The Starving Artist

What happens if you run out of money? Do you die? The answer is no, even if you run out of money you are still alive and still being provided for. Some say it is God that provides for you, not yourself. I have a fear of being forced out onto the streets, and I feel like my life would be over if I got there - but in truth, it might just be getting started. If you don't worry too much about money and just trust that you will be provided for you might be, depending on your expectations.

So what happens if you decide that there are more important things out there than money? Or maybe the economy / life situations has left you poor and single. Either way, you are in the same boat. With some good budgeting skills, one could live comfortably on a low budget and be able to contribute to society by doing small jobs in exchange for money or getting a part time job, and then use their free time to do something they are passionate about (which might turn into a career). You could also get a full-time job and work on your passion when you get home if you are into that sort of thing. But I am not talking about people who work full-time, then come home and run errands the rest of the time.

These days, the Internet can teach someone anything, and that is almost free information. It could be free if you go to the public library. With the new electronic devices that are available these days, a smaller apartment with minimal but proficient features would be feasible, cost less in rent than other options from the traditional past and still be as comfortable.

To build a career from a hobby successfully, one must have the fortitude to train diligently and possibly even attend more schooling to attune their skills. If the person already has a college education, maybe they could use some aspects of it to their advantage, as well.

The ability to live on a low budget would be needed, and that can be learned, like a skill. A knack at embracing the things in life that don't require money or are cheap is a plus. That is the skill that will get you through the day. This is why we are focusing our creative energy on some sort of fascination, or hobby because that makes us happy and has nothing to do with money. Unless your obsession is with accounting or something.

If you can refine your skills, you might soon be taking on small jobs and that could lead to a small business. Let it grow naturally over time. Don't get greedy and trade the integrity of your business and your love for it for extra cash. Soon you might have more money than you know what to do with, but the important thing is that you are doing what you love. You can have multiple hobbies, but try to pick one that has a chance of producing money, such as tutoring, writing, performing, painting and photography, web design, programming,running a game store, etc. There are loads of options. If one of your hobbies is gaming, for example, it could be very helpful to sharpen your brain since it is so competitive these days, but it is unlikely to make money off of it (although with some YouTube and Twitch shenanigans, you *could*, or you could learn game design).

The bottom line is to relax and lower your expectations of having a life like your parents, with a new car and a nice house with a pool and a 9-5 job because you might not get there - and I am just presenting another option that could work with the tools poor people like me have at their disposal and has some potential, I think. With the technology we have today, leisure is much higher quality than in the past, so the overall quality of life might be rising even as budgets are shrinking.

Doesn't work when ...

1) The people that might have purchased your product don't have the money to buy it now.

2) The elite (top 1% population) own the planet and want the peasants dead.

3) Personally, when a hacker goes by the alias 'Og', that just so happens to be the mythical leader of all Rephaim (king of Bashan, Syria) causes me to lose my job, it looks like the spirit world actually wants me dead. So writing websites for free, or uploading computer programs for free doesn't make a blind bit of difference when the fallen angels want me dead via eventual suicide.

a reply to: Rapha

I think the elite want the peasants to be living in small apartments and working full-time minimum wage jobs because this keeps them out of trouble and keeps them employed for the least amount possible.

Industrialism
"There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wage possible." -
-Henry Ford

Henry Ford, the father of the assembly line, said this. When he had his vision of industrial labor, he envisioned paying the highest possible wages as a core tenet. Look at how far we have come.

a reply to: darkbake
That's because money became more important then morals. Scientists that created small pix vaccine did it out of love and didn't charge people out the ass because he did it out of love. Today it is considered a service or product and scientists do it for corporations looking for profit. When technology moves forward without morals we end up here where we are today.

a reply to: Brotherman

I think big corporations should be in touch with the real goal - improving the lives of citizens on Earth. That should mean paying their employees good wages. They should care for the well-being of their own employees, just as slave owners had to care for their slaves. Corporations are honor-bound to give their employees liveable wages.

a reply to: darkbake
I know someone who makes more money managing burger king then what I was making welding and fabricating complex equipment. Its a backwards world and people wonder why things are screwey

art is something i need to do to feel good but at the same time it can be very exhausting.creativity can be tough to tame and channel it to something that pays your bills.
i experienced many euphoric states of joy and auto-esteem but also depression and tons of frustration.

