Did my 9-5 actually make my art better or worse? 5 year shift.

Back in 2019, I was painting every evening after work and sold maybe 3 pieces a year. Now with a more demanding job, I paint half as often but sold 15 pieces last quarter alone. Is the scarcity of time forcing better focus, or am I just lucking out with trends?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubyk269d agoTop Commenter

Admit I'm just jealous of your 15 sales, lol. My art got way worse when I got a real job because now I spend my limited paint time making weird stuff like "sad potato with a briefcase" instead of stuff people actually buy. Guess the pressure cooker life either makes you a focused genius or a meme machine, and I'm clearly the latter.

nancyj119d ago

The whole scarcity thing is real across the board honestly. I see it with my clients too - the people who have less free time are way more intentional with what they do with it. You're not lucking out with trends, you're just not wasting time on sad potatoes and briefcases because you don't have the luxury to mess around. There's something to be said for having just enough pressure to make every brushstroke count without crushing the fun out of it completely.

vera_robinson369d ago

Started treating my art time like a billable hour after I got a real job, and it forced me to actually finish things instead of fussing with details nobody would notice. Agree with nancyj11 that having less time makes you cut the fluff and focus on what works. Eventually you figure out which ideas are worth the paint and which ones are just sad potatoes with briefcases.