Local Art. You see it all over town and your friends Instagram, but when the artists tries to sell you on a print or gives you a price on a commission or original painting, you turn them down. Why is it that we only want a pretty picture if the price is right?
Many people don't consider the many things that go into a piece of art or the life of an artist. Let's all take a moment to visit the term "starving artist."
One thing many people don't think about when it comes to freelance artists is that they fund themselves on all of their projects, never knowing how people will react or how well the piece will profit them. Still, they invest their own money which in many cases comes from other jobs into their work. Paper, paint brushes, and pens are all things artist must buy in order to create their work. Additionally, artist must also invest in promoting themselves to the public around them, via social media, building their own website and purchasing a domain, attending events to promote themselves, the list goes on and on. This is one thing that factors into the price artists put on their pieces.
A second thing that can make their work the price it is is the amount of time one invests in a particular piece. Artists spend hours, even days working on one piece, trying to make it the best piece they can. Even then, if the piece is magnificent, if it doesn't reach a wide enough audience, the artist still runs the risk of not making their investment back in their profit.
Often times, artists(especially new ones) hope to simply break even on their work. An artist can spend $100 on a piece, for example, not expecting to sell the actual piece at the price they wanted but instead hoping to make their money back on prints because to the general public, this is more affordable than the original.
Think of it this way: aOn artist is like a stock in a company: starting out, they wont have much recognition, and thus wont be viewed as "valuable" to many, which leads them to undersell themselves simply to make some money and have someone purchase and appreciate the work they have done. Only until they have a respectable following and confidence in their ability to profit on a piece will they sell a piece at what they believe it is worth.
Speaking as a student who graduated with a degree in Studio Art, many of us go into our program expecting two things: we, unlike many other college degrees, will enjoy what we do, but we also understand that we probably won't be making a large sum of money like someone with a Finance degree or a degree in Business Management. One thing they don't tell you in art school is that you are your own independent contractor, and it is up to you to find your own work.
Overall, even though the stress and pressure of being able to financially sustain one's self off of one's own work can be daunting and cause one to become discouraged, artists will still continue to create for the simple fact that it's what they love and it has become their passion. Like myself, for example: although I still work a full time job that I don't plan on keeping as a career, I still continue to make works of art that I find appealing because it's what I love to do and it gives my life a greater purpose. With that being said, even if you don't plan on buying work, still feel free to take a look at what keeps my passion alive at my website.
