The Perplexities of being an Artist

Chapter 1 Being an Artist

Recently I joined an artists website. There are many on the web, and I thought it was the best. It advertises itself as the premier artists website which can transform photographs into museum quality reproductions. In addition it provides a community of visual artists who are able to communicate with one another. It is free and remarkably easy to use.

Once I joined, I logged in. Then I began to upload photographs of my drawings. My college, Williams College, in Massachusetts is celebrating the 50th reunion of my class—I thought I would put on cartoons of my classmates in the hope that they might be interested in buying various products. Within

just minutes, a number of drawings were on my personal website with pictures of a wide range of products. These gifts included prints, greeting cards, pillows, duvet covers, tote bags, iPhone cases, and shower curtains. It was all totally amazing.

But would anyone actually want a pillow?

Or a duvet?

Or a tote bag?

I had my doubts. And what was the point in the first place of trying to sell these objects? I can't imagine I would ever earn very much money. And how would I advertise them? Who would ever look at my website? It was a great mystery.

Artists today are bombarded with encouragement to become professionals. They are urged to submit their paintings to exhibitions. Advice is freely given how to market artwork. Daily blogs enthuse about the rewards of selling. In essence, artists are told that they should become professionals.

But do I really want to be regarded as a professional?

Am I a professional? And what for that matter is a professional artist? Presumably a professional artist is someone who earns his or her living through artwork. This would include fine artists, illustrators and art teachers.

But there is no doubt that the vast majority of artists do not earn their living in this way. I certainly didn't. I am a retired university professor. I have a pension. I never earned anything from my artwork, and it is inconceivable that I could now. I would have to sell literally thousands of pillows, shower curtains, duvet covers, greeting cards, prints, etc. to gain any kind of meaningful income. It will never happen. And I don't need the money.

So why should I be a professional artist? I am an amateur. I draw and paint for fun. It gives me enormous pleasure if people like my cartoons. But it is essentially a hobby.

But...no one likes to say he or she is an amateur artist. At dinner parties it would be an embarrassing confession. Far better to say one is an artist and leave it at that.

This book is written to celebrate the amateur. It is designed for amateur artists like me to be proud of what they do. We don't have to exhibit or sell our work to enjoy art. It is enough to draw or paint for its own sake.