Do you think the field of Art is appreciated enough?

[drawtist4]

I wanted to know the opinions of actual creative people. So I figured here was a great place. So, do you think the field of art (or any creative field) is given enough appreciation? Whether it be in academics, financial compensation for our work, or public perception of artistic careers in your culture. Place your thoughts Down below!

[KoreanTacos]

what's your definition/idea of "appreciated?" cause when you word it like this, then there's no ground to properly answering your question. A key to research is ensuring that you limit the possibility to broad questions.

[shazzbaa]

Yeah, you could approach that idea from a lot of different directions. Like..... is art appreciated enough.... in the US? in Europe? in Japan? in the Entire World? Academically? Critically? Financially? Popularity-wise?

It super varies depending on the sort of art, too. Like music is a huge and popular industry, but it's also hard to get people to accept that a single MP3 is something that's worth paying for, so depending on what you mean by "appreciated" the answer could be "yes" or "no!" Comics often get looked down on as cheap entertainment in the US, but in Europe they're treated as Art. In Japan, comic creators are a lot more like rock stars than they are in the US, but they're also literally killing themselves to meet absurd deadlines and that's sort of the norm. Is their art "appreciated?" You could answer that either way!

Every single field of art has different complications like this!

[SleepingPoppy]

Yeah, it just kind of varies. I think non creatives often appreciate the end product, but typically think it was created by magic and fairy dust, or generally underestimate the skill that goes into making a thing.

But it varies a lot depending upon the subject of art and whose looking, so it's hard to answer.

[Klaustasya]

If you mean generally, i think no.
Many people in the world keeps considering people who make comics/illustrations/paintings or anything just scribblers for hobby or someone who should find a proper/serious job rolls a thousand eyes at least this is what i hear in my culture, is probably different in other countries, but i don't think i'm wrong by saying that art is GENERALLY underrated for many (stupid/poor) reasons, and i feel so offended when i see people understimate it or not considering it a job or something you can actually make a living out of it, not just a hobby or something that "oh you were born with this talent" instead of trying to understand the hard work and passion people put in this field.

[drawtist4]

Well I intended for it to mean in your personal experience. This was rushed work, sorry for not getting into specifics.

[skicoak]

Well I intended for it to mean in your personal experience.

In my personal experience, in almost all my side hustles, I have to listen to someone tell me about how good their cousin/nephew/niece is at the "art". It doesn't make any sense... you're hiring me but you have a talented relative? Is this a negotiation tactic designed to reduce my position?

I don't get it.

[KoreanTacos]

Thank you for clarifying.

Let's see, i've only had one real commission work in which i was paid on the quality of work and a time frame (which i was able to make it to), but i think thats more to credit of my ability to work.

I think whether i feel appreciated with my following id say im fine, i may have very few followerers, but it never deviates me to not try harder. I feel generally appreciated when someone at least gives my work the time of day instead of passing it off

I believe there is an appreciation for someones artwork, its just really hard to tell and it really takes a deep level of empathy to understand a persons way of appreciation. For me i generally like to like a work if i (duh) like it, and to show that someone acknowledged the work, i also like to leave comments if i notice something about a work or if im just trying to uplift the mood of the creator, and most importantly the most helpful thing anyone can and should do, share their work out to other people. Also if i really really like your work i try to buy something from their store or tip them (recently got a mars mini poster from klaeia and its absolutely adorable and framed up). But thats how i show my appreciation, because i know the struggles cause i have to do that shit too where im trying to get my work noticed and feel invisible.

Unless youre an artist yourself or actually trying it its kind of hard to know how to show your appreciation in a way that will satisfy every artist. I used to follow artists who would flat out complain and bitch about the "lack" of appreciation despite getting the following, likes, fanbase losers like myself would like. But i get their frustration too cause it can be rough feeling underappreciated.

To answer your question, i do personally think theres a general appreciation for artists, its just really hard to notice right away.

[shazzbaa]

Well I intended for it to mean in your personal experience.

Oddly, this is also hard to give a straight answer to. As a comic creator, I've learned to say "I'm a cartoonist" when people ask what I do -- I've had enough conversations of "Oh you're an artist? What kind of art?" "I draw comic books!" "....oh." -- and I'd just rather avoid having that happen. xD But then I've also had conversations go in the opposite direction -- "What, you make COMICS? That's so cool!!"

When non-artist acquaintances and friends and family see the amount of work that goes into a comic, they are usually floored and impressed. When I talk about self-publishing my own comics and selling them at conventions, they think that sounds really cool. But when the average person finds out I make comics, they are usually not impressed with that answer.

