Art IS a Proper Job
Stuart’s strip above is almost exactly what happened to me after I finished university – which was, for me, the culmination of a six-year education process! Imagine what a waste it would be if you listen to the folks around you, quit being an artist, and became (for example) an estate agent! That’s at least three years down the pan for anybody who takes that advice, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard it
The times I regret most are when I stopped making things, and listened to other people about getting “a real job”, because I’m good at drawing/being creative/telling jokes. I’m not good at working in an office, or listening to boring people, and I’m even less good at those things after all my years of working in the creative sector. When I have tried to follow that “real job” advice – listening to people I love and respect – I have found myself depressed and moody. It’s only after around ten years of working in the creative world that I know why.
It’s the hardest thing to do to ignore those people saying “get a real job”, at the same time as making yourself do artistic projects. They mean well, but if they are not involved in a creative lifestyle then you can’t really take their advice. Not because they don’t know what they are talking about, but because they are trying to get you to create the same securities that worked for them. For instance, the idea of training as a teacher (or similar) is frequently suggested, but if you actually did that you probably wouldn’t be able to do any of your creative work. If that’s ok for you, do it – but I truly believe that there are some people who are forced to create.
One final thing, and something that I continually struggle with, is making sure the work you have to do around being an artist doesn’t take over being an artist. Updating a blog, looking for opportunities, emailing people are all things you might need to do – but make sure you leave enough energy to get on with doing your particular creative outlet. If you don’t make the art, why are you doing these things? You need to have something fresh to show people when they ask what you do.
Because that way, you can show them you already have a real job.