it´s work and routine like any other work.
in the beginning i was just a street-artist and would live with little from day to day but it improved my skills and years and years of drawing and talking to people accumulated to something very solid and i now have my own studio and i hired an accountant so my taxes are in check etc.

i can draw and make a living and i feel very fortunate to live like i do.
i´m not really in the artist scene - i hang out with folks on the street that talk about uncomplicated things like football.

in the beginning people asked things like "why you don´t find a publisher" and stuff like that but nowadays people accept my way of working and it is actually promoted and "start up´s" and things like that pop up all around.

i like the OP but i think nobody needs to be a starving artist. i have many artist friends that gave up and went for regular work. that was their choice because while many of them had loads of talent they where not good at being an artist. being uncomprehended as an artist and be a "starving artist" is for me just being bad at being an artist. ( not necessarily being bad at art- but that is often also the case)

to be an independent artist can be a million different things for each person it is another story but it is also a kind of work that pays well if you are good at it.

it is true that if you are good at being an artist - you do not need to be the perfect performer or painter ( you never will be) but because you are good at "selling yourself" good at communicating - specially good at making others feel good - then you can make a decent living and keep improving skills along the ride.

i sometimes hate being labeled an "artist" - it´s almost like i have weird condition - different than other workers.
people say weird things like "you have a gift" and i protest and say - "no i just worked very hard on my skills"
but almost nobody believes that- they all think i´m possessed by some sort of otherwordly skill they do not have.
its bollocks because everybody has that but they just do not use it.

people say " wow you can draw really well - since when do you draw ?" i say - " since the same time you do - the only difference between us is that i did not stop doing it never ever "
same thing for having ideas - creativity is like a muscle that needs exercise - if you work in art its the most important exercise.

being able to observe the world around you extremely well, listen very well to people and show them things that make them feel very good- communicate well and make others have a good time - is something everybody can learn to do. and it is in my humble opinion the biggest part of being successful at "being an artist".

with that kind of mindset any kind of work is transformed into art - so to say.

a reply to: darkbake

What happens if you run out of money? Do you die? The answer is no, even if you run out of money you are still alive and still being provided for.

Although I acknowledge that in general, our economic system is messed up, this statement shows that it's not as cruel as some people paint it to be. Generally speaking, we don't have people starving to death in the streets. This is true for people that are trying to find gainful employment as well as people that are just flat-out lazy.

So what happens if you decide that there are more important things out there than money?

I know a few people that are like that. My view is that (except for the extra burden it puts on everyone else in some ways), to each his/her own. I couldn't care less what others choose to do and how they lead their lives. I would say though, that I don't want to hear people who live much of their life "not caring about money" start complaining years later when they realize that being broke is exhausting and it takes its toll on a person.

To build a career from a hobby successfully, one must have the fortitude to train diligently and possibly even attend more schooling to attune their skills.

Also, the hobby needs to produce something that people want enough to pay for. When I imagine my retirement (many years from now), one of the things I daydream about doing is making custom bird houses for people that look EXACTLY like their house. Would anybody want to pay for that? I have NO IDEA, which is why it is something that I will wait to do until I'm retired and financially stable.

If you can refine your skills, you might soon be taking on small jobs and that could lead to a small business.

In my opinion, this is the right idea/mindset to get started with.

The bottom line is to relax and lower your expectations of having a life like your parents, with a new car and a nice house with a pool and a 9-5 job because you might not get there

In my opinion, this is the absolute wrong idea/mindset. Maybe my view is different because I was born to a poor (economically speaking) family, but nobody that is young and healthy should EVER lower their expectations or give up on their goals. While it's true that hard work and "doing the right things" will not GUARANTEE success, I can assure you that without the hard work and having goals/inspiration a person is basically GUARANTEED to not succeed.

a reply to: darkbake

There are so many artists out there it's unbelievable. Just do a search on eBay and see for yourself how many people can paint beautiful or interesting images on canvas. And that's just one medium and one venue. There's so much more. Then think about how much time a person works on their painting. Hours of time. Any where from 2 to 40 hours. And look at what they sell for with starting bids at 10.00 to 40.00 bucks, which usually end up having only one interested buyer. My point here is there are too many people who are talented who are not recognized. Hardly anyone validates their contribution to society but if they do, the monetary value of their work is exceptionally low. At the same time, the person who validated the artist's contribution with buying their painting is ecstatic at the low purchade cost and obtaining an original painting that triggers something in them that is meaningful. But it is a form of bondage to the artist and enables unnecessary suffering upon them. The buyer has fed into the energy of them getting a deal and also fed into the energy of them liking the painting. The energy kept alive is they got something meaningful to them for next to nothing. It wasn't gifted to them. It was presented to sell to anyone willing to buy. The artist attaching money to the painting devaluing their talent and labor is self flagellation and done in desperation living in a money based system that does not recognize everyone has talent. The artist subconsciously does this. The buyer subconsciously does this.

