Does the World need more artists? (aka Why am I waisting my talents drawing when I could be doing something that would help make the world a better place?)

[KennethLopezJr921]

Last night I watched a video on how baby boomers ruined society and its videos like those that once again, brought out feelings of insecurity about my goal of become a professional artist, more specifically a 2d animator. Now I've been having this insecurity for a while, ever since 2021 actually and it is due to multiple reasons: Like me not being as passionate about my goal as I was back then, or me realizing that there practically no jobs for 2d animators in the US since a majority of cartoons nowadays are produced overseas in Asia and there's no way in hell any big animation studio in hollywood would make a 2d animated movie again, or wondering if my hobby will provide enough income to have a stable life (like a house or I know Im stretching it but even a family) not helped by the fact the artist sphere is an oversaturated market and I don't feel companies want the type of art I produce. But most of all, in relation to video's like that, I've been feeling like my wanting to become an artist is a waste of time that I could putting my talents, time and energy into something that will make the world a better place.

I've watched as the world I've grown up in slowly go to shit through my high school years and now into my college years. I dont want to go into essay mode for this so I'll briefly summarize it. In short: political polarization, living becoming more expensive and wages staying stagnant, an environmental crisis which NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING FOR, a downward spiral economy, and younger people being worse off than the baby boomers because they spent all of that on themselves. Its really essay to take a doomer mentality from all of this but that wont help. I want a better future for me, my generation, and my children. And what am I pursuing as a career? Drawing anthros and cartoons!! And dont get me wrong, its not like I dont like doing it. But is it going to help make the world a better place? No!! And its why I feel like what Im doing is a waste of time because why does the world need another shitty artist? It needs inventors, philosophers, leaders, anything thats actually going to fix the mess that's happening. The last thing it needs is someone who wants to try cartoons. In my mind, what I want is lesser than what needs to be done.

But am I wrong?

[Legendofgenii]

Art is important too. To the world and to the souls of those who make it.

Don’t feel guilty about that. Life is short, do what you love. ️

[Kelheor]

Can you, though? Be an inventor, a leader, a philosopher? Of course, as an idea - yes, yes of course you can. But the truth is, there are actually plenty of people who can lead the world to be a better place, but they don't have the means to do it. There are 8 billions of people out there right now, you better believe a lot of them are on the path you are describing, the question is if they will make it. So maybe what you want is lesser than needs to be done, but then you can say so about any artist. Do we need musicians, do we need fiction writers? Would your personal world be better without art in it? Like from the moment you were able to comprehend things to the present day? I highly doubt so.
And I will also recommend you reading Mistborn saga, might just have an answer for you.

[Awesomeness_Studios]

This topic interested me when I saw it, because throughout my time in college I’ve been learning quite a lot about why artists are actually very important.

To put it basically, throughout history artists have been the ones telling people what’s going on and the ones to influence people’s minds. Edel Rodriguez, a pretty famous illustrator, once came and spoke in my college. He gave a presentation about his work and all the magazine covers he did during the Trump era. I recommend you look him up; essentially a bunch of his work clarified to people the dangers of Donald Trump. Sure it didn’t get him fired, but seeing how pretty much all his covers led to the magazines being best sellers, I think people were definitely seeing something.

Change doesn’t happen overnight, and sometimes one of the most important things you can do is make people aware of an issue. So many people are ignorant, so this step is incredibly important. And what better way can you do that than with art, a medium that does not need words and thus can be understood by anyone?

One of my goals in college is to learn how different mediums affect how we learn different kinds of information. Cartoons give information differently than video games and video games give information differently than graphics and etc etc; every medium is different but important. By figuring out how they do it, we can discover more efficient ways to help people learn what the heck is going on, change their minds, and encourage them to make the world a better place.

So yes the world needs artists, but in reality it needs focused artists, artists that know how they’re going to use their work to help people. Even if it’s someone as simple as “I want to make people happy. Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy, got into video games just to make people happy, and all of his works are basically about people coming together in weird ways that can only be done through games.

So if you wish to use your art to make the world a better place, focus on an issue that you want people to know, and make your comic about that. Or perhaps you want to try a whole different medium like illustrations or cartoons. The choice is yours.

[darthmongoose]

Art can make the world a better place.

It can inspire people to aim for careers or ideals they don't see in their immediate family or neighbourhood.

It can help people to grasp difficult scientific concepts by giving them metaphors and introducing abstract ideas.

It can get you through tough times and teach you how to deal with difficult problems and feelings, or let you healthily explore sexuality and passions without imposing anything on others.

It builds communities and allows people to make friends and share passion and creativity and to have a sense of belonging.

And sometimes it can just be an escape to rest and recuperate.

