Somewhere along the way the “starving” artist thing became the norm, and artists just accepted this reality. In fact many artists brand successful artists as “sell outs”. To me the real sellouts are the artists who devalue creativity. Any artistic endeavor no matter how much natural talent you happened to be born with took years to perfect. Why put so little value on it? Art inspires the world to be better, or to think, or should at least garner some emotion. I know of no other pursuit that brings all these things to the table. Certainly many artists having access to the tools has helped make art a commodity. But it is still a highly specialized field.

Good news is that the Internet has truly leveled the playing field in many ways. Any artist can make a living, but you need to run it like a business. You will need to learn marketing, sales, administration, human relations, ETC. If you are trying to make it as an artist how much time a day do you spend marketing and networking? If this number is less that 30% of the total time you spend on your art I DOUBT you will make it and art will remain a hobby. It takes a long time to build a business and sell products. Spend time delighting people and fans will pour in. Create the best art you can and tell the world about it, don’t stop and you will be amazed and how much fun it all can be.

“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” Pablo Picasso