How can an artist get a steady job?

[Rett Mikhal]

I'm not an artist (unless you include forum banners), but a friend of mine is and she has been looking to get out of her dead end job and perhaps work as an assistant in a studio or at least near art in some way.

So the job hunting sites are pretty worthless for that. If anyone has any ideas or related stories, please post them. If it's relevant, we're in the Massachusetts area, closer to Boston than Western Mass.

I would post her work but it's all in canvas format and hasn't been digitally scanned yet.

 

[sidious618]

There's plenty of work out there for artists... eventually. It takes a lot of time to build yourself up so you have to have a lot of patience.

 

[gturner]

Just Yesterday my friend's uncle Bob walked into his shop and said, "It took fifty years, but I finally found a way to earn money making art." Uncle Bob has multiple degrees in art and color from places like Carnegie Mellon.

His new niche? He started doing little tiny oil paintings, about the size of old locket portraits, but also paints horse scenes and still lifes that size. They retail for about $1,200 each, and he says there seems to be only one other artist out there who is as good at it as he is.

 

[enlisted person]

You need to learn to ask one question. "do you want fries with that?"

 

[PKTrekGirl]

You need to learn to ask one question. "do you want fries with that?"

Unfortunately, this is about right...at least in the short term. With the economy so terrible, there is alot less money out there - in the form of loans to start a business or in the form of customers who have a few extra dollars on their hands to spend on art.

Frankly, the OP's friend is really lucky to have a job of any kind right now - 'dead end' or not. My suggestion is for her to keep her day job and do the art in her free time. And when she has enough small/relatively inexpensive items for a booth, do one of those outdoor art & crafts fairs/festivals. That will be a good test for her, to see if her art appeals to a large number of people.

 

[Small White Car]

Is she young? Even if her work is good she needs a track record. A bunch of work that she can point to and say "here, people paid me to do this." That counts for a lot.

As a video producer, I was in exactly her spot 6 years ago. I had some awesome footage from short films and other projects I'd done on my own time. It LOOKED good, but what did it mean? Could I meet a deadline? Stick to a budget? Work well with others? Those are harder things for an employer to know.

So I got a job in a corporate communications department. It's not something most artists consider. It feels like "settling" or "selling out," doesn't it? "What are you, stupid?" she'll ask you.

But here's the thing. Her life is long. 3 to 5 years of your youth is not the end of the world. Think of it as "College: Part II."

By sticking it out and doing the cubicle-thing, my demo reel is now pretty kick'n:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZH0p4erVY&fmt=22

So what does this get me? Well, I now have a MUCH higher chance of getting a job somewhere else if I want to. Places that wouldn't have even considered hiring me 5 years ago. And not just other jobs like this. I'll eventually find my way back to entertainment programming, I'm certain.

Also, I've gotten a ton more experience over those years than I would have gotten trying to get freelance jobs that whole time. And if I DO decide to freelance again in the future, I have a much better idea of how this business works.

But I'm a video director. She's a painter. She probably can't do it exactly the way I did. But the basic rules are these:

1) 'Sell out' and get a job doing not exactly what she wants but one that will show her how the business of painting works. (If her current dead-end job IS selling burgers, stop it. There are TONS of dead-end jobs closer to the art world! Get one of those!) Maybe this means working in a gallery or an art supply store. Or maybe in the art department of a magazine where they crop and print artwork every month.

2) Use that job to see how and where money is exchanged in the art world. Learn who pays for what and how those people find the things they want. This is insight she will have a really hard time learning if she spends her whole life on only one side of the fence. THIS IS THE PART SOME PEOPLE FORGET. When you see the old dude working at the art supply store who "wanted to be an artist" this was his problem. It's not that they got a dead-end job...it's that they stopped paying attention to the world outside that job.

3) NETWORK with everyone you meet along the way. Become Facebook friends with everyone you meet in real life. Find people on Twitter and Linkedin in your city. VOLUNTEER to help these people with crap having to do with art. The goal is to, when going out on your own in a few years, have a ton of people in the industry you've done favors for. You know how in stupid action movies some old cop always says "I had to pull in a lot of favors to make this work!" That can be you in just 5 years! (Twitter helps a LOT with this. I just shot a charity fashion show for free because of Twitter. Now my portfolio has some awesome shots from that in it. Worth my time!)

4) Keep working on your own projects in your spare time no matter what your day job is. Constantly keep creating stuff so that your portfolio reflects your own work and isn't totally swallowed up by your day job.

5) Keep your eyes open. Other opportunities very well may float by from time to time. Don't focus too hard on your job that you ignore other options.

~ ~ ~

Obviously this is all pretty vague, but the basic idea is to look for alternate paths in life. Find ways to explore the business from alternate angles. I don't want to make corporate videos my whole life but the experience of having done so has given me a lot of experience and a TON of contacts. Whatever I decide to do next it'll be much easier than if I'd just jumped in not knowing anyone.

