Because this is an emotional topic, I'm going to get crude about it. People act like you just ejaculate art onto the page in some sort of orgasmic mastrabatory session that takes as little thought as jacking off. You enjoy it, so it should be free. So if that is so, why do you pay prostitutes and porn stars for doing something "enjoyable". That's one of the bigger money making industries, so how does that work? The fact of the matter is that art is work, and it's specialized work. Not everyone can do it. People realize that art sells books, and turns print into something that people want to buy, but often are unable or more likely unwilling to extend future funds to the artist. This is most infuriating when a writer does it, saying that they are doing all the work. Why is one creative field seen as work and another not?
Doctors, lawyers, and social workers are not expected to get another job so they can "follow their passion", yet it's commonplace for artists to do so. You would never ask a plumber to fix your plumbing "for the exposure" so he can get more plumbing work, but that is the way people treat artists. Also artists in illustration are often paid for the job, not by the hour, so you could theoretically finish a project and be making 25 cents an hour, because there is no hourly minimum wage for artists.
This is why artists are broke... Run up credit cards to make it to a show, where you can sell your art. Use money made from show to pay off credit cards, which may or may not be above the cost of going. Then realize you need to restock for next show, now having no money from paying off credit cards... use credit card... repeat and cuss.
Do art for minimal money to get name out there, and then wait for people to actually pay promised money after art is done... and wait... and wait... start asking to be paid for work, because you run up credit cards just to eat because you didn't get paid. Be made villain for asking to be paid. They turn to college kids for cheaper more ignorant artists. College kids go through same process ... repeat.
Begin doing what you want to do now that you are a better artist. People love it, but most people don't want to pay for it or can't afford it, so you do something else you have no interest in... and don't get paid... and prints don't sell. Be told that illustration and realism is not art, while others devalue what you do because it's not a normal job. Watch artists with less talent sell crap because they are young and charismatic, while more talented artists starve because they are spending their time on perfecting their art. Grind teeth to bloody stumps... repeat.
Get a commission and the promise of actually getting paid, then they turn out to be the most micromanaging perfectionist on the planet. They bring in other people and suddenly your art is being done by committee. By the end, you've done 10 paintings and none were ever good enough. You've wasted so much time that when you do get paid, it doesn't cover the time wasted that you could have been using to do something that you enjoy that might actually sell. Meanwhile you've got an image that only the client could love, and you could not make and sell prints of to recoup cost.
Then you add that people who see money coming in at shows and think you have money because you work for yourself. Cue leeches. Cue debt. Get rid of leeches, and be made villain. Get labeled as temperamental artist.
Painting in public, something that takes concentration and works with an entirely different side of the brain than talking; however, people cannot help coming up to you and talking. You may think that most of it is compliments, and no doubt they exist but more often than not you get some mother telling their 10 year old, "you could do that" or "you can barely see the numbers" or "what's that going to be?" or "You could do better than that"to someone else. Seriously, next time, I'm bringing a pencil box and challenging the next person to a duel. It's just plain rude.
Become sickly and unable to work, but can't afford health care, and suddenly all your patrons drop out because they are afraid you can't finish the job. Meanwhile people are waiting to bank on your work after you are dead, selling and trading art at much higher rates than when the artist was alive and actually could have used the money. Now it goes to gallery owners and collectors, like some valued medieval finger bone of a saint for good luck. Still I suppose that's better than no one wanting your art after you're gone.
I realize that some of these are just me, but I bet that most artists can relate to at least 50% of this. It's a very rewarding career in so many respects, but often lacking in respect. I've had people complain that I was just selling a piece of paper, to which I responded, then you will have no problem giving me those pieces of paper you call cash. At the end of the day, value and power is where you assign it. It's a belief, and it's a common belief that art has little value. To those who do value art, and are patrons of the arts, you are beyond value to us, even if you don't buy our art. The sheer appreciation is of great value to us. All artists can do is hope that there are more people out there who can learn to appreciate the hard work of another individual, even if it's not the same type of work that they do. And maybe... just maybe give us a little bit of basic human respect... and then repeat it.
If any of this touched home, you might enjoy this 19 ways to make an illustrator grind their teeth to bloody stumps.
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