Among other things I've done I've been an artist/printmaker for a few decades. Can't say how many prints I've made. Always great when work sells, but it's not a

Among other things I've done I've been an artist/printmaker for a few decades. Can't say how many prints I've made. Always great when work sells, but it's not a predictable event at least in my experience. Very few artists sell enough to earn a living let alone become rich or famous. Most need to have "day jobs", teaching is a common occupation. Of course that's been true for a long time. Despite these realities more people regard themselves as "artists" than ever before. Amazes me how many people enroll in art schools at $40K/yr. Student loans have to be paid off later on, from a hard financial viewpoint it doesn't pencil out. Yet year after year no shortage of people sign up, level of talent notwithstanding. You're probably right. What you observe is an expression of form over substance. Maybe it's a "cargo cult" sort of thing where people think wrapping themselves in the trappings of "creatives" is the same as being genuinely creative. The demise of hobbies probably speaks to denigrated value of "work", that is, expending effort to reach goals. I can tell you that printmaking is 5% design, color, etc., and 95% painstaking physical and cognitive labor, in short, it's work. OTOH looking for shortcuts eventually fails, and failure is followed by yet another round of seeking shortcuts. Here's my prediction, sooner or later the "shortcut culture" burns itself out, though I won't place any bets on when that will happen.