics. Artists creat beautiful and captivating images. Therefore they have a service/skill others want. Are they going to call a chef a sell out for charging for their meals?

Black Spot
August 5th, 2008, 02:21 PM
Hands up everyone who was clueless at 18?

At 47, there are still times when I'm clueless. I stop learning when I'm dead.