hauket:

cargorabbit:

(reposting from my FA)

Lately (though I’m sure this has been an issue for a long time), I’ve seen a lot of users commenting on artists’ ych, or auctions complaining about prices being out of their range (idk how common this is on tumblr, but I know it’s an issue on dA/FA). Or that it’s ridiculous that they’re making some “insane” amount of money (when most of the time it’s not even that much compared to how much commercial artists of the same caliber are paid for). Or they attack the clients telling them they’re stupid for spending x amount of money on art/porn/whatever.

For those people: GET OVER YOURSELF.

The online art industry for non-commercial work is already severely out of whack, artists who could probably work commercial or technically high-end in regards to quality are offering their artwork for less than minimum wage or less than that of an entry-level illustrator or freelance artist (which is anywhere between $20-30 an hour).

On the flip side when people try to charge these entry-level prices or higher there is ALWAYS someone who comes along and complains about why it isn’t worth it for a numerous amount of reasons.

i.e.:
- It’s porn, “How dare you spend your money on lewd work, shame on you!”
(porn art is still art, some people like seeing their characters in these situations
and seeing their fantasies rendered in an artist’s style they love. This is none of your business, without people keeping porn artists financially afloat you would have a LOT less content you so enjoy - and if you don’t enjoy it, then why are you looking at porn submissions anyway?.)

- It’s digital, “I’d understand if it was traditional work because you’d be getting a physical copy but why would you spend that much on PIXELS?”
(Digital art is hard, it takes years of practice to get decent at it - I’ve been doing digital art for 8 years now and I’m not even that good, it is a medium just like any other. Traditional mediums aside from pen/pencil and paper are also EXPENSIVE, and not everyone can afford it. Not to mention a lot of traditional mediums have health risks - i.e. lots of long time traditional professional artists who worked with markers, oil paints, etc. can’t be around the mediums anymore without getting violently sick like my instructor.That is the reality of some traditional mediums, and not something every artist can handle.)

- It’s “expensive”, “Since you like drawing so much, why don’t you do it for cheaper/free to contribute back to the community that supports you? *or some other asinine reason here*”
(Art is a luxury, you are not entitled to any artist’s work, and they are free to price their art as they feel it’s worth.
Likewise, clients are free to spend their money on what they chose,
yes I agree it’s problematic when they prioritize art over responsibilities and things they need to survive, but you do not know all these people, and you do not know their financial situation. They could be very well off, and have expendable income, and it is in their right to spend it as they choose even if you do not hold an artist’s work to the same value as they do.
If you cannot afford an artist’s work, don’t complain about it, move on and find an artist you can afford to support.
For many of us, THIS IS OUR LIVING, YOU CANNOT EXPECT US TO WORK FOR MINIMUM WAGE OR LOWER FOR A SKILL WE’VE BEEN HONING FOR YEARS.)

Do not harass the artist, do not harass their clients, you of course can hide behind your “freedom of speech” but know that while, yes, you have the freedom of speech, yes, you have the freedom to be an asshat, you are not free from criticism and consequences when you harass people or complain that an artist is making “too much”.

tl;dr: don’t get salty about the successes of other artists

This is good and relevant because we all run into that peep who is upset about prices every once in a while (or often)

I want to put an emphasis on the already bonded and capitalized “ A SKILL WE’VE BEEN HONING FOR YEARS”
Digital art is not some press a button and the computer makes it for you creation, it takes literally years for us to hone our skills, and sometimes even just learn the program. I’ve been working with photoshop since I was 13 (so 9 years and counting working in digital art) and I am still honing my skill and learning new things about the program. I have personally worked with paints and paper and pencils, and that also takes work, but in my experience it’s about equal, with both digital and traditional either playing off each other or helping me get better at the other one.
Digital art provides ENDLESS pieces of paper to sketch on without going through an entire sketchbook. It has in it ALL the colors I could ever need without spending a fortune on colic markers or tons of tubes of acrylic paint.
It also makes the art process easier with resizing and being able to alter sketches and placements and canvas sizes and colors and everything with the use of tools and layers, which make the entire process a lot more user friendly and artist intuitive, making it easier to make the works that our commissioners want, and easier to alter if they request changes.
This also makes it easier on people who have health issues or injuries who are artists. I get chronic migraines and when one hits me in the middle of coloring I can lay down and wait for it to pass without worrying the paint is going to dry up before I get back. And the whole being able to alter the sketches without redrawing it completely is helpful because in the past one of the nerves in my arm would get agitated when I did art, the more I had to sketch and re-sketch the more it got agitated until my arm was in so much pain I couldn’t draw at all until I had surgery to move my nerve to the other side of my arm.

Digital art is so amazingly helpful to all sorts of artists that I am surprised when people pull the elitist “it’s not real art” remark, or are upset by the prices when they are usually pretty reasonable when compared to commercial art. I’ve done commercial art before and if you think 25$ for a colored headshot is unreasonable how does 250$ sound? And that price wasn’t even decided by me, that’s what my dads old boss who was a nightmare/cheapskate offered.