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i-stamp β Get Something Out of It
Published: 2011-10-20 04:47:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 2823; Favourites: 153; Downloads: 7
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Description
This is part of a series on multimedia professionals. Be you a visual artist, programmer, music artist and so on, your trade is worth something.And by something I don't just mean money. If you want to do pro bono work (either charity or unpaid internship) for the sake of networking and contacts, by all means! But be careful. Even the seemingly nicest people can take advantage of you. Be sure you are getting something out of it.
There is nothing greedy about wanting to do what you love for a living. If there's always ten score kids willing to do a project for free, how are you or the rest of us expected to make a living wage? Giving free work devalues the product for all multimedia professionals.
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Comments: 34
I'm proud of my work but I do it for free. I enjoy drawing and writing. Money doesn't matter to me. If people enjoy my work as much as I do that's enough payment for me.
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'Liked' and 'favs' don't put food on the table. Like I said, amature work isn't what I'm talking about. But constant freebies in the professional market driving prices down.Β
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I have tried, but nobody commissions me pff. I've only done one commission and that was ages ago.
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I don't plan on ever becoming a professional, and I do my art just for fun, really...so yeah, I guess I can do it for free???
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You're not asking for politeness or courtesy, you're trying to run the world. Not unlike those companies that try to get anything they have special rights to removed from YouTube channels they don't have control over.
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VERY TRUE
I've had people take advantage of me and working me to the BONE over free stuff/charms from me.
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ThatΒ΄s a very good message!
I wouldnΒ΄t take an artist serious who would throw his work at me for free just because i give him my attention.
(iΒ΄m not an artist though so i have no idea how they feel in such a situation)
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i almost make everything for freee
pff fuck dat
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I don't think your stuff would compete very much with professional work, so I'm not really worried about you doing free stuff. This is more geared towards offering professional work for free.
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Woooooowwwww....that was bluntΒ
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Harsh but true. That's how the art world works.Β
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I kinda like how you tell it how it is.
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Like Joker said, "If you're good at something, never do it for free."
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I've nothing against people's setting their own terms for the work they perform, but about:
"If there's always ten score kids willing to do a project for free, how are you or the rest of us expected to make a living wage? Giving free work devalues the product for all multimedia professionals."
It's a free market; nothing one can do if someone else offers the same thing for a lower (or no) price. I hope people remember that.
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That's what education is for. A lot of these people doing it for free are doing it because they don't think it's worth more, or because they're scared to actually enter into the market, instead of just giving hand-outs. Nor do they understand what they're doing to the profession as a whole. Hell, I didn't, until I got educated and some confidence in my work. Sure, there will always be some people getting walked on 24/7, but hopefully most come to understand that there's a better way to get circulated.
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As I said, I've nothing against that stuff (nor against education), but the excerpt I'd quoted is oddly worded and appears to invoke an unrelated reason.
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I agree, people beg all the time, So OFTEN, for free things because their skill can't produce their own image.
But, by assuming we're a community, held together by idealism and Ghosts of Bohemia's past; that I can't be a capitalist? And I'm suddenly a bitch for not embracing someone else's vision?
I really, really agree with ". If I showed up at a BMW dealership and said "I can't afford one of these cars but will you just give me one anyway?" you bet your ass I'd be ignored. Common sense should tell you that. It's no different with professional-grade artwork. If you want to commission an artist but can't afford it, save up for it. Why is that not an option?
There is charity, I've done work for the Coleman Foundation, and there is getting bamboozled. And there is a complete and total difference. And we're dicks for calling out bullshit, when we see it?
Anyways, great, thought provoking stamp :3
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Reminds me of a Joker quote on the last Batman movie 
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I don't know what all these people are bitching about. You've covered doing art for things other than money in your description.
I know a window painter who is very talented. Possibly the best in the city. When I'm out I can point out the quality of his work amongst all the other artist. Problem is that he never had a business mind about it. So for years he's been doing work that is worth hundreds to thousands of dollars getting nothing more than a free meal. So people always say *so at least he's not in it for the money* as though they would put in a full 3 days of work for free. The bottom line is he's miserable, barely making it by and getting treated like dirt by his clients...I think he should up the ante or quit.
I'm not against charity by the way. I donated 3 pieces to a charity auction for breast cancer, a cause I'm proud to support. I also got a little more exposure than normal.
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Now, I agree with you saying there's nothing greedy about wanting some compensation for your work.
It's true. And be careful, yes, with what you give out.
But I think it's okay if you just want to make art for the love and the fun. You just don't have to use this work professionally.
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I agree with the initial point here, but there are different situations in which someone would do art for free. Like if you're new or just un-noticed you might do it for publicity or you might do it just to practice something new or whatever.
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Like I said, free doesn't just mean without monetary pay. If there's some tangible gain you're getting for doing a project (like advertisement) and you can hold the person to that commitment than sure, by all means. But if you're a professional you can get plenty of practice on the job, and you can get advertisement through paid work. One shouldn't be ashamed to ask for compensation even if they're new to the field.
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Oh I hadn't read that
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So, if an artist isn't offered money, that artist should stop making art? I think that working for money alone leads to limitations and stagnation.
Some folks who adore art CANNOT AFFORD COMMISIONS. Should these people be ignored by artists? Should the glowing reviews given by non-paying members be disregarded? Hidden? Scorned?
How much are positive comments worth to you? Less than or as much as cash/points? Aren't the number of Favorites a work has garnered VALUABLE to dA artists? There's no money involved in Faving or commenting.
