Hi, I feel like art jobs in my country is limited & since the industry is small, we know some/most studios have problems of different kinds. When art becomes a full time job, after a while it became a repeated chore that isn't enjoyable, my other hope is freelance If I still wanna pursue art, Otherwise maybe a non-art job is better for full time & art is just hobby..I'm not very sure what to do.
My dad used to tell me something every time I complained about work: “That’s why they call it work, not play.”
Which means: All jobs suck sometimes. Either it’s repetition & boredom, or exhaustion & stress, or shitty bosses & nasty coworkers. Or all of the above.
First of all, stop and acknowledge that you have achieved what at least half the people who write to this Tumblr dream of: You ARE making your living off your art. You are a full time professional artist. Appreciate that for a second. No, it’s not perfect. No job is perfect. I can’t tell you if your job is bearable or not, bc I don’t have any details here, but whether it is or it isn’t, enjoy for a moment what is good, before you drown yourself in what is bad.
Go on, I’ll wait.
Ok.
So many artists think of the goal of working full-time as a professional that they don’t think about what that means. Making art your job means making art the thing that you’re going to hate sometimes. Art as a hobby, or as a side hustle means you do what you want to do most of the time. Art as a job means you do what other people want a lot of the time. Either it’s a publisher, or an editor, or a director, or a gallery curator, or even your fanbase.
Having a creative job sucks because: 1) It’s very hard to have your creativity judged (and compromised). Art is part of your identity. Your creativity is often the thing we’re most proud of. Making it earn you a living is putting a very big burden on that creativity, and people judging the work from your heart is a lot tougher than judging some work you really don’t care about. 2) When you do find time to create for yourself, your tank is always at least half empty. (Because you’ve used a lot of it at your job.)
Having creative job is awesome because: 1) Everyone has to earn a living somehow and you get to do something you’d be doing in your free time anyway. 2) No matter how repetitive or boring your creative job is, it’s still honing your skills and making your own projects better. 3) You feel like you have a unified identity and mission (to be an artist), rather than being torn in different directions. (And doubting that you’re a “real” artist.)
Now you have a choice to make. You can either figure out a way to enjoy art as your job (keep the boring job & consider it practice while you work your way up to a job you like more, or find a job you like better, or go freelance) OR you can find a non-art job and keep your art entirely under your own control. There is no shame in either. Some of us choose to stay in art, some of us just can’t deal with the burnout & judgement. You’re still an artist either way. But don’t stay in an art job AND be miserable. Change something.
—Agent KillFee
P.S. The phrasing on this one was tough to parse, so I wasn’t sure if they were saying they HAD a job or they were just talking to people who did & were unhappy, so I decided to answer if as if they had a f/t art job.
