This is for people who draw/paint/play an instrument/craft stuff/etc. It takes time sometimes. I draw and paint. It takes time to make fancy stuff. I do this because it's fun. But people sometimes... they expect me to paint or draw this or that for them. My best paintings take weeks or months even. If I build a fence nobody would ask me to build a fence for them too for free (and expect me to pay for the materials too) because I am obviously so good at it. Well, it's good to be appreciated but it starts feeling like "real boring" work if I take orders and then it's annoying if people think I produce this stuff easily. It's not like breathing. It's maybe not real appreciation after all. Does this happen to you? How do you deal with it? I just mumble something. If I get exited I can do it but it's very likely that I add an active volcano/penguine/mortified cow somewhere or make it psychedelic (that's how I prefer it). Then they think they overestimated my talent. I just painted a picture of a relatives pet and added a chicken. They just kept pestering me. I mean, they saw my other paintings and drawings with odd stuff. I am not a copy machine. Or a camera. Well, it's not a huge crime to ask me to paint something (first world problems) but I am really not a professional who takes orders (I don't get paid either). People ask me to work for hours and hours on something I might find boring and they take it for granted. I have never gotten anyhing for return. I would paint anything happily if that person did my dishes every day until I am done but that would propably never happen. Doing my dishes would take less time and it's very likely as boring as painting something I don't want to paint. Mostly people just don't get that it takes an effort. If they knew the stuff I know they could paint well themselves. At least I believe so. Pure talent alone doesnt't get people very far.
Omg. Every time I draw something and a family member sees it it's "Did you draw that?" "Can you make me one?" And they always want me to copy something exactly the way it is, like you said, I'm not a camera and I'm not a copy machine. I can't tell you how many times I've had "Oh? You're an artist? Draw (insert football team logo here) for me!" I mean, if I'm going to spend half, or even the whole day working on something that I didn't already chose to do, and downright have no interest in, then it would be nice to at least get $5 or something. I don't even do commissions yet, it's just that regular people don't seem to get it.
I don't draw or anything (I suck), but I do write stories and I'm working on a couple of book ideas. Every time I tell someone this, they ask me to put them in the story, even if I already started and already had a plan all worked out. I just can't magically think up a new character to just slide into the middle of a story, you know? I can't just shove a random character into a book just because someone asked me to. Each character needs to have a purpose in the book and that takes time to think of. It's extremely difficult having to randomly think up a new character that probably won't have much of a backstory, purpose, or motivation in a book besides having that character be an insignificant waiter or something. But then, people get mad because I "didn't give them a big enough role".
It seems that now that I'm professionally a teacher, I'm somehow no longer an artist? No body asks me about drawing anymore. :/
I write as an outlet for my depression, and because it's one of my given talents. Now knowing how hard it is to get a book published, it will more than likely just remain something I do as an outlet. Nevertheless, my aunt still insists that I should drop out of college and be a famous writer. As if there was a book called, "How To Become a Bestselling Author In Six Easy Steps." :dry:
Yes, they have. I would make something for someone and another person would see it and ask for the same one (in different colors or with a different design) so at first, I would, but then the owner of the original would get upset and I'd be under fire. People would ask me to make them replicas of other people's work or do a drawing/painting of them, which would make me very uncomfortable, because 1. I despise plagiarism and I'm not the best at drawing real life, so they wouldn't exactly get what they where asking for, which landed me under even more fire. It got so bad, that I had to lay out a ton of rules, things that I wouldn't do and things that no one should ask me: Spoiler 1. I will not paint replicas of other's work, nor my own. This has caused a lot of issues in the past with the owners of my original work. I also do not like partaking in plagiarism. It's not fair for me to earn money off of another artist's ideas. 2. I will not be giving out paintings for free, unless you're asking them as a birthday gift or a holiday present. Being an artist is my job. Friends, family, I love you all but I need the money in order to pay rent, food and every other necessity. If I gave away all of my paintings for free, I would not be able to afford these things. So please, do not ask. 3. The prices of my paintings are not up for bargaining. Either buy them or don't. The highest I'll ever ask for a painting is 50$ and there's a good reason as to why. I know that not everyone has the money to buy a 100-400$ wall decoration, therefore, I have made it possible and easier for everyone to buy, so please don't ask me to make it cheaper. I've gone as low as I can reasonably go. 4. I won't be doing any portraits of people or animals. At least not for now. I grew up drawing cartoons all my life, I've never practiced real life based art all that much. However, I'll be practicing these next few years and will let everyone know when my skills are available. 