Now that the buyer has the painting it is charged with entergetic energies that is defeating in one way to the starving artist with enjoying their work, happy one person validated their work but suffering financially barely even affording supplies to paint more pictures and a house free of negative energy to paint in. Having conflicting energies associated in a creative work such as a painting charges it much like a sigil. Now the energetically charged work hangs in their house. And the artist has contributed to having an extension of themselves being held hostage.

Paintings. Wow. Does anyone even realize the work and energy put into them? Consciously or subconsciously? Long ago I read somewhere about monks who make paintings while praying that took hours. Beautiful designs. But when they are finished they destroy it.

I'm not saying to not paint pictures. What I am saying is they absorb energies and thought forms that value cheap deals and cheap labor and being aware of that because it exploits others who become slave-like attached to money based communities reliant on the grid left suffering in gloomy surroundings. It's nothing like a well fed slave who is valued and treated respectfully by their employer/master. It's an outsider slave. A slave given the option to go free; free to be homeless. Free to be on the street. In today's society, with everything so industrislized, modern, technology based, electrical, with all the land grabbed up, makes being free, free to be on the street, an unfair freedom. It's dishonesty. Under handed. 200 years ago freedom on the "street" was at least an even playing field. And people were adapted to roughing it having no technology, electricity, phones and so on.

Bottom line is talent is abundant, but talent repeats the same things already known and rearranges them, and gets better at rearranging them. Almost everyone is doing this. From a waitress to an editor. But getting better at rearranging is pointless with machines that can do that.

People can create. Invent. Machines cannot. They need a program. Stepping outside of the program and discovering something to introduce back into the program is what people like and will attach a lot of money to which would eliminate a lot of personal suffering such as worry about paying a mortgage or property taxes. Technology being slowly introduced did that for many. Now its leveling out. Too many in the field and labor being cheapened. Or society needs to do away with attaching money to objects, edibles, health, shelter, education because it power trips people whether they want to admit it or not.

Too many people are unmotivated rearranging the same things into different patterns that somebody else created because it's someone else's original creation who as the creator does not tend to the flock who takes the time to rearranging the patterns the creator created. They are abandoned in heart and health, barely surviving with low pay and rising costs and mental beatings from others who are mental themselves, trying to push the mental darkness onto others that can lead to suicide or other destructive behaviors. Starve until you have an epiphany to defeat that. Then be fed with it and introduce it to push back at the mental darkness.

I have been a professional artist for over 25 years. I have worked in many different types of media, making everything from large abstract and landscape paintings/prints...to sandals, guitars, fine furniture, jewelry, ceramics and films.

I am currently working in the film/TV industry as an actor and crew member.

The reason I switched to film is because of cheap imported "art" and the rapid decline in the American customers appreciation of anything handmade. They are perfectly happy to buy cheap knock offs manufactured in China by slaves.

I now own and operate a fine art gallery with partners and we can barely sell enough art to keep the doors open and this is in a very affluent location.

I still spend a lot of time in the studio making stuff, but I have no illusions of selling it. I give it away.... Artist make art...it's what they do.

now....UNION PROUD, UNION STRONG!

www.sagaftra.org...
iatse.net...

My advice to all young student studio artists is to pick up a degree in marketing as well ....you're going to need it if you expect to make a living from your art.

originally posted by: eluryh22
a reply to: darkbake
In my opinion, this is the absolute wrong idea/mindset. Maybe my view is different because I was born to a poor (economically speaking) family, but nobody that is young and healthy should EVER lower their expectations or give up on their goals. While it's true that hard work and "doing the right things" will not GUARANTEE success, I can assure you that without the hard work and having goals/inspiration a person is basically GUARANTEED to not succeed.

I agree with you now that you mention it. And maybe the hobby could start out as just a hobby, with financial support from other work. But I think with a little creative business venturing the hobby might bring in a bit of extra cash. And this is written for the single person, not someone with a family and kids - in that case, you have a responsibility to make sure your kids are taken care of.

a reply to: WhiteWingedMonolith

You bring up a lot of good points, one of them is that people can work long hours in our society and be about the same as a slave.

