Dear Art Director, I want more than anything to be an illustrator, but I'm afraid. I'm afraid it's too risky, not a stable career as far as income goes, and that there are already too many illustrators out there, and I'll never get into the business. Any advice for someone starting out with these fears?
Everyone starts out with fears. And continues with fears. And ends with fears. Sometimes your fears change, but you’ll always be scared, insecure, and have doubts about something. No arbitrary level of fame or success quiets those voices. So get used to it. If you are not ready to face down your fears every day, I do not think art is a good career for you. Do other careers have fears too? OF COURSE. But there are definitely safer, easier careers. Accounting, for one. People always need accountants. (No one ever wonders if there will be enough jobs for them as an accountant.) Or really any career where you’re not literally putting your deepest emotions and self-worth out in public view for judging by literally anyone with an internet connection. That really turns up the volume on any normal doubts & insecurities you have and pumps them up to deafening level.
You know who else has voices in their head? People who give up their creative dreams for “safer” careers. Just the other day we answered a question from a 43 year old woman who gave up on being an artist, but it’s still haunting her decades later. She’s desperate to know if it’s too late for her to try to be an artist in her 40s.
So it all boils down to this: You are going to have doubts and fears no matter what. You have to choose: Would you rather be secure and have fears that you wasted your creativity? Or would you rather be an artist and be scared that your career is not secure? You have to choose what scares you more. And don’t be brainwashed by Pinterest motivational quotes: Either choice is valid. You are still an artist even if you don’t do it full time or you just do it for a hobby. It’s YOUR choice. You have to live with it.
And this is also not a black and white decision. There’s plenty of middle roads to take. There are many kinds of art jobs — many more than you probably realize. Some are riskier than others. But some are pretty solid. You don’t have to be a freelance illustrator to be a professional artist. I have plenty of friends that have very stable jobs in art. You should not be basing your decision on what other (especially non-artist) people think is stable. You should talk to people who are real working professional artists and ask them what they think. They will probably tell you that it is both very rewarding and very very hard and scary to have a job making art — the judgement really wears on people, but many artists feel it is still preferable to having a non-art job. Some will definitely say making art a job (and not keeping it a hobby) sucked all the fun out of it.
Unfortunately, no one can make this decision for you. Ignore all the non-artists trying to convince you not to be an artist. Ignore all the Pinterest platitudes trying to convince you that you’ll never be happy if you’re not a full time freelance artist. What do you want more? Or, more accurately, what do you not want least?
—Agent KillFee
