And if you yourself happen to be an artist and want to print this on paper airplanes and sail it at the people around you, please do feel free.
Artists Have Imposter Syndrome
Okay, like, obviously #notallartists. But, seriously, yes, all artists, this is a thing. The artists in your life do not know that they are any good. They make their art because they love it, and they delight in it, and they can't imagine NOT making art. But they also know what they're not good at. The woodworker you love knows how difficult they find dovetail joints. The watercolorist knows all the places where the color bled the wrong way in their last painting. The sculptor knows where they had to completely change their last piece because they couldn't make it form the precise way they wanted. And because artists always want to be better at their art, they frequently look at a piece and only see the flaws. What they got right isn't particularly relevant to them. It's what they need to improve that they focus on. And that's good for growth and what not, but it's bad for appreciating your own skills.
So, hug an artist.
But not me. I'm not an artist.
I'm just not good enough.
#impostersyndrome
Art is a Demanding Sugar Baby
Art is so expensive to do. SO EXPENSIVE. Okay, (since apparently I'm doing this) obviously #notallart. You can do beautiful things with paper and pencil. But then you start thinking about how much better your work would be if you just had that really nice sketch paper that handled your eraser better. And, speaking of erasers, you could really use a super high quality one that doesn't make such a mess when you use it. OH! And wouldn't your line work be better if you had varying pencil leads?
It's a slippery slope, people.
Anyway, art is expensive. High quality paper, pigments, clays, fabrics, woods, yarns, beads--ALL THINGS ART. They cost money. They cost LOTS of money. And here's the thing: the only way you ever get better at art is to make art. Which means there's no way to practice your craft without sinking in at least SOME money. Which you do. You do for the joy! You do for the love! You do for the satisfaction!
But sometimes you look at your art supplies (of which you have a vast plethora and still not the thing you really need to do the latest piece that is obsessing you at the moment) and you wonder if art really loves you back, or if it's just in it for the things you buy.
Artists Don't Make Money
FFS YES, #NOTALLARTISTS, MKAY?
But, statistically speaking, artists don't make money. I've already established that materials are expensive. But, on top of that, artists don't work for a big art company. They don't get health care, or dental, or 401k's, or work spaces, or paid time off, or ANYTHING. There are none of the support things that come with a regular job, which you can supply yourself, but all cost money.
So, that really, really, really expensive painting that's hanging on your wall that cost $400? Well, your artist probably spent at MINIMUM $50 on supplies. Then they spent a week working on it. And $350 a week for fifty weeks a year is a whopping salary of $17,500. That's below the poverty line. AND they're covering all the things normally covered by a regular job.
And yeah, it's about the art, not about the money. But it's about the money if you want to live long enough to keep making art. So, forgive my mercenary moment here, but REALLY YOU AREN'T PAYING ENOUGH FOR YOUR ART.
All of Which Is to Say:
Appreciate your artists, folks.
Art is important in our lives and culture. And the people who make it often do it despite how emotionally taxing it can be, and how it's generally a path to lifelong impoverishment.
Hug an artist.
Pay their asking price without blinking.
And once in a while buy them some nice art markers, okay?
They totally deserve it.
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