It is true that art is an extremely competitive field. There are freelance websites for writers that pay next to nothing because people from overseas are willing to work for less than minimum wage. This is an interesting facet of the economy. It is still super competitive to get a gig on there, and once you do, it really is extremely tough work writing enough to earn a living.

originally posted by: darkbake

originally posted by: eluryh22
a reply to: darkbake
In my opinion, this is the absolute wrong idea/mindset. Maybe my view is different because I was born to a poor (economically speaking) family, but nobody that is young and healthy should EVER lower their expectations or give up on their goals. While it's true that hard work and "doing the right things" will not GUARANTEE success, I can assure you that without the hard work and having goals/inspiration a person is basically GUARANTEED to not succeed.

I agree with you now that you mention it. And maybe the hobby could start out as just a hobby, with financial support from other work. But I think with a little creative business venturing the hobby might bring in a bit of extra cash. And this is written for the single person, not someone with a family and kids - in that case, you have a responsibility to make sure your kids are taken care of.

That just may be. One thing the wife and I like to do is in our travels, when we see some kind of arts & crafts fair is to pull over and look around. It seems like most of the people there (or at least, the ones we speak to) work other jobs for a living and do their craft in part because it makes a little extra money and more significantly, because it's essentially a big part of who they are. I've seen some SERIOUS talent out there and I like to think (this is just a leap of faith) that at least SOME of them are able to get to the point where it is their main stream of income.

I've seen some people (particularly wood carvers because that is my favorite) that take custom requests and if I had enough disposable income I would love to hire someone to make replicas of my pets that now reside in heaven. However, I do try to purchase something because:

1) I really enjoy seeing people and their crafts and I like to contribute to them. My little purchase isn't going to change their life in any way but hopefully the positive support does something for them.

2) Excluding furniture, when I look around my house (like many others I assume) I see mostly stuff that came from Target or someplace like that. Everything is mass produced. But when my eyes drift and focus on one of the little nick-nacks that are hand made, it sometimes puts me in a completely different frame of mind.

I really don't know anything but I do understand starve, I do that an awful lot. Then again some smartass will say mcdonalds is always hiring lol, I happen to draw # poorly too. mainly I weld things vital to people lives and business and get fuc#ed or try to fuc# me all the time. I am not an artist, I'm like cancer really.

originally posted by: Brotherman
I am not an artist, I'm like cancer really.

Spoken like a poet

Probably unrelated to the current flow of this thread...but Alan watts gave a talk concerning money. He gave an anology using a construction company as an example. When all the construction companies came to a screeching halt, and the top managers ran to the top CEO's and told them 'We can't built anymore! We're in trouble! We have plenty of lumber, and plenty of nails but NO MORE INCHES!!"

Basically, the point was that money is a system of measure WE created. It isn't something that actually exists in the world by which we are forced and compelled to endure it until our species demise. The potential of the human race is constantly held back by our adherence to a system which has the power to halt all progress due to "scarcity of inches".

a reply to: Visitor2012
Well said my friend, this is something I've often thought about but could never put it together that concisely.

a reply to: Brotherman

I know someone who makes more money managing burger king then what I was making welding and fabricating complex equipment

Key word being "managing". Sure your product may have a greater value in providing solutions, but a manager of an establishment is usually tasked with balancing many factors, including making a profit for the owners.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: Brotherman

I know someone who makes more money managing burger king then what I was making welding and fabricating complex equipment

Key word being "managing". Sure your product may have a greater value in providing solutions, but a manager of an establishment is usually tasked with balancing many factors, including making a profit for the owners.

That is a bunch of Bull, managing burger king doesn't require much skill, thats why they hire high school seniors to do that traditionally but since the crunch in jobs now they are taking both college grads and inmates work release. Most welders don't need much managing usually they are hired out right cause they don't need a baby sitter and the people expect you to know how to do lots of complicated math and all kinds of other nifty skills that would make any burger king managers brain melt. The average welder is probably light years more competent then one who watches people push the red button when the fries are done. The pay in the American Job Market is drastically skewed then again in Cali people that package boxes will be making minimum of $15 an hour.


