(My 60th post!!) This image is the start of something I will do every now and again: post images (wallpapers, posters, memes and the like) that visually represent and visually speak what artist think and feel. So, now you know!!!!
A PRICELESS & CONCRETELY TRUE STATEMENT.
I once encountered a guy who came to the outdoor table (outside of a shop I once co-rented) I was using to sell art, one day. A lot of my art & prints were on this table. He had the mega balls to ask me if my works (clearly for sale) were “free”. FREE???? I wanted to jab at him with an X-Acto knife. Treating artists and our works like less is INSULTING. In some cases, discounts or sales are reasonable, in other cases they are NOT and the artist has the right to decide on this. People are always looking for a deal…especially with visual artists. Art isn’t any less time-consuming, complicated and blood/sweat/tears than any other job or endeavor.
There are people who value art and are willing to pay the price, knowing that an artwork comes with a lot of work and weight. THEN there are people who treat artists and their art like we and it are easy or not as valuable as other products or services. They expect the work to be low-priced or free. THE SAYING THAT ART IS EASY IS A LIE. Try what we go through for our craft and what we go through to create just one piece. Art takes passion, spirit, emotions, mental gymnastics, hard work, dedication & balls…and not everyone is gifted to create, either (I believe we all have gifts, but not everyone possesses some gifts: not everyone is artist material). And since not everyone can create and since it takes a lot to create, therein lies the VALUE of art as well. SO ART IS PLENTY COMPLEX AND VALUABLE.
Artists love art for just the expression & beauty of it, but we also like to make money to care for ourselves, too. I still remember what a college classmate & fellow artist said to me about avoiding selling myself and my art short or cheap: “If they can’t afford to pay for it, then they just don’t get it.” The poster above says it all.
I thank everyone for the Likes and for reading this. Big thanks!
Just edited this article. I thought I changed the ‘So now you kow’ sentence to ‘So now you know’, but the change didn’t friggin show! I hope noone thought I was calling them a cow! Wow… (eyeroll). I also changed ‘They expectTHE SAYING THAT ART IS EASY IS A LIE’ to ‘They expect the work to be low-priced or free. THE SAYING THAT ART IS EASY IS A LIE’. I HATE typos and mistakes. I’d be a great editor because typos & mistakes peeve me to no end!