05-16-2015, 05:03 PM
hey man, nice update.
A lot of the things you put up there is good. I am of the same mind, I really actually enjoy the business side of art and learning about all things business. Its great to be able to paint a chick in armor fighting a dragon, but when you can rub 2 dollars together and get 3 then you are really on to something. However, thats not me saying its about the money. But more about the mindset.
I don't quite agree on the topic of freelancer vs business owner. I think this idea of a business owner being someone who can build something and walk away and have it earn money for you or continue to grow is a popular opinion, and a lot of people hold on to it (including people much smarter than me) but my view is different.
You are basically talking about being an entrepreneur (that took me a ridiculous amount of time to spell right for some reason) and this means that you are always going to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. And if you arent, guess what? Your business is dying. I see this in my part time job (I work for a single owned business, pay is great, but its monotonous), the moment the owner lost passion, the business started the slow slide down. Its still earning him money, crazy amounts even. But its like a tree, if the tree is not growing: it's dying, even if it still looks healthy.
The other thing is that the business is your passion, your vision. You can pay people to work for your vision, but you cant pay them to care. And to really flourish, it needs to be run by someone who cares. (Apple, imo, started dying the day Steve Jobs did. It sounds harsh, but its true.)
Thats not to say that what you think is wrong. As I said, its much more likely that I am wrong. But I think that hoping for a passive-income generated business is a pipe dream that a few too many people are smoking, and very few people achieve.
However, in saying that, I dont think this is a bad thing. Everyone who has read Time Ferris' 4hr work week has that as their goal. Work as little as possible and enjoy the finer things in life. This is great but have you ever taken time off? 3 days and I start going stir crazy. 7 and its a struggle to get out of bed. I think I am safe in assuming you, and most people here, are the same. Because you NEED that desire to get this far with art. Its a thankless mistress, who takes everything and very rarely gives anything back, except in the moments no one is looking, except in the moments that no one else cares about. So I dont think working is bad.
This was a long way around to getting to my point, a similar one to what you have been contesting with these last few months. I too have fallen off the wagon and am struggling to really work out what I want to do. The conclusion I have come to is that the last thing I need are more goals. Thats contrary to what a lot of people will tell you, but it doesnt seem to make sense to me any more.
You want more direction? Make a goal. Make a big one, a far off goal that you can steer towards. Find your mountain.
That works great.. 10 years ago. Now all mountains are covered in mist because of this thing called the internet. Which leaves a lot of people asking 'How do I get to this goal' The response of people who have climbed there mountain? The internet is the answer, all you need to know is there. Thats how I did it, by some way or another. Well, the internet is full of opinions, most of which illicit the same feel-good feeling when reading them but when looked at as a whole are most of the time contrary.
So what I think is that a lot more focus has to be on the process and systems you are going to implement to achieve the life you want. I think if you focus more on your ideal life, then the other things will slot in to place. And most of the time, the ideal life is nothing more than feelings. I feel like in my ideal life I want to be able to help a lot of people, maybe in the game industry, maybe not. I feel like I want to earn a steady paycheck, that would make my life far more ideal than worrying about my meal every day. These feelings can then guide my every day life, and my smaller milestones, rather than this really distant, but very specfic goal that most people will tell you to do. If I want to help people, I can do some pro-bono work for small indie companies to help with their pitch art, because a good quality piece of art will do wonders for a pitch.
Compare this to the goal of becoming the very best, (that no one ever was *cue pokemon theme) artist most in demand in the games industry, a valid enough end goal, then I would *have* to do some pro bono work, for no name indie companies, so that I can *hopefully* get some god damn attention and finally get some eyes of people who are important enough to give me the work I *deserve*
Obviously this is altered view is exaggerated, but it helps me illustrate what I mean. I guess this was just a really long way of saying: Its about the journey, not the destination.
A lot of the things you put up there is good. I am of the same mind, I really actually enjoy the business side of art and learning about all things business. Its great to be able to paint a chick in armor fighting a dragon, but when you can rub 2 dollars together and get 3 then you are really on to something. However, thats not me saying its about the money. But more about the mindset.
I don't quite agree on the topic of freelancer vs business owner. I think this idea of a business owner being someone who can build something and walk away and have it earn money for you or continue to grow is a popular opinion, and a lot of people hold on to it (including people much smarter than me) but my view is different.
You are basically talking about being an entrepreneur (that took me a ridiculous amount of time to spell right for some reason) and this means that you are always going to be the first to arrive and the last to leave. And if you arent, guess what? Your business is dying. I see this in my part time job (I work for a single owned business, pay is great, but its monotonous), the moment the owner lost passion, the business started the slow slide down. Its still earning him money, crazy amounts even. But its like a tree, if the tree is not growing: it's dying, even if it still looks healthy.
The other thing is that the business is your passion, your vision. You can pay people to work for your vision, but you cant pay them to care. And to really flourish, it needs to be run by someone who cares. (Apple, imo, started dying the day Steve Jobs did. It sounds harsh, but its true.)
Thats not to say that what you think is wrong. As I said, its much more likely that I am wrong. But I think that hoping for a passive-income generated business is a pipe dream that a few too many people are smoking, and very few people achieve.
However, in saying that, I dont think this is a bad thing. Everyone who has read Time Ferris' 4hr work week has that as their goal. Work as little as possible and enjoy the finer things in life. This is great but have you ever taken time off? 3 days and I start going stir crazy. 7 and its a struggle to get out of bed. I think I am safe in assuming you, and most people here, are the same. Because you NEED that desire to get this far with art. Its a thankless mistress, who takes everything and very rarely gives anything back, except in the moments no one is looking, except in the moments that no one else cares about. So I dont think working is bad.
This was a long way around to getting to my point, a similar one to what you have been contesting with these last few months. I too have fallen off the wagon and am struggling to really work out what I want to do. The conclusion I have come to is that the last thing I need are more goals. Thats contrary to what a lot of people will tell you, but it doesnt seem to make sense to me any more.
You want more direction? Make a goal. Make a big one, a far off goal that you can steer towards. Find your mountain.
That works great.. 10 years ago. Now all mountains are covered in mist because of this thing called the internet. Which leaves a lot of people asking 'How do I get to this goal' The response of people who have climbed there mountain? The internet is the answer, all you need to know is there. Thats how I did it, by some way or another. Well, the internet is full of opinions, most of which illicit the same feel-good feeling when reading them but when looked at as a whole are most of the time contrary.
So what I think is that a lot more focus has to be on the process and systems you are going to implement to achieve the life you want. I think if you focus more on your ideal life, then the other things will slot in to place. And most of the time, the ideal life is nothing more than feelings. I feel like in my ideal life I want to be able to help a lot of people, maybe in the game industry, maybe not. I feel like I want to earn a steady paycheck, that would make my life far more ideal than worrying about my meal every day. These feelings can then guide my every day life, and my smaller milestones, rather than this really distant, but very specfic goal that most people will tell you to do. If I want to help people, I can do some pro-bono work for small indie companies to help with their pitch art, because a good quality piece of art will do wonders for a pitch.
Compare this to the goal of becoming the very best, (that no one ever was *cue pokemon theme) artist most in demand in the games industry, a valid enough end goal, then I would *have* to do some pro bono work, for no name indie companies, so that I can *hopefully* get some god damn attention and finally get some eyes of people who are important enough to give me the work I *deserve*
Obviously this is altered view is exaggerated, but it helps me illustrate what I mean. I guess this was just a really long way of saying: Its about the journey, not the destination.