At the same time, something I've run into a lot is people who don't know the industry well assuming that my end goal must be Disney. Someday you're going to work for Disney, I know it, you're so talented! The sorts of things I do don't, remotely, connect to the things Disney does right now, but like, these people clearly do value & appreciate the kind of art that makes Disney movies, they just don't understand the difference, what one person does vs. another.

Again "appreciate" is tough to define. An average person might think a movie star or video game designer is so cool and glamorous, while simultaneously pirating the movie or game. They probably aren't starry-eyed over the prospect of someone having plumbing skills, but they're gonna pay the plumber. Which person is more appreciated?

I think art itself is vital to life. I think people don't realise how much they love and need art. I think they do appreciate it, though; so much time and energy is devoted to fandom, to people's favourite bands, favourite comics, favourite movies, favourite cartoons, favourite games. I wasn't gonna put theatre in that list, but then, vague gestures at Hamilton?? people show their appreciation for art every day.
Do people appreciate the craft of art? I don't think so. I don't think people have any idea what goes into any art at all. When I meet folks and show them what I do, they're just flabbergasted by the amount of time and effort that goes into something that can be consumed in a matter of minutes.

Do people appreciate art in a practical sense? It depends. Some people clearly love art, but they don't understand it as a created thing, and so the appreciation for the art doesn't translate to its creator -- they think art is something that exists and is channeled, like a natural resource, and the artist is resented for charging so much just to share what they seem to just naturally have. Other people love and support artists daily, going out of their way to yell online about their favourite creators and to appreciate how much goes into the work we all enjoy.

I'm so blessed and fortunate to have the readers I do, who understand how much work my comic is and support me and my health and want the best for me as I make it, rather than seeing it as something I'm not giving them fast enough. I have a lot of good experiences. I also have just, the constant background noise of people who know nothing about what I do, know nothing about what goes into it, know nothing about how it works, know nothing about what I aspire to do with that skill -- they just think the ability to make art seems like magic.

Art is both extremely appreciated and extremely not appreciated and it's really difficult to say one or the other.

[therippleeffectcomic]

I've found that art isn't appreciated as a trade when you compare it to others such as plumbing or carpentry.

The comparison isn't entirely fair because often plumbing/carpentry are necessities for most people whereas art is a luxury, but I'm stretching it as far as it can go to make my point.

In my experience, when people have wanted me to do work for them (tattoo, portrait etc.) they immediately become unstuck whenever money is mentioned. Like it's weird to pay someone to do a doodle.

The most recent scenario was when someone asked me to design their tattoo for them. I explained before I started that I'd do x amount of sketches and show it to them. Once they were satisfied with the direction and picked a design, I'd charge them half of the total (£10 in this case) and then the other half once I'd finished. They thought I was joking and stated they wouldn't pay me for doodles. I stood firm and explained that I wouldn't continue with the work if that was the case. Long story short, they paid me and I completed the job.

This is quite a common scenario and I'll get the old "think of the exposure!" BS that so many of us have experienced. I find it incredibly frustrating because art is really hard and I don't think people truly understand how much effort needs to go in to create anything. Perhaps if people were to experience that then the field of art might be appreciated more.

(I very nearly went into full-on rant mode!)

[amberberry]

I study languages and translation and even though it doesn't fall directly under arts like comic books or illustration I'm gonna give my thoughts about this as well (since I'm the Bachelor of Arts ;] )
But yeah, in general translators aren't appreciated enough in my opinion. We're pretty much underpaid, at least where I live and the working conditions aren't necessarily that good either, especially for those who do subtitles and other audiovisual translations. There are people who know the value of a good translator and appreciate it but in general people seem to be worse on that.
From what I've figured out, it's mostly because people are ignorant and don't understand how much work goes into translation (and this applies to other arts as well). It's not just looking up words from the dictionary (just like drawing isn't just drawing). It's about understanding the text, the culture and the target audience and finding the best way to convey the message from different language and culture to the other one so that the message is understandable. It's a lot more, spending hours and hours on doing research and making the piece of work you have to do.
Another problem I think is that there's always someone who doesn't value it, does art as a hobby, and there's nothing wrong with that, but then when someone does complicated art for free because it's just a hobby, that sets the expectation that everyone does it for free because this one person did. "I don't have to pay to that person, why would I have to pay to you?"
I think the only people who can make artist more appreciated are the artists themselves. Don't sell yourselves off cheap, value your own work, explain to people why you charge the specific amount and what all goes into creating the piece of art you make. Because if you don't appreciate and value what you do enough, why would anyone else do it?