Chances are you may have seen
this video floating around. If not, it's a pretty good PSA on respecting yourself as an artist and not undervaluing your work.
But I'm not here to preach the same message, or repeat everyone else and blindly agree. Now, don't get me wrong, I agree with the video's message 100%. However, I've come to an impasse because of it.
I haven't advertised it on DA, but our little studio that makes Midwinter has been looking for a background artist since November. Originally we wanted to see if anyone locally would be interested, to make communication and discussion easier. So, we put up fliers at the local convention, at my college, and at some comic book shops.
They looked something like this:
[link] and we went through at least 10 posters over that convention weekend. To date, Maybe 15-16 have been cleared of their tags.
Yet not one application.
At first, it was like... "well, no shit, most artists into anime and manga only draw characters, or have rudimentary bg skills." This is especially true of young artists that would populate a college. But after watching this and some other videos as of late, it made me re-evaluate things and look at the poster again.
What if I look totally unprofessional? Or like the biggest dick ever that doesn't appreciate artists?
As I'm sure you've noticed, there isn't mention of payment on this flier... and for good reason. We do not have the funds to pay right away; we're not even getting paid ourselves. And as much as I want to throw money at other artists to support them, I can't afford a regular expense with my minimum wage part time job, especially for art that may be used for commercial purposes.
But, that was something I wanted to address with each interested individual personally, and make it clear that there
will be payment, just that it probably won't come until we get Midwinter off the ground.
Which... brings me to my dilemma. Joanna and I wrote up the flier with the intent of drawing in artists similar to us that would want to be part of a project like Midwinter, even if it's just to get experience. Above all, we wanted someone who could get into the project and have passion in it like we do, so we could move forward and worry about finances when we have money to work with.
But who am I to expect that? Am I really any better than those big companies trying to squeeze free art from young and unsuspecting artists?
Who am I to say that Midwinter is worth your time, your energy, and your passion for... nothing? How can I possibly expect someone--anyone--to trust that we will pay them in the future, when they very possibly don't know me or any of other other team members enough to make that call?
If I were on the other end of this deal, an artist with no real direction yet that saw this poster... I asked myself: would I really invest that kind of time into someone elses project, only hoping to get paid down the line? The answer was a flat out no. I mean, who's to say this thing won't collapse in a couple months? What if I do the first book and then get jipped and cut off?
Does this whole situation make me a hypocrite?Throughout this past year, I've been a big advocate of giving artists the pay they deserve, and inspiring others to value their work. It wasn't too long ago that I took a lot less money for the amount of work I did, but everything changed with a teacher I had last fall.
I'll go ahead and say it, for those who know him: it was Dustin, my vector teacher, someone I still look to for advice now and then to this day.
Since his specialty is graphics, not drawn figures, he commissioned me to make a silhouette of a young girl to use on a CD cover. Now, we hadn't discussed payment for it beforehand. I trusted him enough and, well... I was still rather scared to ask for money and inexperienced in commissions. In the end, I asked what sort of price he was thinking once I completed it.
Considering it was just a black silhouette with no detailing inside, I figured, hey, $5-10 would cover it. But instead, he asked me if $50
was okay. As you can probably imagine, I was more than shocked and was very happy I wasn't drinking anything when I read the e-mail.
$50? For a small drawing like that? I was beside myself. I even expressed as much to him, and he told me flat out, "Kayla. You're a pro. It's time you start expecting to get paid for your work!"
But that isn't all. It turned out that it wasn't what his client was looking for, so he couldn't use it. Yet... he still paid me for my time and effort, the full amount. You have no idea the kind of impression that made on me.
That one action shifted not only how I viewed my own art, but others as well. I have a lot of artist friends, many of whom work upon request for nothing. Ever since my experience, I've made it a point to pay them a decent amount for their work if I commission them, enough money that says their art is worth it--at least to me--all in the hope that maybe they'll feel the same way I did and start valuing themselves more. Maybe it'll even inspire them to support their fellow artists as I've set out to do!
With that in mind... is it any wonder I question myself now? What am I doing? If I feel so strongly about giving the artists their due, how can I rightly reach out to other young artists and try to hook them into this decade long project, all on the basis of credit? Just talking about it and I know I sound shady!
I can make a million excuses about how we're different, that my intentions are nothing but good, how nothing will stop me from starting--and finishing--Midwinter, how the circumstances call for it, but at the end of the day... they're just words that hold no weight. I'm advising artists to be wary of people who want to use them, yet here I am trying to hire one who's willing to work for free for a little while. How stupid is that? How
selfish am I?
To be clear, I'm not looking for validation, but your thoughts. Discuss with me. Whack me over the head if you think I need it! What are your feelings on the matter? Do you feel there are exceptions to the rule? When do you work for free and when won't you?
Well... I think I'm done. If you sat here and read through all of this... I thank you.
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`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
Theme
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.......... The design MUST HAVE ONLY 2 COLORS; BLACK AND WHITE
this journal 
Disgust 
![[link]](http://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y199/Forbidden-Alchemy/2MidwinterFlyer11x17_zps6ee69125.jpg){kind=link}
November 2011, I started working interning with my graphic design abilities at my modeling agency. In return, I would get paid 'credits' that could be used for photo shoots, portfolio cards, membership subscriptions online, classes; basically anything related to the agency. I would also get 'exposure' for my work, and come March 2012, if things were going good enough, they would be able to hire me as an actual employee and I would start getting paid actual money.