 

[JonathonWally]

Tell her to buy a tattoo needle.

 

[doubleohfive]

Is she young? Even if her work is good she needs a track record. A bunch of work that she can point to and say "here, people paid me to do this." That counts for a lot.

As a video producer, I was in exactly her spot 6 years ago. I had some awesome footage from short films and other projects I'd done on my own time. It LOOKED good, but what did it mean? Could I meet a deadline? Stick to a budget? Work well with others? Those are harder things for an employer to know.

So I got a job in a corporate communications department. It's not something most artists consider. It feels like "settling" or "selling out," doesn't it? "What are you, stupid?" she'll ask you.

But here's the thing. Her life is long. 3 to 5 years of your youth is not the end of the world. Think of it as "College: Part II."

By sticking it out and doing the cubicle-thing, my demo reel is now pretty kick'n:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZH0p4erVY&fmt=22

So what does this get me? Well, I now have a MUCH higher chance of getting a job somewhere else if I want to. Places that wouldn't have even considered hiring me 5 years ago. And not just other jobs like this. I'll eventually find my way back to entertainment programming, I'm certain.

Also, I've gotten a ton more experience over those years than I would have gotten trying to get freelance jobs that whole time. And if I DO decide to freelance again in the future, I have a much better idea of how this business works.

But I'm a video director. She's a painter. She probably can't do it exactly the way I did. But the basic rules are these:

1) 'Sell out' and get a job doing not exactly what she wants but one that will show her how the business of painting works. (If her current dead-end job IS selling burgers, stop it. There are TONS of dead-end jobs closer to the art world! Get one of those!) Maybe this means working in a gallery or an art supply store. Or maybe in the art department of a magazine where they crop and print artwork every month.

2) Use that job to see how and where money is exchanged in the art world. Learn who pays for what and how those people find the things they want. This is insight she will have a really hard time learning if she spends her whole life on only one side of the fence. THIS IS THE PART SOME PEOPLE FORGET. When you see the old dude working at the art supply store who "wanted to be an artist" this was his problem. It's not that they got a dead-end job...it's that they stopped paying attention to the world outside that job.

3) NETWORK with everyone you meet along the way. Become Facebook friends with everyone you meet in real life. Find people on Twitter and Linkedin in your city. VOLUNTEER to help these people with crap having to do with art. The goal is to, when going out on your own in a few years, have a ton of people in the industry you've done favors for. You know how in stupid action movies some old cop always says "I had to pull in a lot of favors to make this work!" That can be you in just 5 years! (Twitter helps a LOT with this. I just shot a charity fashion show for free because of Twitter. Now my portfolio has some awesome shots from that in it. Worth my time!)

4) Keep working on your own projects in your spare time no matter what your day job is. Constantly keep creating stuff so that your portfolio reflects your own work and isn't totally swallowed up by your day job.

5) Keep your eyes open. Other opportunities very well may float by from time to time. Don't focus too hard on your job that you ignore other options.

~ ~ ~

Obviously this is all pretty vague, but the basic idea is to look for alternate paths in life. Find ways to explore the business from alternate angles. I don't want to make corporate videos my whole life but the experience of having done so has given me a lot of experience and a TON of contacts. Whatever I decide to do next it'll be much easier than if I'd just jumped in not knowing anyone.

I was about to comment on this thread but Small White Car pretty much said most of what I had to say, and then some more stuff which was really good too. So, in short, "seconded."

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Be something besides an artist.

 

[sidious618]

Tell her not to be afraid to have another job at first. It doesn't mean she's giving up. Stephen King was a high school teacher before he became a full time author. Andrew Vachss was a lawyer before becoming a writer. He now lives off his writing fees and does his lawyer work for free.

 

[AstroSmurf]

I don't think I have anything more to add since Small White Car said everything already. But what I will say is this... As a struggling artist for the last fifteen years, I can truthfully say it is not easy to keep food on the table and a roof over your head. So to make things work financially I work two jobs. A couple of years ago I managed to go artist full time for two years and made it work... until the economy fell apart and I lost my house.

But I have also learned three things doing this. 1) You have to really love what you do to make the sacrifices required. 2) You need to be willing to do without when it comes to the finer things in life. 3) You have to accept that artists (like actors) don't have steady jobs.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

You could become a government artist....and draw the dole.

 

[Australis]

Does she do graphic arts? As in, could she be a graphic artist?

If she could put together a website and display her wares, might be a start. Whoever puts the page together would have to put in 'artist' and similar in the search words.

 

[SmoothieX]

So the job hunting sites are pretty worthless for that. If anyone has any ideas or related stories, please post them. If it's relevant, we're in the Massachusetts area, closer to Boston than Western Mass.

Hey, me too. What town are you in?

