Are You A Sell Out?

Recently, I saw a headline where the actor Russell Crowe called out 4 other actors for being sell-outs. I didn’t read the entire article , mostly because I figured it was the usually tripe to help an artist call attention to himself and their latest aspiration. Nothing against Russell. It’s nothing to crow about. Almost every actor, book author, etc does this same thing. Ever wonder why cast feuds seem to appear at the same time as a new book release or film? It really just comes down to fluffing up buzz to call attention to their latest wares. All the workplace drama, most likely settles by end of day much like Sheepdog and Wyle E. Coyote at the end of their shift.

But are you a Sell-Out?

Honest Advice for Artists

A lot of angst in an artist’s life revolves around the relationship of money to art and one’s practise of their craft.

In this post I’m going to have a frank discussion about making a living as an artist and give some advice in the area of making money with your art. However, please feel free to disagree and see the world in your own way. I can only give you my insights into this realm. What works for many may not work for all, and likewise versa. So, question everything I’m about to say and make up your own mind.

A Common Mistake

A common point of view among artists is that what they create should, in fact, be worth selling. Worth is a loaded word. I’m going to try and break this down in perceptible pieces. 1) At this point I’m thinking of an ‘artist’ as anyone who creates a tangible thing such as a painting or sculpture, for example. Even though theses things may, in fact, be based on cerebral concepts they will actually embody a form that can be enjoyed both visually and/or in a tactile sense. 2) ‘Worth’ can have many definitions and in this discussion it is understood to mean 1 of 2. Everything we create has worth in someone’s eye. Otherwise Moms and Dads would not have decorated the family ice box with their off-springs’ artistic off-spring since the invention of said appliance. Worth is defined as what brings a useful pleasure, nostalgia, harmless self-adulation and a myriad of other meanings.

On the other hand the term worth takes on it’s own unique meaning in the marketplace. Let’s break this down further. What may seem worthwhile and a personal masterpiece to you may appear as sh*t or worse yet, unremarkable in the marketplace.

I’ve seen 60 years on this orb and for many of those years I spent developing and plying my hand at art. Mostly visual art, in some form. I’ve held both opinions on the worth of art and the meanings of value. I’ve read biographies, followed successful artists, taken courses, sold work…thrown some away, cradled some for myself.

Basically it comes down to this. Your work as an artist has it’s own worth and value intrinsically because in some way you have imputed a part of yourself into it. Now here comes the hard part for creators to understand. Your art takes on a different meaning in the marketplace of the exchange of trading canvas for coin. This is where you must be extremely clear. Your natural inclination to busy yourself with the creating of art is not the same as selling it. ” If you build it, they will come…” rarely applies here. This is the common mistake of an artist- if I love it, if Mom loves it, then surely the world will love it.

Fork in the Road

Sooner or later you’re going to feel that you must make a choice.

To be even more clear, art in the marketplace becomes a PRODUCT. How much money you make may have way less to do with how good your art is and more to do with how adept you are at marketing it and making conversions. Yep, ugh.

Selling art is a a kind of marriage or one night stand between the artist and the buyer. You have to create something you can tolerate creating, or even better, enjoying it while finding out what your partner, the buyer, likes. That in itself, is a full-time job.

You may feel by this time that investing in the market and all it entails may be divesting from your work and development of skills. This is okay. However , should you chooses to pursue sales then keep in mind that in some way your art becomes- like everything else in the marketplace- a product. In fact the better you are at selling shoes may just help you sell art. Selling is it’s own language. Perhaps after music , selling may be the second most universal language. If you don’t invest time into learning sales and marketing but concentrate on just making art, you won’t make a survivable income. Yes, there’s always the exception that proves the rule.

Middle of the Road.

There’s is another path. You need not go fully left or right. There is lots of space in the middle. If you are blessed with a good job or certain income you can stay out of sales and focus on your art as that dirty word a hobby. You can have showings without sales if you have the space. You can sell or give away your art as you see fit and when you see fit. You can walk between the paths. Just don’t beat yourself up if you decide this is best for you. Your art still matters to you and to those you share it with. Running a full-time biz with art is another matter. Trust me, for the most part, artists who live completely off of their art spend most of their time running a business which is not much different than any other business. This may come as a shock, but one major difference between an art biz and a *regular* one is that, as one artist said, people don’t need your art. They need snow shovels, shoes, milk and bread. They can survive without your painting. It’s a different market. One for which your patron must have the means to purchase your art no matter what scale you aim at.

Since this post is not about how you become a full-time artist , we’ll leave it here. What I want you to realize, in my opinion, is that being financially feasible as an artist means immersing oneself in the world of sales. This is why you often see artists with less developed skills often succeeding in the market. They may be steps ahead of you in other areas of market connectivity and prowess. This is not to say that it does not matter how good your skills are just that an equal or more amount of time and energy needs to be spent on learning how to run a business.

Final thoughts

I’m sure I’ve angered some readers and this was not my intent. Please see the larger brush strokes of my discussion rather focusing on a one liner stroke. It’s up to you. You can try for any combination or mash up of an artist’s life or career. Think carefully about giving up cold turkey on any profession that is giving you benefits and helping you save up for retirement. Being an *artist is hard work both technically and in developing business savvy. Your current career may seem hard but unless you’re committed to putting in the sweat and time, often living alone feeding your agoraphobic monster, you may be better staying put. It’s all up to you and nothing has to be written in stone forever! You’re not a sell out. Life is fluid. Give yourself space.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for visiting. Do stop in again next time.

*An artist trying to make a living off of their art.

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