This article is by Clint Watson, former art gallery owner/director/salesperson and founder of FineArtViews.
You should follow Clint on Twitter here.
I bookmarked a
thread on Hacker News which posed the question, "Why are artists poor?"
Because the discussion contained several gems of wisdom for artists, I have had it bookmarked for months, but I never really figured out what to do with this information. I had saved it because it's so rare world for my two worlds (art and programming) to collide so overtly, so I have finally decided to just extract a few of my favorite quotes and post them here:
"Those of you in your 20s, let me say this: If there's something you can't stop thinking about--whether it's art, music, coding, or whatever--then just do it. Even if you suck at it right now, it's better to get all the suckitude out of your system now, while you're young, so that by the time you're my age, you've put all that behind you and your craft is nice and polished." -
indigoshift
"the problem lies in artists trying to achieve success by aping corporate methods, which rarely work for an individual artist. I did that for awhile, and it got me absolutely nowhere." -
indigoshift
"It will take as long as it takes, doing what it takes, but it's the only approach that works." -
lux
"Why are artists poor? That's the wrong question. In a state of nature, EVERYONE is poor. Getting out of poverty means one thing: creating something that other people consider to have value, and then exchanging it for cash.
Heinlein had rules for writers: 1) you must write; 2) you must sell what you have written. This is true for all artists. It's also true for all doctors, accountants, and software engineers. If an individual artist is poor, he or she either isn't creating anything of value, or isn't finding the market and selling the work. Period." -
tjic
"artists still make things by hand. In 1500, handmade things were all there were. Now paintings have to compete with manufactured products, and they're so expensive that only a small number of people prefer them" -
pg (editor's note - your job is to find those people - they do exist)
I would argue on average, most high income earners must be because of the value that others are willing to pay for. -
cwan
Just a few words of wisdom from people who like to think deeply about things.
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
Software Craftsman and Art Fanatic
