Everyone loves the idea of the artist, the free, inspired and rebellious soul. Few talk about the artist who wakes up anxious about bills, and still picks up the brush.
Ok, let’s stop for a second romanticising the life of an artist, and let’s start looking at the harsh realities of what it really takes to be a living artist and to sustain this journey of uncertainty, freedom, pushing boundaries, innovation and episodes of dry spells. Being an artist – I can only speak from the angle of a painter, but I’m sure many things will overlap with other professions – is hard, there is no way to sugarcoat it.
It’s the most daunting experience one can set path on, as one has to come to terms with oneself, and so naturally, it’s a very lonely journey. Without some form of social support, it’s almost impossible. And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the hobby artist, or the one who paints only after a full-time job, goes on vacation, buys luxuries, and creates to test the waters or when the mood is right. I’m talking about those who dedicate their lives to this path — for whom art comes first.
The Emotional Toll
Artists naturally want to share the journey, of course, and today it’s much easier with social media, you can document pretty much everything and also have a solid audience to show it to. But still, putting yourself and your inner world on the line isn’t for the faint of heart. Don’t get me wrong, I like sharing my painting process, my thoughts, or getting naked emotionally, but still, every time you do that, you expose all insecurities and doubts—it takes a toll. It demands courage, self-confidence and deep resilience.
The silence you sometimes receive after publishing a new piece can be deeply unsettling. Naturally, you want people to like your paintings because they are a reflection of you. This part is the most difficult, because you can start associating your self-worth with how many people like or buy your art—and that can be quite scary as it’s a bit more complicated than that.
The Financial Reality
Being an artist is really not that rewarding in terms of income. It can bring solid money, but it’s unpredictable. Even though you have systems in place, you still rely on people buying from you or commissioning you, and art is the first thing people stop spending on when they need to stay conservative with money. They won’t reject themselves a vacation or a new phone, but a painting—yes. So artists, especially painters, are really up for a ride if they want to make money with their art. Yet it’s possible with the right strategy and management of expectations.
Once, I sold a few originals before summer, giving me a solid number to live the summer off, but come the end of the summer, or even during, the anxiety creeps back in, and you wonder—what now? Do you keep creating so you have more things to sell once the time comes, or will this sales cycle repeat once you run out of the money you just generated? This is the complete unknown an artist has to battle with. Also, people can change their minds, so you have a collector who visits to see your art, he likes it, but then goes quiet. You see, this is all so unpredictable, yet this is the reality an artist lives.
It’s probably the toughest field I have ever encountered, and I think it’s one of the toughest out there. Probably the only other field that you could consider harder is philosophy itself—being a philosopher probably doesn’t pay at all. I’m talking here about independent practices, not institutional jobs or anything of that sort.
You can sell a few pieces within months and generate thousands of euros in revenue, but then for a few months, you generate zero, counting the days until the next wave hits, which might or might not come. Because, of course, it will also depend on you and the work you generate. You must consistently produce high-quality, balanced and meaningful works that people will actually invest in, so the creative pressure, financial instability and sheer unknown that an artist must accept to sustain their practice is pretty unbelievable. You also need to reinvest your earnings but not overdo it—which has happened to me before—that I simply overspent and then was left with a huge hole in a few months.
The smart way to battle this is to work on commission, so explore the theme people want you to and collaborate. This way of working as an artist is far more predictable than selling creations that came only from you. Nevertheless, it still requires a strategy, but it’s a way to secure finances before you even touch the brush, giving you a peace of mind.
Another good source of income is producing fine art prints and doing some commercial work or paintings that explore more traditional themes, people always classic nature piece with a modern twist on it. It’s important not to be buried in one lane. Life is multidisciplinary and so is the art career.
The Creative Life
It’s awesome when you sell your creation to a collector, it’s validating. You have put huge amounts of effort into creating a piece, and then one person comes and they claim it. That part is deeply rewarding. It’s also why we must charge a respectable amount for our artwork. We produce a lot of works to get one masterpiece sold. It’s not that you produce five in a row and they all sell—you produce ten and the eleventh sells, then you produce another five and the next sells, etc. But you need all those prior and consequent works to get to the one that actually leaves your studio. So it’s important to keep creating, keep painting and not to expect anything, while maintaining visibility of one’s art.
Of course, an artist needs to have other forms of income, so you either have financial backup, part-time jobs, patrons, retainers or some other gigs that finance the basic living costs. Without it, solely relying on art sales is only for the absolute nut jobs—I have only met a single one in my life, and the kind of ups and downs this artist battled would blow your mind. Every artist builds their income based on their comfort level, obviously, so there is no fast and hard rule in this world. There is no clear path for an artist. Most art students don’t actually end up being artists, because it requires so many other things than to be good at creation. Knowing how to paint, some form of talent, is a must if you ever want to have a chance at this life, but the rest is about resilience, social skills, strategy and willingness to do what it takes—accepting the realities of being an artist.
The Reason to Become An Artist
An artist is usually one of the most interesting people in the room, and there is a good and well-earned reason for that and it’s because it’s a very meaningful, human and insightful path that provides the artist with a rich inner world and knowledge that feeds the soul and the mind. That alone is wealth and a reason to become an artist.