I'm an engineer. One of the places I worked at had a couple folks that did these fancy renderings for buildings and what a site would look like after the project was built. This is a lot easier to visualize than the construction plans I do which are just black and white lines on a piece of paper to a laymen.

They made pretty good dough doing that.

 

[enlisted person]

Art, like diamonds is only worth the value which people are willing to place up on it. If it doesn't make money then it needs to be a hobby, not a job/career. There are many things I like to do but, I realize there is not a living in it. Its a sad reality.

 

[JustAFriend]

First go back and read some history.

DaVinci, Michalangelo and the rest of the famous artists in history NEVER had 'steady jobs'.

Its never been part of the job description.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone. Sorry I left things up to speculation, I wrote the post in a hurry so I wouldn't forget as I've been meaning to post it for a while.

1) 'Sell out' and get a job doing not exactly what she wants but one that will show her how the business of painting works. (If her current dead-end job IS selling burgers, stop it. There are TONS of dead-end jobs closer to the art world! Get one of those!) Maybe this means working in a gallery or an art supply store. Or maybe in the art department of a magazine where they crop and print artwork every month.

She does and she doesn't. She DOES work in an art supply store, but she works in the framing department because she is the only employee who can use a tape measurer. Did I mention we're from Massachusetts?

2) Use that job to see how and where money is exchanged in the art world. Learn who pays for what and how those people find the things they want. This is insight she will have a really hard time learning if she spends her whole life on only one side of the fence. THIS IS THE PART SOME PEOPLE FORGET. When you see the old dude working at the art supply store who "wanted to be an artist" this was his problem. It's not that they got a dead-end job...it's that they stopped paying attention to the world outside that job.

This is one thing the framing position offers, knowing what people will pay for when it comes from art. But, it's not really ideal. Most people frame personal things like posters, family photos or blown up report cards. She likes to work in the obscure, anyway. Not modern art, just obscure. I can describe an example piece of hers that just so happens to be my favorite. One day she randomly decided to buy a 64 pack of crayons, glue them to a whiteboard, and melt them. I'm sure a lot of people can take metaphor out of that for the entropy of public schools, at least that's what I do... Other people just think it looks cool.

3) NETWORK with everyone you meet along the way. Become Facebook friends with everyone you meet in real life. Find people on Twitter and Linkedin in your city. VOLUNTEER to help these people with crap having to do with art. The goal is to, when going out on your own in a few years, have a ton of people in the industry you've done favors for. You know how in stupid action movies some old cop always says "I had to pull in a lot of favors to make this work!" That can be you in just 5 years! (Twitter helps a LOT with this. I just shot a charity fashion show for free because of Twitter. Now my portfolio has some awesome shots from that in it. Worth my time!)

Again, hard to do with a position in the framing department... Ok, scratch that last part. Just hard to do in this town. The most famous thing about this part of the world is Rob Zombie went to our high school back in the 70s. Whoop-de-do.

That's part of the reason I started this thread, to hopefully find someone who might know someone who could just use an assistant or other networking job.

4) Keep working on your own projects in your spare time no matter what your day job is. Constantly keep creating stuff so that your portfolio reflects your own work and isn't totally swallowed up by your day job.

Don't worry, she does, though her portfolio is just her room at the moment (besides the stuff she did in high school).

5) Keep your eyes open. Other opportunities very well may float by from time to time. Don't focus too hard on your job that you ignore other options.

She's a survivor, and doesn't give up easily. Thanks for the advice.

Tell her to buy a tattoo needle.

She does, actually, and she's good enough to make some chump change on the side. She likes to practice on herself. Yeah, one of those... Believe me, she's more sane than the women that come in for stars and tribal tramp stamps.

Tell her not to be afraid to have another job at first. It doesn't mean she's giving up. Stephen King was a high school teacher before he became a full time author. Andrew Vachss was a lawyer before becoming a writer. He now lives off his writing fees and does his lawyer work for free.

She isn't afraid of having another job, in fact she works several. The problem is her jobs don't give her any real advances in skills at the moment.

 

[scotpens]

I don't mean to be flippant, but at the moment the only advice I can think of is three words: Celebrity porn comics.

. . . She DOES work in an art supply store, but she works in the framing department because she is the only employee who can use a tape measurer.

How much skill does it take to use a tape measure? Is she the only person working there who has two good arms?

The most famous thing about this part of the world is Rob Zombie went to our high school back in the 70s. Whoop-de-do.

That's pretty cool, actually. Rob Zombie rocks!

 

[sidious618]

First go back and read some history.

DaVinci, Michalangelo and the rest of the famous artists in history NEVER had 'steady jobs'.

Its never been part of the job description.

Thankfully, the world has changed since those times. Now you CAN find a steady job as an artist. You just have to work at it.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Does she have an agent? She might be able to make some money doing covers for books, magazines or album covers. Or movie posters.

She could also start an online store at Etsy or something if she sells original work, or at CafePress to sell posters and other products based on her art (that's what I do).