work

Work Hard and Be Kind:

Quote | | Paul Greer

“To work as hard as possible, and then, when you think you’re done, to work just a little bit harder. To know that if it feels “right” it may actually be completely wrong, and that if it feels “wrong” it may be completely right. There’s no governing principle to any of this except that strange instinct and feeling within yourself that you simply have to learn to trust, but which is always unreliably changing. To create something for people who have not been born yet. To pay attention to how it actually feels to be alive, to the lies you tell yourself and others. Not to overreach—but also not to get too comfortable with your own work. To avoid giving in to either self-doubt or self-confidence, depending on your leaning, and especially to resist giving over your opinion of yourself to others—which means not to seek fame or recognition, which can restrain rather than open your possibility for artistic development. With all this in mind, not to expect anything and to be grateful for any true, non-exploitative opportunity that presents itself, however modest. And to understand that being able to say “I don’t know what to do with my life” is an incredible privilege that 99% of the rest of the world will never enjoy.”

—Chris Ware
via kateoplis

“What is some advice you can give to an aspiring young artist?”

Aside | | Paul Greer

Reblogged from mollycrabapple

“Work hard, make friends, don’t give up.

A bit more: be incredibly opportunistic and on the hunt for places that can use your art. Be hard on yourself. Shun all the woo woo vagueness that people tell artists: “fulfilling your dreams”, “nurturing your creativity”, the whole lot of that. It exists to sell self-help books to dilettantes.

Care about money. You’ll need it. If not now, when you’re sick or old or have a kid. Never listen to anyone who tries to shame you for caring about money.

Be mercenary with most clients, but be incredibly generous with comrades in arms who inspire you. I still do a considerable amount of cheap or free work, for musician BFFs or Occupy Wall Street. I can do this because I charge alot for my paid work.

Remember that you actually have to make things that people want to buy, and if people don’t want to buy them it’s not because they’re awful philistines. Endeavor to both do better and find your audience.

Generate your own projects that you believe in. Work hard on them. Show them off.

Don’t illustrate people’s self published children’s books for free. Trust me.

Make friends with people who aren’t artists, and have interests that aren’t art. Hackers, entrepeneurs, journalists, models, construction workers, professors…

Draw all the time. Keep sketchbooks. Go to figure drawing classes. Copy old masters. Be hard on yourself and address your flaws. Find the voice that’s yours

Remember that the future belongs to multi-disciplinary mutants, and that a father-figure gallery/agent/manager probably isn’t going to swoop down and make you famous while you hole up in your studio and draw all day.

Learn how industries like marketing and the media actually work. It’s not hidden knowledge. You can learn to write a press release in five minutes via google.

There’s no shame in promoting yourself. No one else will do it for you unless you’re already making them money or they’re trying to suck up to your dad.

Invest in good equipment and good presentation. Crappy iPhone pics of your work aren’t going to get you jobs.

Pay your quarterly taxes. Get an accountant as soon as you can. Freelancers are fucked in America.

Don’t spend 150k on an art degree.

Make a cool website.

But most of all: if you want to be an artist for a living, you can’t half-ass it. You have to want it more than anything, and be willing to sacrifice sleep, social life, crappy high-school boyfriends, after-work drinks, and pretty much every other trapping of a fun, chill, early twenties experiance.

If you don’t want to do this, being a full time artist isn’t for you. There’s no shame in this. Drawing for fun, because you love it, is a beautiful thing.

But if you know that there’s nothing else that you can do but make art all day, that it’s what you were born for, you’re going to need to make sacrifices.

Good luck.”

“What advice do you have for someone struggling to keep up their inspiration and productivity?”

Quote | | Paul Greer

reblogged from mollycrabapple:

“I get this question alot, and I never know how to answer it. Truth is, I don’t know anything BUT working. It’s what I breathe, what goes through my veins. If I don’t work, rent doesn’t get paid. Nor do I really know what to do with myself.

When I’m inspired, I follow my inspiration. When I could give a fuck, I draw a thousand hands or every historical figure I ever took a shine too. If you want to be an artist (or anyone for whom their job is their vocation, and who is their own boss), you need to just work, long and hard, whether or not you feel like it.

That discipline will let you capture fleeting inspiration and turn it into something as inspiring to others. And it will keep you going when you’re not inspired at all.

Good luck!”