if anyone would like to learn a couple tricks for carving pumpkins:
- dont cut out the top to scoop out the seeds, cut out the bottom instead. this way the pumpkin doesnt cave in on itself and lasts longer
- sprinkle some cinnamon inside at the top after carving. this way when you put the candle in it smells like pumpkin pie
this is the quality content I wanna see on my dash
Friendly reminder to all working artists or (especially) aspiring artists.
If a client says they can’t afford to pay you but you’ll get good exposure, one of two things is happening:
1. They are lying. They can afford to pay you, but they are choosing not to. They will pay the printer to print the books, they will pay the mail service to deliver them, and you’d better believe they’re going to pay themselves for sending you an email explaining that they can’t afford to pay you. They think you are a sucker, and if you take the job you’ll be telling them they are right.
2. They are not lying. They have zero budget, no audience and no real distribution system. They’ll still be paying the printer and mail service because people who work in those professions don’t work for free just because someone promises them a recommendation. But they aren’t paying themselves, they’re running on an incredibly small margin, and there’s a good chance they won’t exist as a corporate entity in a few years. Publishing your work with them will give you less exposure than putting it on tumblr or Instagram for free would. It will never lead to a paying job.
If a client starts ranting about the “short-sightedness” of artists, or otherwise complains about artists in general in their opening offer to you, run. Run as fast as you would run if a blind date spent the whole of dinner ranting about how horrible your entire gender is. Yes, there are doubtlessly clients who’ve been screwed over by artists in the past, but the ones who complain about artists in general will not respect you, they will not treat you well.
Working for free does not prove that you are passionate about something. It proves that you do not need to be paid for your work. How many doctors went into medicine because they are passionate about saving lives? Do you think any of them are asked to perform heart surgery for free?
No one will ever pay $50 for something if they can get something similar for $5. When you charge next to nothing for art that you’ve worked for hours on, art that required years of training to create, you are telling your client that it is worth next to nothing. They will remember that the next time they want to hire an artist.
People who are looking to exploit artists know that artists are hard on themselves. They know that most artists don’t think their work is good enough to charge top dollar. They know that artists have been told from the first day they started taking their art seriously as a career that they’ll never make any money off it, that it’s not a real job, that it has no value to society. They know how to push artists’ insecurities about their profession in order to convince them that that demanding fair compensation is unrealistic and uncooperative.
If you’re just desperate for a job in the arts, any job in the arts, give yourself a job. Start a webcomic, or give yourself illustration assignments that you post on social media regularly, create work for a gallery show even if you don’t have one yet, or make a book. Give yourself a job. If you’re going to work for free, you may as well be working for yourself, setting your own hours and following your own interests. Having original art with original characters and ideas in your portfolio, and making sure your art is visible online will get the attention of publishers who are actually looking to hire people for good jobs. Drawing a shitty comic for a defunct publisher based on someone else’s shitty ideas will not.
Protect yourself, because no one else will. Protect yourself, because no one else will. There are people lining up around the block to exploit you. Protect yourself because no one else will.
I can’t begin to count the amount of times I’ve seen popular pony artists with terrible attitudes, or who treat their fans like garbage. I’ve seen them ridicule their followers for not knowing something, or for making a simple request (like tagging certain things), and mocking them for petty little things, then turning around and claiming that they don’t do anything like that.
I saw a popular artist recently admit that they don’t even like half the fan art they get, which is not only ungrateful, but it’s rude as hell. I’ve seen artists vehemently deny something happening in their lives, then turn around and admit to it happening, only to mock those who question it or who ask to be brought up to speed. I’ve seen an artist ridicule people who made a simple tagging request (for legitimate reasons), and tell them to stop trying to be such a special snowflake and a baby.
Here’s the thing.
It doesn’t matter how talented you are as an artist, you would be nowhere without your followers, your fans. These are the people who reblog your work, who share it, who tell their friends, recommend you, buy your commissions and post them to their own blogs to share your work, who support you by buying your work, pledging your Patreon accounts and showing you support when you need it. They are the people who send you words of support, even if you have no clue who they are, who help if you need it, send words of encouragement when you’re down and who spend their time enjoying your work.
I get that if you’re a popular, more well known artist, after a while, some things get tiring, and you have to put up with a lot of crap, and that you’re going to get tired of the constant criticism, of having hundreds, if not thousands, of strangers practically breathing down your neck. Trust me, I know.
But does it really kill you to be civil to people? Do you really need to mock them, and drag them through the mud and display your problems with them all over your blog for your legions of followers to see just because they disagree with you? Is it really so hard to just either ignore them, or politely catch them up on something if they ask, rather than sneering and ask where they’ve been or if they haven’t been paying attention?
This confession is not directed at any one artist in particular. Because I’ve seen it happen time, and time again with a lot of artists, and it’s really disappointing.
It doesn’t matter how good, or beautiful or amazing your work is, if you are a hateful, nasty person, then when I see your work, it becomes just as ugly as your attitude. And that’s a damn shame.
- Anonymous
Odd. Most of the super talented and popular people I’ve encountered are actually really nice and huge dorks. There are only about two I’ve interacted with that were complete dicks. In fact, it’s lesser known people I’ve encountered who make up the majority of the assholes I’ve met. Are your sure your envy isn’t clouding your judgement?
