Why must someone be a “starving artist”? Sure, not all artists are starving, but most go through a “starving” (read: poor) season in their life. I’m starting to find out why.

Artists, by nature, create. Creation takes time. It’s not just a matter of cranking out a widget, there’s thought that’s involved, there’s skill that has to be acquired, there are mediums that need to be mastered, etc. There’s no pay for all the learning part. Perhaps an artist may have the benefit of help along the way, and that’s a good thing, but at some point, that dry season will hit.

Where the creative stuff happens.

Artists usually aren’t the best salesmen either. We either value our work too low or too high. And promotion? There’s where the time crunch comes in. If there’s no pay for the creation part, then money has to be generated by other means. Talk to any artist and you’ll hear stories of jobs taken on “to pay the bills.” If one works all day to pay the bills and comes home and creates, where is the time for promotion? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it can’t be done, I’m just making an observation.

Side jobs for non-artists are easy to come by. One can mow lawns after work and make a few extra bucks, maybe even start their own lawn mowing business. Here’s where things get goofy with artists. Most artists will go crazy if they cannot produce their art. Who cares if they can make extra money or become a millionaire with a lawn mowing business, it’s not what they want to do. Actually, if they do that, they die inside and can’t put the effort needed into their business. So they “starve.”

I’ve got lots of ideas on how to make extra money, and I’m working the ones I can, but I simply cannot work all the money-making ideas or no works would be created. But it is just for a season. Soon I’ll have some products to sell and I plan on hitting some conventions in the near future. Until then I’ll “starve.” But don’t cry for me, I’m still eating well. Where I live, Mexican food comes cheap and tasty.

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