Art is necessary and good. It elevates and inspires, it nurtures and heals.

[MK_Wizard]

To be very honest, YES. 100% yes especially in the comic and cartoon industry right now.

With what is happening with Disney, Marvel, DC and other big dogs, the quality of cartoon and comics is lacking so right now, it needs more artists in that field to fix this which is we, the indies, are doing what we do. And when I say artists, I mean GOOD artists who genuinely want to make great work and great comics rather than just getting paid. People who want their work to make an impression.

So yes, the world needs more artists. It needs us. It needs you.

[UrMom]

Man, if you don't think art is important you live under a rock. Art is expression of beliefs, thoughts, feelings. It can build morale, confidence and hope for people who need it most. It can bring to light what most people ignore, aid movements and sway opinions. (If the person is open minded or moved enough.) Art plays an important role in activism for the oppressed and downtrodden. There is never a time when art isn't important, even if it turns out to only be important to a handful of people, that's still something.

That being said, if you personally feel you're wasting your time drawing, then that's a problem you'll have to tackle. If you want to give it up, or shift to something you feel will better aid your beliefs, then do what you need to. The market is definitely saturated, you probably won't be able to make a career out if it without working your ass off, but that doesn't mean you can't help your cause with your art.

[abigaillmartin]

I can definitely attest to that! I know me being an artist who is bisexual and me being in a very conservative place where I am now, growing up in a Christian family and being Christian myself, though my family still loves me it’s still difficult. Writing Cracking Eggs has helped me express a part of myself that I would’ve been too scared to express in real life. I’ve also met many good people who relate to my story just as much as I do so I built and will build a community that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Art also showed me how big of a miracle the human body is and that we humans are capable more than we realize.

Another art form that I know has definite value and healing is music. When I’m feeling down or going through a hard time, I just turn on a Beatles song. And I also come from a musically talented family as well. Music can make connections in ways others can’t. I have a coworker who speaks Mandarin and I have a hard time understanding her through the language barrier. Turns out she really likes music and I listen to her music in Mandarin but I can still feel the emotion of the music despite the language barrier. This also goes with Japanese and Indian music I always get chills when listening even if it’s not Western. Western standard is overrated anyway!

Anyway the point of that story is music is an art form that is universal and can speak to anyone! Art does make the world a better place with the small things.

[darthmongoose]

Yes, for those of us who are LGBTQ+ but grew up in rural areas, art can be so important for working yourself out!

I was confused about my sexuality for a really long time being a church choirgirl from a small northern town without any close friends who were gay or anything, and then I got into Homestuck and started voice acting as Kanaya, a lesbian character and everything clicked into place. Voicing Kanaya's longing for Rose made me finally confront my own repressed feelings and come to terms with being gay.

So even like... a webcomic a lot of people joke about and say is trash had a huge positive impact on my life. And I even met my partner I've been with for ten years now because we both made small press comics!

[Lensing]

I believe in something like a "calling" and everything else will make you unhappy.
Sometimes the calling can change and adjust but you have that inner voice which
tells you what you have to do.
I don´t really believe in talents, I believe in motivation and the motivation comes
from the calling

[abigaillmartin]

Awww that’s so sweet! So you see? Art and music does change lives!

[sushy00]

Interesting takes in this topic. It really is difficult answering what is necessary in this world. In my environment "philosophy" and "art" are considered totally useless.
In my country we really need more people who can work with their hands, healthcare workers, plumbers, builders, food service workers.

But I also wonder...
Do we really need so many restaurants?
Do we really need to fly everywhere in the world?
Do we really need Twitter?
Do we really need crypto stuff?
Do we really need junk food?

I studied IT, that seems like a necessary profession right? But I really hated it and I was miserable at the office. I was not effective at all. As an artist I can actually be productive and not be miserable all the time. I need less healthcare if I am not stressed out by a job like that.

Anyway my point is that it is hard to judge what is really needed in this world.

[BoomerZ]

I think you really need to put the world now in perspective. You live in literally the safest time in all of history. You live in literally the most comfortable time in all of history. Even if you are dirt poor, if you live in a first or second world country you live better than a king from 100 years ago. The average person throughout history lived on less than a $1 a day. Less people live in poverty than ever before in the history of the world. You most likely have a smartphone, which is basically witchcraft for anyone living more than 50 years ago. Don't get sucked into how "bad" the world is. It's been used to scare the young generation since the dawn of time. Do what you want to do. If that is art, do it. If it's more fulfilling to do something else, do that. The world will be just fine, and so will you.

[ar-ninetysix]

Pssst, you're allowed do both. If you make it big enough as an artist, you can earn enough to pay rent and donate some expendable income to trusted charities and organizations helping to make the world a better place. And seeing as these would probably be non-profit, they gotta get their funding somehow.. that's where people like you can make an impact.

