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Scarlet_Cryptid
Mar '23

A few months ago, while I was working a holiday event with a coworker, I mentioned my comic and showed her a few pages, and she responded with that generic positivity that people who don't read comics and/or don't really think about art much usually give, and she mentioned it must be nice to have the supplemental income from it. I was confused, so I asked what she meant.

She thought that I was getting paid per page to make my comic. I somehow managed to not laugh out loud at that, and told her no, actually, I don't make any money at all off of my comic. In fact, it COSTS me money to make, considering I'm an traditional artist, and supplies are expensive. She seemed shocked-- in fact, I think we both were. Each of us was surprised by the other's reality: She assumed I made money off this thing I spend so much time and effort doing, and I, living as I always have in the reality of the amateur, unknown, lost-in-a-sea-of-millions artist life, had never stopped to consider that non-artists would assume that.

Has anyone else here had this experience? Do/did your friends/family/classmates/coworkers assume you make money off of this? (If you DO make money off of this, did they assume you made more/less?) How did they react when you told them the truth?

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    Mar '23

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    Apr '23
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candiedcotton
Mar '23

For me it's more that people can't comprehend that you can't walk into a gallery and just display your art, or sell it for a bajillion dollars with zero effort.

My family is basically all of the mindset that I'm not trying, because I haven't waltzed into a gallery and demanded they put my doodles on their window front. They believe I'm not making any effort because I don't sell prints of random doodles by the droves.

I think that's unfortunately a comment misconception.

Edit: Oh, and the classic "why aren't you selling these on t-shirts, everyone would buy them, you need to try!"

BlairFujin
Mar '23

Well, the closest experience for me was telling my mom how much I make off my comics on patreon and hearing a kinda condescending "Well, you can't really live off of that." with "Why are you wasting time on this?" kinda implied in response. But sharing something I'm excited about with her and getting "But why aren't you doing X instead?" in response in nothing new to me...

Avonguardian
Mar '23

it happens from time to time, I had a coworker ask "then why do you bother?" and I found that to be such a weird answer, as if it all comes down to it. Sure I would love to get paid for some of my artistic stuff, but not getting paid isnt that much of a demotivator.

VibrantFoxRegular
Mar '23

My immediate family knows how I don't get paid for making comics and how any income is usually tips or commissions. as for other folks like coworkers or even my boss who I've mentioned that I'm working on a comic to I'm suddenly curious (tbh i'd be pissed if that's what's contributing to my crap hours)

But even as a beginner artists this was never really my mindset coz i figured the only folks really making money were those working for a publisher or something. Of course I've learned more being inside the art community/space so there's a lot more context

But i think for non artists or people who aren't art enjoyers themselves either assume we're making butt-loads of money (hence some of the weird mindsets of ai people) or that we're broke (in tandem with the starving artist stereotype)

I've definitely encountered the "oh why not approach a gallery types" especialy since we've got a few of those in the area but like there's a process (one i wouldn't mind insight on) but it's kinda weird the conclusions people jump to

Still tho I think I've encountered the "that's not a real job" or "you'll never get money for that" crowd a lot more than folks who'd assume i'm getting paid for anything

powerplantanimations
Mar '23

All the money TSFI makes goes straight to Burd's pockets... specifically since I have a hard time splitting the rev. I was like "screw it, you just take it".

It's a little awkward talking about that with family members. THAT and the fact that I work for free whenever animators need help. My Mom's like "YOU SHOULD BE CHARGING THOSE ANIMATORS, MIJO!". There are two people that do offer me cash. One is currently promising pay (seeing how that turns out), the other straight up offered me money (I turned it down like an idiot for a reason so dumb, I don't want to get into). But other than that yeah... my parents are always like "You getting paid yet?".

doublemelon
Mar '23

It's the opposite for me.
My partner told me not to be surprised for not getting any monies from doing this :joy:

And it was true :sob:

powerplantanimations
Mar '23
candiedcotton

Also funny thing about that bit, my Mom is the one that constantly pushes me like that. I don't think I explained it before, but I remember us getting into an argument where she didn't quite understand why artists weren't picking up my work. If I remember correctly, I think THAT was when I was like "Okay, I SERIOUSLY need to pitch that stick figure comic" lol.

