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This piece touches on the inherent tension between originality and selling out (or selling to the masses) that I've definitely seen in comic circles. So many as

This piece touches on the inherent tension between originality and selling out (or selling to the masses) that I've definitely seen in comic circles. So many aspiring indie artists/comic creators who think Patreon is their easy ticket to a passive and liveable income when the stark reality is much different. It's why my first piece of advice to any creative is to have a dayjob that maximizes their free time to create freely without financial strings. Even if burnout or predatory publishers don't get you, following the whims of trends is a slow creative death that's far more insidious than the other two.

pizzathyme 4y ago
I used to work in the games industry, which was me trying to feed my family and pursue an art passion at the same time. It wasn’t great at either: pay is low and the art you get to make not so fulfilling. I switched a few years ago to splitting these apart: I (1) got a non art tech job that I love (which is key) and that pays great, and (2) I started doing pure artistic games on the side as a hobby, no need for money from them. I am much, much happier. I think many people, my past self included, cause themselves a lot of pain by trying to lump everything together. If someone loves baking pie no one says “When are you going to quit your job and open a bakery?!” It’s just fun! Why does it need to pay the bills?
- dinosaurdynasty 4y ago
  > Why does it need to pay the bills? Because life is so expensive for so many that every effort has to have money in mind or they starve. Especially if you are chronically ill (or simply have less-than-average energy levels), meaningful stuff outside work just will not happen.
- digitallyfree 4y ago
  This sort of leads into the "debate" between two perspectives on work which I saw a lot in my school years. The first camp is those who believe that you should find a job in a field you love (maybe that's art). The idea is that even if you don't make much, you'll be happy and have the drive to do well. The second camp is that you should find a field you don't necessarily love, but is more stable/higher paying and thus allows you to comfortably do the things you like in your spare time. I've heard these two argued to death among students in high school and among parents today. I took the second route and am happy with my choice, though I agree it's not for everyone (really depends on the work you do and whether or not you have the time/energy/will to work on your creative passions).
  - personalidea 4y ago
    Personally, the best advice (for me) on picking a career came from Hunter S Thompson: Decide what kind of life you want to live, then find a job that supports that.
vlunkr 4y ago
Patreon isn't an easy ticket, but it does seem like it's opened up some interesting opportunities. I listen to a few podcasts where the hosts have been able to quit their full time jobs and live on Patreon income. Being funded by Patreon as opposed to ads means you don't necessarily need to maintain a huge audience to live, just a dedicated one. So you're more free to explore less popular topics that you know the audience will like. Most podcasts being created now will probably still fail, but it feels like a nice step away from the current ad-induced hellscape.
- genewitch 4y ago
  > Most podcasts being created now will probably still fail there's somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000,000 serialized podcasts. "Most ... fail" is barely descriptive!
  - vlunkr 4y ago
    Yeah well I don't have the numbers. Just saying it's still not easy.
genewitch 4y ago
there's a screenshot of greentext from one of the *chans where a visual artist describes the physical and mental revulsion of furry art (the artist is revolted), and the fact that no matter what, they pay the most, usually up front. the artist would love to make normal commissions, but there's no money in it. I've personally been part of about a dozen musical albums, i've never seen a penny or any recognition for it. One thing i managed to upload to the internet got a third of a million hits, but it was happenstance, not music, and i just happened to edit wikipedia very quickly and have a really good sound file host at the time. It was the "re-awakening" of the UVB-76 "buzzer" in ~2010 - and i can't even remember how i recorded it anymore! Wired magazine and a few other outlets approached me to license the recording. If you've heard the "NAIMINA" recording of UVB-76, that was something that was originally put on the internet by me. I haven't released a "real" song in over a decade.
- gilmore606 4y ago
  > If you've heard the "NAIMINA" recording of UVB-76, that was something that was originally put on the internet by me. I use this recording as part of a strange personal radio station project, it's one of the burst samples I use for flavor. I love that noise. Thanks man!

pizzathyme 4y ago

I used to work in the games industry, which was me trying to feed my family and pursue an art passion at the same time. It wasn’t great at either: pay is low and the art you get to make not so fulfilling. I switched a few years ago to splitting these apart: I (1) got a non art tech job that I love (which is key) and that pays great, and (2) I started doing pure artistic games on the side as a hobby, no need for money from them. I am much, much happier. I think many people, my past self included, cause themselves a lot of pain by trying to lump everything together. If someone loves baking pie no one says “When are you going to quit your job and open a bakery?!” It’s just fun! Why does it need to pay the bills?

dinosaurdynasty 4y ago
> Why does it need to pay the bills? Because life is so expensive for so many that every effort has to have money in mind or they starve. Especially if you are chronically ill (or simply have less-than-average energy levels), meaningful stuff outside work just will not happen.
digitallyfree 4y ago
This sort of leads into the "debate" between two perspectives on work which I saw a lot in my school years. The first camp is those who believe that you should find a job in a field you love (maybe that's art). The idea is that even if you don't make much, you'll be happy and have the drive to do well. The second camp is that you should find a field you don't necessarily love, but is more stable/higher paying and thus allows you to comfortably do the things you like in your spare time. I've heard these two argued to death among students in high school and among parents today. I took the second route and am happy with my choice, though I agree it's not for everyone (really depends on the work you do and whether or not you have the time/energy/will to work on your creative passions).
- personalidea 4y ago
  Personally, the best advice (for me) on picking a career came from Hunter S Thompson: Decide what kind of life you want to live, then find a job that supports that.

vlunkr 4y ago

Patreon isn't an easy ticket, but it does seem like it's opened up some interesting opportunities. I listen to a few podcasts where the hosts have been able to quit their full time jobs and live on Patreon income. Being funded by Patreon as opposed to ads means you don't necessarily need to maintain a huge audience to live, just a dedicated one. So you're more free to explore less popular topics that you know the audience will like. Most podcasts being created now will probably still fail, but it feels like a nice step away from the current ad-induced hellscape.

genewitch 4y ago
> Most podcasts being created now will probably still fail there's somewhere in the ballpark of 5,000,000 serialized podcasts. "Most ... fail" is barely descriptive!
- vlunkr 4y ago
  Yeah well I don't have the numbers. Just saying it's still not easy.

genewitch 4y ago

there's a screenshot of greentext from one of the *chans where a visual artist describes the physical and mental revulsion of furry art (the artist is revolted), and the fact that no matter what, they pay the most, usually up front. the artist would love to make normal commissions, but there's no money in it. I've personally been part of about a dozen musical albums, i've never seen a penny or any recognition for it. One thing i managed to upload to the internet got a third of a million hits, but it was happenstance, not music, and i just happened to edit wikipedia very quickly and have a really good sound file host at the time. It was the "re-awakening" of the UVB-76 "buzzer" in ~2010 - and i can't even remember how i recorded it anymore! Wired magazine and a few other outlets approached me to license the recording. If you've heard the "NAIMINA" recording of UVB-76, that was something that was originally put on the internet by me. I haven't released a "real" song in over a decade.

gilmore606 4y ago
> If you've heard the "NAIMINA" recording of UVB-76, that was something that was originally put on the internet by me. I use this recording as part of a strange personal radio station project, it's one of the burst samples I use for flavor. I love that noise. Thanks man!