Should commentors and those who Fave an artist's work be paid? How much?
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You sure act entitled to work and love the straw man argument. I should be willing to give someone stuff that I make for sale free? If I make jewelry I sell, I should give you a piece if you ask for it? If I knit socks for sale I should feel obligated to make you a pair just because you want them? If I tutor students in English Composition for $25 a hour, I should do it to you for free?
Something there doesn't sound right.
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I know this is a really old comment, but damn. As a professional illustrator I am sick and tired of this kind of logic being thrown at me and my peers. This is going to be long so I apologize in advance.
So, if an artist isn't offered money, that artist should stop making art?
Of course not. That doesn't even make sense. All professional artists do personal work for themselves between paying jobs, and we do it because art and creating is one of the main driving forces to our existence as people. We just happen to put food on our family's table and a roof over their heads with it, too.
I think that working for money alone leads to limitations and stagnation.
You obviously know nothing about the graphic art industry, then. Believe me, making a living off of your work doesn't limit or stagnate anything at all. When clients come to you in need of specific things it makes you think outside of your normal box sometimes if it's something you don't normally produce, and many times those kinds of jobs require you to get creative in order to execute the requirements well. Implying that money somehow kills whatever lofty concept people have behind art and creativity is usually done by those who are nowhere near the industry at all but like to think they know how it works and what it's like. If they were, they wouldn't say such things.
Some folks who adore art CANNOT AFFORD COMMISIONS. Should these people be ignored by artists?
This is the #1 argument that makes me want to bang my head against a wall, I swear. I can't afford diamond jewelry or a new car. Does that mean I should ask to get them for free? No! If I want something nice that I can't afford at the moment I need to do what everyone else does: save up for it. Why art is held to a different standard, as though it's everyone's RIGHT to receive artwork for free, makes absolutely no sense. If I showed up at a BMW dealership and said "I can't afford one of these cars but will you just give me one anyway?" you bet your ass I'd be ignored. Common sense should tell you that. It's no different with professional-grade artwork. If you want to commission an artist but can't afford it, save up for it. Why is that not an option?
Should the glowing reviews given by non-paying members be disregarded? Hidden? Scorned?
Glowing reviews (and positive comments in general) from non-paying members of DA have absolutely nothing to do with paying an artist for their time and skill and is a straw man argument. Scorned? Please.
How much are positive comments worth to you? Less than or as much as cash/points? Aren't the number of Favorites a work has garnered VALUABLE to dA artists? There's no money involved in Faving or commenting.
They're nice, but they aren't all that valuable in the grand scheme of things. Will faves and positive comments improve my work? No. Comments that point out flaws are what help you improve, not praise. Will faves pay my bills? No. Will faves feed my family? No. Will faves help me get work? No. Faves, watchers, and pageviews only serve to stroke the e-peens of amateurs and kids on DA. For professionals they're definitely nice and very much appreciated, but if they were to disappear it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Should commentors and those who Fave an artist's work be paid? How much?
No, and nothing. There is no skill or service involved with making a comment or clicking the "fave" button and as I just said, neither really provide us with anything more than an ego stroke. That's another straw man (and utterly ridiculous notion) that has absolutely nothing to do with artists being paid for their time and skills when producing custom artwork for a client. Do you know how much time it takes to produce a finished illustration from thumbnail sketches to finished? The finished, polished stuff in my gallery has anywhere from 30-200+ hours in each piece. I'm not going to give that away for free if I'm not producing it for myself for fun.
To be blunt: it is really friggin' hard to be a professional graphic artist. We are not born being able to produce professional-grade artwork, and we are not machines that just crap out finished illustrations at the press of a button. We have dedicated many, many years to honing our talents into a skill. Many of us have gone to school for it and poured blood, sweat, and tears into improving those skills.
Personally, I've dedicated the last 15 years of my life to my work and it has been at the cost of my own physical health and well-being. I now have back/neck problems and nervous system issues born from spending so many years hunched over a desk, particularly while I was in college earning my BFA in illustration. A few years ago I lost all feeling of touch from my jaw down to my hips (including my hands) because of those nervous system issues, and it rendered me unable to even brush my teeth, comb my hair, or hold a pencil to write my own name. It took months of therapy for me to regain the sensation of touch in my hands, and I still have lingering issues that are painful and have to be taken care of by a chiropractor twice a month. All of that is from the time and effort I've put into my work, so I sure as hell want to be compensated if I create a custom illustration for you. To tell an artist they shouldn't charge for their skills just because you want it that way is not only insulting, it's glaringly disrespectful.
If you applied your line of logic to ANY other skilled profession on the planet it would sound absolutely ridiculous. Replacing one word with "art" doesn't make it any less so, I'm sorry. I get tired of hearing people who have no idea what it takes to be a professional artist (and in many cases not even know what it takes to produce a piece of art, period) try to shame me into doing work for free just because they want it that way.
Every facet of society is affected by art from product design and packaging to publications and advertising. We deserve to be paid for that service, period.
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dated, don't care. Like.
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What's the crab in your icon (very cute btw) playing with? Bubbles? Marbles? Rocks?
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No, if an artist isn't offered some sort of compensation, they shouldn't do art for that person. Which is not the same as not doing art.
If some people can't afford commissions, they should offer something else. Be it favors or worthwhile networking.
Personally, I don't care about comments on an amateur art website, or points. If they have nothing to offer, I've got nothing to give them. My life is busy enough and I will never have a 'requests open' slot on my page.
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