Caro
Mar '23

I experience the opposite a lot. People don’t usually believe that I draw comics for a living. When I answer the question “What do you do?” with “I write and draw comics” i usually get questions like “but, like, what do you do for money?” or “well, what’s your day job?”

It really took a long time for my family to not worry about what I was doing and they’ve only in the last five years stopped asking me if I needed some cash or if I needed to get hooked up with a job.

Nugtown
Mar '23

I don't think they do, but the other older people around me either expect me to materialize sales out of thin air, or they view it as being irresponsible with time or money, or an illegitimate pursuit. It's as if people are completely blind to the scope of my focus even if I put the physical pages in front of them I think, because they would just assume it was easy to do. I get that maybe it's surprising that I could put so much attention to a single task each and every day, but every time i've tried to stress I can't meet my goals balancing a soul draining dead end job and the time and energy needed to meet my goals, I just get scoffed at. To me, a chapter and a half a year is unacceptable for a comic expected to drive into the hundreds, but that's all I managed to accomplish for a near decade. Somehow I still seem to get that strange attitude even from other artists even when I bring it up. I don't know why.

In the end I can't really blame them despite the fact that it gets tiresome. To a point it's useless trying to force the issue even though i'm stuck explaining the same old thing every time it seems to get brought up. Quarreling with the need to feel a sense of worth via monetary value has been one of the most soul crushing things, because I know in my heart of hearts that's all people look at even if I myself don't honestly believe that's the only way value should be derived.

Do I wish I could make money of any kind? Of course. It's natural that when someone puts in enough work they expect some return and i'm no exception. It's silly to think you should be given something for anything you do, but naturally seeing the ridiculous levels of time and energy dumped into one thing people are confused thinking i'm sitting on a hill of gold that I am pissing away, and not the hunk of lead I believe it to be.

Sorry this one's a sore spot!

cherrystark
Mar '23

I do make money off my series and the looks I've gotten have been more of shock that I'm essentially running a small business than anything else. Out of all my IRL writer friends I can only think of three, aside from my brother, who has published anything. The writer friends look at me shocked that I've published and regular people look at me confused/shocked because they've never even heard of what I do.

Katzalcoatl
Mar '23

That is sooo true. It is more like a business. And all money you make you have to reinvest like any other business... :cry:

cherrystark
Mar '23

Oh yeah. My business would be doing much better if I invested more money into it, but I need the savings more. It's a really tough spot to be in.

GumshoeComix
Mar '23

yea, I try not to tell people I make comics at a loss. I actually tend to lie and tell them I make some cash off it otherwise I'll get the "if you're not making money you're wasting your time" from my family lmao i dont have the patience to deal with that anymore

Emalie
Mar '23

My mom recently found out what I do, I'm writing a BL novel and working on a commission to draw characters with horns and wings xD and the same thing happened to me as most of the comments. But this isn't what I do for a living, because I know it won't be easy - at least my chances are minuscule - I don't see it as likely.

Once the commission is over, I'll go back to where I started. I do this for motivation, because I love to write and draw. But at least, I am gaining experience and I will try in different ways. There will be another client somewhere who wants my services... I hope so....

About the commission, my mom even gives me feedback. She didn't know that I drew attractive people with abs. :sweat_smile:🤣🤣:heart:️

thepenmonster
Mar '23
1

"You're a really good artist, why aren't you doing that instead?"

"No one wanted to give me any money for the art they liked."

Nugtown
Mar '23

While i've gone over whether I should change my publishing schedule, I said "No!!" Because it's not that easy. It changes the experience for readers, it takes away the time I need to do editing if something is wrong or something can be done better, and I can't get an understanding of how pages flow together when they are posted (essentially) as they are done week to week. Does it sacrifice viewership? Sure does, but I'll get there when I get there. At this point there's no mulligans for things that look bad or sound awkward though, so getting it done the best I can is more important.

Anyway I really appreciate it!

DarkSena
Mar '23

I'd say that people who have no insight into this matter then how would they know? Some would only do this and that if they'd get some financial gain from everything. I mean, I can understand where they're coming from. I mean for people who don't decide to write a novel/draw a comic they cannot imagine the amount of work and there would be many who wouldn't move their finger in their free time to devote themselves to a project like that. Many people do dream about getting into drawing comics and imagine how we drop now all work, just do our thing and we get paid for that :joy: So the imagination versus reality is completely different.