[Rant, mostly NSFW] Using creativity as a way to earn nowadays

[EucalyptusSoldier]

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most places ( especially art platforms ) went from promoting 'earning by doing what you're passionate about' to completely destroy your dreams if you plan to use creativity as a way to earn. I already know that being an artist is complicated as a registered job. I thought that being a freelance artist could be an easier alternative, but nowadays ? I guess I was wrong.

First, DeviantArt openly defends art thieves, AI spam & it created its own AI image generator that is trained on its users' work without their consent ; then Twitter starts a 'Freezing Festival' ( shadowbanning artists for tagging their art, promoting their commissions & their Patreon ) & makes it impossible for small artists to get noticed ; Etsy allows resellers, scammers & AI spammers on its platform & makes it even harder for creators to be noticed ; Patreon started to dictate what NSFW art depicts 'sexual violence' ; & now Gumroad bans NSFW content ( while we all know what kind of art gets more sales in general ).

Is creativity in the economic world dying ? I truly feel like it's not conceivable to say : "I want to be an artist for a living" anymore. I counted becoming a freelance artist as my first job when I saw that it was possible to live by doing what you enjoy ( or at least to earn enough during studies or to earn extra money in plus of a secondary job ), but considering all the crap that happens right now ? I guess I was wrong. Do most people feel the same or is it just me being pessimistic ( as usual ) ? Reading other people's thoughts helps me to think.

[Czyszy]

I dunno what to say because I've never made serious money out of doing music or drawing. But I do feel Deviantart is dead.

[SourCherryJack]

Creativity isn’t cost effective, it’s also not a priority for a lot of people. Tools like photoshop and better printing technology killed a lot of super technical craftsman positions like sign makers.

When I was primarily freelance a lot the money from it was quick small flyer and logo designs, along with some menus and other fairly basic graphic design stuff.

Apps like Canva made a lot my work in that area obsolete, and I can’t blame the small businesses for going for it either, it’s cheap and doing the same quality job I was for what they were asking.

Just being creative isn’t lucrative for basically 99% of artists. There are other artistic avenues to take to make money, but commissioned pieces for bespoke compositions, nor has selling your own personal work ever really been a super viable path for most artists to make money.

Any Artistic pursuit and business don’t mix great. Monied interests have always and will always seek to exploit artists

[Toniestbook]

At 3/17/24 01:52 PM, EucalyptusSoldier wrote: Tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like most places ( especially art platforms ) went from promoting 'earning by doing what you're passionate about' to completely destroy your dreams if you plan to use creativity as a way to earn. I already know that being an artist is complicated as a registered job. I thought that being a freelance artist could be an easier alternative, but nowadays ? I guess I was wrong.

First, DeviantArt openly defends art thieves, AI spam & it created its own AI image generator that is trained on its users' work without their consent ; then Twitter starts a 'Freezing Festival' ( shadowbanning artists for tagging their art, promoting their commissions & their Patreon ) & makes it impossible for small artists to get noticed ; Etsy allows resellers, scammers & AI spammers on its platform & makes it even harder for creators to be noticed ; Patreon started to dictate what NSFW art depicts 'sexual violence' ; & now Gumroad bans NSFW content ( while we all know what kind of art gets more sales in general ).

Is creativity in the economic world dying ? I truly feel like it's not conceivable to say : "I want to be an artist for a living" anymore. I counted becoming a freelance artist as my first job when I saw that it was possible to live by doing what you enjoy ( or at least to earn enough during studies or to earn extra money in plus of a secondary job ), but considering all the crap that happens right now ? I guess I was wrong. Do most people feel the same or is it just me being pessimistic ( as usual ) ? Reading other people's thoughts helps me to think.

wish I could help but I’ve never made money off my art either through platforms or commissions (yet) unfortunately