And if you don't wanna commit to doing both, just like give it a test run for some time. 6 months or 6 years- doesn't matter how long, the point is if this is something that truly matters that much to you, you owe it to yourself to make some sort of attempt. But the way I see it, there's people are already passionate enough to do more work than what's required of themselves, and there's also other people that have given up their passions in pursuit of improving our world. What's to say progress won't still be made without you?

I can understand feeling the urge to drop everything to make a difference, but you gotta understand that you're not obligated to do so. You gotta call into question whether or not "being a better person than just an artist" is right for you.

[NickRowler]

I do agree the animation industry is a mess. While the physical animating is done out of country, most of the production (concept art, writing, music, editing, etc) is still done in state. However, there has been a lot of shading things happening when artist get exploited, which I do hope does get a positive out come for change instead of companies deciding to just kill off 2D animation. I heard that Nick Animation will have the workers be unionized so maybe that will pave the way. As for 3D animation, that is it's own nightmare, because a lot of those people are working slave labor.

As for being an artist, I do think art can help the world be a better place. This can be through talking about social issues and encouraging empathy. Or you can simply be someone who wants to tell a story that will make someone happy. I think a lot about how the show Will and Grace did a lot to fight homophobia. Or things like Blacktober where black artist freely express the fandoms they love.

I also read a comic recent about an amputee dealing with depression and going to therapy. I read reviews that people who had similar situation enjoyed reading it because they felt like someone who was talking about how they were feeling. Or I recently came across the children's book, The Black Book of Colors, which is to teach kids how people who are completely blind view the world. These are probably things that are going to make a larger impact on people than whatever big budget hollywood animated film is coming out.

[LCT_m_a_d]

Birds are always flying because they have wings strong enough for flight, rely on flight for acquiring resources, and frankly, because they seem to enjoy the gift of flight.

Whether or not "the world needs more creatures in the sky" doesn't change what a bird is best suited for anymore than it changes what a fish is best suited for. They each have their place in the ecosystem and giving themselves entirely to the best of their natural gifts is how they bring harmony and unity to the world.

Instead of anxiously worrying about solving the worlds problems through existentially philosophy,
If you want to solve problems, it's probably best to learn to be a service from where you are now with the talents and resources you've been giving now, whether that's art, writing, medicine, or sports. You never know what people "need"

I spent most of my life being told that my art is a passion and not a necessity. No-one ever asked me but that's not why I draw. Now I have the opportunity to help support the community's health/wellness and renewal initiatives through simply making art.

"Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble"

[Flug]

I dont know the programme setting your thoughts in motion. But I can assure you the editors are shifting blame for the economic decay of our society to an older generation already suffering from it since the oil crisis of 1972. They try to play generations against each other to distract from the fact, the death spasms of capitalism were established science since Engels (1884) and Lenin (1905) before ww1 even struck. An economy only viable on growth and profit is doomed to collapse like a straw fire. Thats not the fault of the last straw as it is not the fault of the baby boomers or yours. The questions are, what are you good at? What do you love to work on? What not too senseless or underpaid work is economy/society offering you? Theres so much cool work out there right now. If you like drawing, have you tried welding? Im still learning it and love it.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

People have already added a bunch of great replies, so I'll just be brief:

A) You can do both. ^^ My day job is an "essential" profession in the medical field, and I spend pretty much all the rest of my time making funny drawings and comics and animation that no one even pays for, let alone "needs". And it works for me.

B)

why does the world need another shitty artist? It needs inventors, philosophers, leaders,

And those people (assuming they aren't artists themselves, which is entirely possible) need artists.
When the inventor is in engineering school, whose music are they going to listen to while they study?
When the philosopher is writing their book, whose stories are going to inform the way they compose their thoughts and establish themes?
When the leader is trying to connect with their audience, who is going to make sure they look their best in front of the camera, and display their message in an aesthetic, informative way? Who's going to create logos and slogans for them to catch people's attention??

Art is a HUGE part of life. I'd even bet that human life as we know it has never existed without art...the problem is, nowadays we take it for granted. Logos simply exist, videos are simply posted, books are just published, music is just downloaded. No one considers where it comes from, or how much of a marvel it is that so much art is available to us 24/7.

I guarantee you, if the work of every 'unneeded' artist on the planet suddenly vanished, EVERYONE would notice. And the world would be a much duller, sadder, more depressing place than it already appears to be.

[DiegoPalacios]

An advertising teacher i had once told us that art help us distract ourselves from the fact that we are all going to die and that's why we need it so hard.

[GamerPrincessXI]

Art helps ppl who cant do art...lol