This is for anyone who is serious about building and living the life of an artist.
I hate to even call this episode “Starting Your Art Career.” “Starting Your Art Business” isn’t any better, but the algorithms seem to prefer these options.
The words Career and Business imply a financial goal and that can’t be the end game. It’s more like “Starting Your Artist Life” because it requires a devotion to the work, not to making money.
It’s not about making a living as an artist because it is too much pressure—on yourself and especially on your art—to make the leap to making a living when starting out.
In her book Big Magic, the book for artists I wish I had written, Elizabeth Gilbert writes, “There’s no dishonor in having a job. What is dishonorable is scaring away your creativity by demanding that it pay for your entire existence.”
The bottom line: Don’t even think about making a living from your art in the early stages of forming an art business. It’s too much pressure and unrealistic at this point.