can you survive as an artist?

[le capitan]

Just had the most annoying discussion with my father concerning my career. Apparently he believes I cant survive by being an artist and should chose a different, higher paying, job. So Im hopeing plenty of you can prove him wrong. so.....
what do you do(job)?
how much do you get paid?
is there high employment?
do you live from paycheck to paycheck?
do you have a decent living?
thanks

[dusty imp]

If you're in it for the money - don't bother, save yourself the aggravation.

[Sinix]

Alot of that may come down to how much of an opportunist you are.

[Profil]

You wont do this for money. But if you are good at negoating.... well then you can come up to very large numbers if ALSO your art is good, very good.
Well, tell your father that its your choice.

[Hamsta]

I think surviving as a designer, rather than as an artist, would be easier. For the record, concept artist are defenitly designers.

[Patrick]

Alot of it has to do with your expected quality-of-life level. If you can survive on raman noddles, ham sandwiches and be thrifty, probably so. If you get a job working at a big in-house film/effects studio or game company, probably so.

Most of the folks I've read posts from on some other forums often work in peripheral industries (computer/tec/consultant occupations) and do their art freelance.

I myself, am semi-pro doing tec support at the ass end of the film industry to pay bills while doing freelance art only part-time. This seems pretty common to other artists I've talked to, to varying degrees.

[MuffinMan]

i've had this conversation with my father before.
he suggest i design concept cars instead of making 3d art for games.
i told him i want to do what i want and he can't contorl what i do.
so you and i are in the same situation.
i'm into this, because i love pc games and always played them with joy.
so i have the passion and creativity to want to make games. :confident

[gasmask]

the range at a game studio is like 30k-110k but then ovcoarse thats not counting taxes so subtract about a 3rd of that not to mention u work on salary meaning you dont get payed for overtime and you would work at least 50 hours a week and sometimes 80 plus hours a week months on end.

[stalecracker]

Yes, you can.

Art is a business as well as a passion. I have a wife, two kids a nice house in the 'burbs and a car payment. I make ends meet just fine. I freelance for extra cash.

You need to focus in and go for it.

[Slash]

I want to make a living from my art. For now, that keeps me pretty starving. The only profession that have more starving individuals than art, is music. And since i am a musician aswell, i am twice as starving as everyone else! ;)

But jokes aside, i think that you should do what you want to and like to do. If you end up as a lawyer with a fat paycheck, but find your work boring and uninspiring, what`s the point? Being well-fed and unhappy is much worse than being starving and happy.

I also have the impression that most artists are struggling only in the beginning of their career, and once they build up contacts, reputation, experience, skills and all that shit, it becomes just like any other job.

[grey]

Yes you can survive, and with dedication/commitment/moxie you can prosper. I've done just fine for the last decade or so, haven't so much as looked at a packet of ramen for at least 8 of those years (and this city ain't cheap :) )

I'm wary of the arguments that say "do it because you love it don't expect to make a living, do it for art's sake"; this is a business and you should approach it as a professional. Hell yes you should love it, but that's true for any career.

[le capitan]

wow thanks for the replies everyone
yutani >> no its not the money. I couldnt be a lawyer, not even for the money. thank you
sinix >> Im sure there are tons of factors for every job that will matter if your a success or not, thanks
profil >> yeah, im sure your artwork is a big factor, and demand. thanks for the input
hamsta >> dont storyboarders get paid well and such?, thank you
Patrick >> I know tons of people who need multiple jobs to live., thanks
muffinman >> yeah, I think everyone goes through a bit of a speach. thanks for the input man
gasmask >> Ive heard the gaming life is hard. What about film? Isnt that larger?
stalecracker >> wow, theres some inspiration. thank you.
slash >> do what you love to do. good luck with your goals
grey >> thanks, everything has its market.

thanks again everyone

[gasmask]

the fiml industry is big but more exlcusive and hard to get into, its reserved for the best and pretty much all film work is freelance so even tho film guys make alot they can possibly sit around for months waiting for more film work and yes games are rough but going through a transitional phase where i think you are gonna start seeign a huge jump in game art as well as quality of life, i think to many people are sick of how un professional and un organized it is so either a union will happen or they will start hiring more people so that the people that do work dont have to bust there ass 12 hours a day which is BS, no one should have to work that especially on salary

[merchan]

You can make a good living using your skills,a lot of working especialy in the film game is personality and dealing with time crunches.
I had the very same conversation with my dad(bless 'im) and that was when there were no game industry to speak of and the film industry in U.K was tiny.
These days no work is 100% secure and the real way to money via your art and imagination is to create an idea others are willing to pay for...royalties.

Best of luck.

Martin M.

[bRyaN]

BE the best, you get paid the best...
Dedication...Sacrifice...2 words...is all you need...