5. I'm alright with you selling my artwork on a few conditions. I must be either well known or famous. You need to have a good reason as to why you're selling it (needing the money, no room, moving etc.) otherwise, it shall be donated only. Do not under any circumstances, buy my work, only to immediately sell it for more. I'm not selling you my work for you to make money. 6. If I do not feel comfortable painting or drawing something, I won't do it. I have every right to say no to your request for vulgar images or anything else including any racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, inappropriate or taboo images. 7. No means no, don't keep asking. 8. If you do not like your piece, tell me and I will either fix it or remake it on the house. As a side note, you will not get the first piece back as the first one will be trashed. This is to assure that none of my pieces are sold by a third party behind my back. 9. If you're requesting a painting, make sure it's what you want. Materials are very expensive. I take around 8 hours a day to create your painting (that's a lot of time!). I cannot (and will not) be trashing a half finished painting here and there. Feel free to give me your request, but give yourself some time to think about it. If you're short on funds, I will always hold your painting until you can find the funds to buy it, I assure each and every one of you that your personalized, requested painting will never get sold. 10. All of these rules will apply, unless changed by me. It's fine if you don't agree with them, but they will not be changed unless I feel there is need for it. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me through email, phone or private messaging. I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
I can relate. I compose music, and play piano quite proficiently if I do say so myself. I've not been directly asked to make a song for anyone, but I cannot "perform" if I'm being pressured into doing something that didn't come via natural inspiration. The same goes for any other art with me. It's not on demand, people. Usually, my best art comes from a strong emotion or related inspiration/event.
I haven't got more than a few request since I started drawing, probably because people realize that i'm not at a level of skill or consistency to create a reliable work for someone else. I've done at least photorealistic portrait which, though gathering much praise, didn't lead anyone asking for their own. The few times people have asked me for requests I later forgot about (and so did they). I guess i'd take a request seriously if I thought it would be fun or interesting to try, however I do not believe I can justify charging people anything until i'm certain I can achieve consistent quality. The people who I think take my work the most seriously are my art teachers and the group of people on the internet I go to for advice and critique.
Thank you for this thread...I don't know where the OP is from, but this is an incredibly under-discussed problem in the US (and more globally, from the look of the posts above), and both the problem itself and the lack of dialog around it make me really angry. Everyone loves art, music, theater, etc. ...we all feel how performances and works of art enrich our lives, expand us as individuals, touch and nurture our souls. And yet, at least in the US it seems that people expect artists to provide this service on demand and for free! If a show (concert, play, musical performance, whatever) costs more than $20-30, people say "what? I'm not paying for that! I'll just buy the CD...or better yet, just copy it from someone else!" I was recently in a place where a musician played (voluntarily) for free all evening long, and then was selling her CD's for $10...and this other person who was so enraptured during the performance had the *gall* to ask her for a free copy! The creation of art takes time (which means money), and requires resources (which means more money). Once upon a time, we had government funding of the Arts...but it was severely cut, with the argument that not everyone values art, and especially not everyone agreed on what is valuable art that should be government sponsored...so let individuals pay for the bits they consider valuable. But *nobody* wants to pay *anything*, even for art that they *adore*!! How are artists to survive? Right now we manage by holding down another job and creating art "in our spare time". But expecting beauty to permeate society through peoples "hobbies" alone...is not fair or nice. Never ask an artist for free product. Ever. If you can at all, pay them *more* than what they're asking. If you can at all, donate to the Arts. And for the love of whatever forces you believe make the world worth living in, support public school programs that fund art and music education. I don't think anybody wants to live in another Dark Age...but we're headed there.
