An Artists' Starvation Could Be Your Fault

Starving artist. We all know the stereotype. But did you ever think it could be your fault? I know, a very blunt accusation. Let me show you our perspective.

Minimum wage could roughly be rounded to $10-ish per hour or at least a starting wage in most places (excluding food industry). Seems reasonable. And of course artists need to break even on the cost of our supplies. So then why is it that people think it's unreasonable to pay $150 for a fine art illustration that has $50 in supplies and took 10 hours to create? I may not be a math star by any means but even I can do that math.

People say it's a want and not a need. Debatable but for argument's sake lets say true. Hmmm your daily grande white mocha at the "local" coffee shop coming in at $4.25 a pop always has money allocated for this luxury even though with that exact example you'd end up spending $1,551.25. Wow that's a lot of money for something that not a need. I guess the one time purchase of a $150 unique art piece is just way too unreasonable because it would eat into that coffee "budget".

And please don't try to negotiate or low ball us.  I understand and even appreciate a good haggle in the right setting  but we are not dumb and our talent and time are valuable. So no, $4 an hour is not ok. You don't go into the plastic surgeon for a boob job (because we're keeping with "wants" and not needs here) and haggle the doc down to 1/2 off fun bags. They would laugh you out the door! But then why do individuals think they have the right to do this to artists.

Finally if you commit you commit. No one walks into a hair salon, know the the price for what they want, sit in the chair and then halfway through say, "Ya, know what.  It's just too expensive for me at the moment because "x" in my life just rose in price and I wasn't expecting that". Maybe we can't legally hold you responsible but that's just rude. Many artists operate under a system of trust so don't burn us because you'd rather pay a corporate warehouse price.

Rant end. I'm not normally one to rant and certainly not on a public forum. 90% of my interactions and custom orders are fantastic. To those I thank you for understanding the value and properly rewarding it. You feed my heart and belly. However recently I had an interaction with a woman who after all the hoops she bailed on a large custom order which spurred on all of this and quiet frankly it's ridiculous. Shame on you and those with that mindset.

So please support your local artists fairly. Don't perpetuate the stereotype . People look at artists like we're crazy when we announce this is our career path or better yet they ask, "You can make a living with that?". YES!  But only if you actually treat it like a real job and give us real respect and real wages. You can end our "starvation"

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