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“I'm not looking to pay someone to help me” – Craig’s List in a nutshell. That is a line taken verbatim off of one Craig's List ad.
I've never turned down so much work as I have from Craig's List. It seems to be full of people who want something for nothing, unless you consider empty promises to be "something". If I wanted to work for free, or for little money, I could have illustrated 7 children's books by now.
Why do artists permit themselves to be taken advantage of? Why would anyone expect an artist to work for nothing? Why should an artist (or anyone else) let themselves be taken for a sap?
The answer: we want to do our art SO badly, that we'll do it under almost any circumstances. We ARE saps; we're in love with creating art, to the exclusion of any business sense. Those artists who have good business sense are called "whores" by other artists and are the objects of envy. I'm trying to be one of them. Of course, one has not prostituted oneself simply because one wants to be well paid for one's services, don't be silly!
Art vs. commerce strikes again!
I've never turned down so much work as I have from Craig's List. It seems to be full of people who want something for nothing, unless you consider empty promises to be "something". If I wanted to work for free, or for little money, I could have illustrated 7 children's books by now.
Why do artists permit themselves to be taken advantage of? Why would anyone expect an artist to work for nothing? Why should an artist (or anyone else) let themselves be taken for a sap?
The answer: we want to do our art SO badly, that we'll do it under almost any circumstances. We ARE saps; we're in love with creating art, to the exclusion of any business sense. Those artists who have good business sense are called "whores" by other artists and are the objects of envy. I'm trying to be one of them. Of course, one has not prostituted oneself simply because one wants to be well paid for one's services, don't be silly!
Art vs. commerce strikes again!
posted by Rich Sigberman at
12:25 PM
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