So I worked my ass off. If I wasn't at my full time job at Petco, I was there. I neglected my artwork and my sewing, because I kept thinking as soon as I got this job, I wouldn't need Petco anymore. I could quit, do something I enjoyed and have more time to devote to my art and sewing again, as well as my other hobbies. If I could just hold out until March, that would be enough.
Eventually March came and went, and nothing changed. When I asked what the situation was looking like, all I got were responses like "Oh we just still don't have the money to be able to hire you yet, give it another month" "Once we finish this project, we should be able to". So I figured, yeah, 4 months of my time may not have been enough yet, but it will come soon. Before I knew it, April was here and gone, May, June and July had all passed as well. All with the same excuses. I eventually grew fed up with it, and left. Empty promises are not my style, and while I can say it was 'good experience', it really wasn't. Everything I did there, I had done before. I didn't learn anything new, I didn't get any more exposure for my work, the only thing I did gain was I could now say "Oh I interned at said-company for a while". But even with that, I had nothing to show for it. During all that time, I could have been working on my OWN art or sewing. Working on my OWN series, branding my OWN name/company. But I didn't, and I have to pick up and move on with it.
Now I'm not saying that you would do something like that, but when it happens to you, it really leaves a bad scar/impression of the way the world works. The reality of the situation is you don't have the money to pay someone, you can't guarantee them when or how much they will get paid, and you can't guarantee that it will be a success. I hope all of those things do happen, but we need to expect the worst, but hope for the best.
I then had a huge falling out with my art for a long while, that of which you know, and I thank you again for helping me get back on my feet. I've been devoting a lot of time into Galactia lately, bought new sketchbooks and pencils and am hammering out a lot of ideas, characters, story, scripts etc. I've also been working on my business' facebook page, and looking into getting artist tables in the near future again. And for that I thank you. Truly.
However, I do know that once Galactia starts moving again, I will be running into the same problem as you. You know how much I hate backgrounds. lol When that time comes, I will be asking people I know I can trust, that I know personally, but in all truthfulness I don't expect anyone or anything in return. And if I ask once and they refuse, I will leave it at that. Which brings me to my next point:
You know my mother owns her own business, and as of late due to a multitude of circumstances, she is understaffed and cannot hire any new personnel at the moment. She simply cannot say to someone, "If you just come and work at my office and do some paperwork for free, I'll eventually start paying you, I promise." The real world doesn't work like that. Instead, Monday-Friday, sometimes even on Saturdays, she leaves at 8 AM each morning, and stays at work usually until 8-9 PM in the evening. Sometimes comes back for a short nap, then leaves again at 3 AM for a few hours to finish things up.
This may seem unfair, but it is HER company. Because of the current predicament, if things don't get finished and need to be, SHE has to be the one to pull the extra weight. Because if she doesn't make the deadlines, the whole company goes under and falls apart. Until she is able to hire for those positions, she has to be the one to carry the extra weight along. Sure, she is stressed out all the time, and it's a LOT of work. But this company is hers, she started it and will be seeing it through to the very end. She is able to continue doing this because she cares so much about what she has created, and knows that there will eventually be a light at the end of the tunnel. She has no idea how long it will take to get there, but she is expecting the worst and hoping for the best.
Once Galactia gets going, this is the sort of mentally and work ethic that I strive to have and to be. I'm not saying that this is the only way to do things, nor am I saying that you won't find a great background artist via this journal entry and all of this might be a mute point. But I hope for this to at least be food for thought, and something you can carry on with you. Good luck in whatever the future of this project brings to you. You know I'm rooting for you.
In the end I think I'll offer payment, but it'll be their decision if they want to get paid right away or when everyone else will. We'll manage it and negotiate.
Oh, just because I'm looking for a bg artist, don't think that not finding one would stop me from starting Midwinter. :> Production will begin regardless; I've been working on my own backgrounds a lot for just this purpose. I'm more than prepared to pull the extra weight and put in the time if I have to. The biggest reason we're looking for one is to take a load off of my role, because I know that the more I take on, the longer production may drag. Even someone who can take care of the perspective and sketch in the basic shapes would be good for me |D;
Our biggest concern now is finding an architect student to help us design the hospital, as I feel that it's a building that requires a little more intimate knowledge of structural nuances than what I posses. 8D; But, again, even if that doesn't pan out... we'll expand ourselves to compensate. We'll do what we have to, because we have that same passion.
Thanks for the advice and sharing your stories--you know I'll always support you as well, and I'm really happy to hear that you're getting back in the swing of things. Good luck developing Galactia, I'm sure you'll do well. Once you can afford a new comp (hopefully a PC) I can set you up with a good note keeping program that we use for Midwinter (It's like a godsend for organizing things. |D) and some programs like sai and the adobe creative suite, if you need it.
I actually have a Mac version for Sai now and I've had Adobe Creative Suite since I got this computer. |D; But I would like that note keeping program you talked about, it sounds interesting.
I know you have the suite on that comp, just wasn't sure if you had the discs for it and could install it on the next comp you get (I have CS5.5 if you don't... |D).
It's called OneNote! I don't know if there's a mac version of it, but it's a part of Microsoft Office. If you ever have collaborators, you can also share the file through skydrive, which is a part of hotmail. Any changes made by either party are marked and updated immediately after sync, which is one of the big reasons Joanna and I use it... it lets us edit in realtime. It'd be useful even solo though~
I always understand about this matter that nowadays there's nothing we could get for free so easily. But I still believe it's still possible to find people who are willing to do things for free, but usually they'll prefer to do the task their way, their time, their pace.. which is.. understandable. ;u;