Welder/ Fitter Job Description

Connect and turn regulator valves to activate and adjust gas flow and pressure so that desired flames are obtained. Clamp, hold, tack-weld, heat-bend, grind or bolt component parts to obtain required configurations and positions for welding. Weld components in flat, vertical, or overhead positions. Operate safety equipment and use safe work habits. Lay out, position, align, and secure parts and assemblies prior to assembly, using straightedges, combination squares, calipers, and rulers. Weld separately or in combination, using aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, and other alloys. Recognize, set up, and operate hand and power tools common to the welding trade, such as shielded metal arc and gas metal arc welding equipment. Mark or tag material with proper job number, piece marks, and other identifying marks as required. Select and install torches, torch tips, filler rods, and flux, according to welding chart specifications or types and thicknesses of metals. Analyze engineering drawings, blueprints, specifications, sketches, work orders, and material safety data sheets to plan layout, assembly, and welding operations. Remove rough spots from workpieces, using portable grinders, hand files, or scrapers. Examine workpieces for defects and measure workpieces with straightedges or templates to ensure conformance with specifications. Prepare all material surfaces to be welded, ensuring that there is no loose or thick scale, slag, rust, moisture, grease, or other foreign matter. Determine required equipment and welding methods, applying knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, and welding techniques. Operate manual or semi-automatic welding equipment to fuse metal segments, using processes such as gas tungsten arc, gas metal arc, flux-cored arc, plasma arc, shielded metal arc, resistance welding, and submerged arc welding. Ignite torches or start power supplies and strike arcs by touching electrodes to metals being welded, completing electrical circuits. Clean or degrease parts, using wire brushes, portable grinders, or chemical baths. Repair products by dismantling, straightening, reshaping, and reassembling parts, using cutting torches, straightening presses, and hand tools. Chip or grind off excess weld, slag, or spatter, using hand scrapers or power chippers, portable grinders, or arc-cutting equipment. Dismantle metal assemblies or cut scrap metal, using thermal-cutting equipment such as flame-cutting torches or plasma-arc equipment. Hammer out bulges or bends in metal workpieces. Fill holes, and increase the size of metal parts. Monitor the fitting, burning, and welding processes to avoid overheating of parts or warping, shrinking, distortion, or expansion of material. Position and secure workpieces, using hoists, cranes, wire, and banding machines or hand tools. Detect faulty operation of equipment or defective materials and notify supervisors. Check grooves, angles, or gap allowances, using micrometers, calipers, and precision measuring instruments. Preheat workpieces prior to welding or bending, using torches or heating furnaces. Guide and direct flames or electrodes on or across workpieces to straighten, bend, melt, or build up metal. Develop templates and models for welding projects, using mathematical calculations based on blueprint information. Cut, contour, and bevel metal plates and structural shapes to dimensions as specified by blueprints, layouts, work orders, and templates, using powered saws, hand shears, or chipping knives. Operate metal shaping, straightening, and bending machines, such as brakes and shears. Set up and use ladders and scaffolding as necessary to complete work. Gouge metals, using the air-arc gouging process. Estimate materials needed for production and manufacturing and maintain required stocks of materials. Mix and apply protective coatings to products. Use fire suppression methods in industrial emergencies. Signal crane operators to move large workpieces. Operate brazing and soldering equipment. Join parts such as beams and steel reinforcing rods in buildings, bridges, and highways, bolting and riveting as necessary. Melt lead bars, wire, or scrap to add lead to joints or to extrude melted scrap into reusable form.

Link

Average Salary for welder in PA is about $30,000
Link

Manager at Burger King Description

Burger King Manager Job Description & Interview Job Description and Duties Burger King managers preside over restaurant locations. Job duties range from hiring and training new employees to taking inventory and placing food orders. Additional job responsibilities include filling out paperwork, answering phone calls, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Burger King managers also inherit some marketing and advertising responsibilities. Training for Burger King managers generally involves a week-long process consisting of audio, visual, and hands-on orientation. In some cases, training may last up to two or three weeks, depending on Burger King location and worker experience prior to hiring.

Link

Average salary of a Burger King Manager

Salary and Compensation Average starting salary options for Burger King managers fall around $30,000 per year, or roughly $14.50 an hour. More experienced Burger King managers may make in excess of $40,000 per year.

Same link as above

Yeah bro seems legit.

funny i just watched a good documentary on youtube about the role of money in our lives and just how destructive its gotten in the past 100 years alone.

pretty informative and interesting to see the changes we have gone through and what we will face going forward esp with the age if digital currency coming into play.

its kind of like a big dark storm cloud looming above our heads slowly forming into a destructive tornado that will wipe out everything in its path...

www.youtube.com...