Just some thoughts

Hello!

Alright so to preface this it's rare that I'll ever come out and speak my thoughts on something, I have the absolute worst anxiety, but chatting with friends about some of the things I've seen around lately has got me thinking.

I really want to just... Talk about how I feel about adoptables and selling art in general? This is all based on my personal experiences as feelings, so I only want you to take it as that.

But basically...

There seems to be this strange misconception that every single artist is well off and only does art as a side hobby to earn extra cash for pure fun. When that seriously is not the case. Granted there are some who are like that (and there's nothing wrong with that anyway wtf), but most of the people I've met and spoken to are usually people who do art for a living, have a 'main job' that doesn't pay enough to live well, or are people in school who need the money to pay for supplies and other things. And the ones who are well off? I see many of them putting the extra money they make back into the community, which is awesome! Supporting your fellow artists is awesome!

Let me talk about my personal experience. I sold an adopt for $3,000 once. People may be confused or concerned or just downright irritated at that? But I don't understand why. Yes it is a big number, it is a big number to me too.

But do you know what that money did for me? It drastically improved my quality of life for a period of time. It made things far easier on me for a few months. For someone who has lived most of my life without much, it made a big difference. I was able to get the doctor visits and medications I've needed for years because someone saw that much value in my work. I still had a bit left over to, that I could put into savings and the rest commission artists I've always wanted to as a lil treat to myself.

(As a side note: Something to keep in mind is that poor people shouldn't have to feel bad or guilty or dumb or be shamed??? for wanting luxuries, obviously you shouldn't be breaking your bank, and you should always be sure you have the money you need for food/rent/pets/ect, but smaller luxuries can help a broke person feel normal and improve their mood drastically. It's a very important part of keeping yourself happy, motivated, and level headed in these difficult times. Aka: treat urself)

But... Why... Aren't people happy for their fellow artists when this happens? Why do people get so upset when an artist makes a good chunk off their work?

I've seen people brutally hate on a fellow adopt maker (I won't be name dropping but they are literally the sweetest, nicest person?? WTF) for making $1k on average PER DESIGN, and occasionally selling one for more than that even!! Seeing that they're doing well makes me incredibly happy? It's amazing that an adopt maker running their own small adopt shop on DA in such a niche market is making industry standard on their work. Why do people get so upset at that??

People seem to think that artwork is easy, comes naturally, should be cheap or free, and accessible when that just isn't true, it's sadly a very entitled way of thinking that many people learn to have. I want to clear this up. Art and adopts are all luxuries. A lot also factors into art prices.

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- Time Taken || Only charge by hour if you 100% are comfortable with it. Also artists shouldn't be charging minimum wage. $35/hour base price AT THE VERY LEAST. And then factor in all this other stuff I'm gonna list. Flat rates are fine too, honestly it depends on what you feel is best!

- Demand || So you don't overload, and if there's high demand people are willing to pay more to get it

- All The effort and improvement up to this point || It takes YEARS to hone this craft and become skilled at it. Talent isn't real, sorry. It's all skill, hard work, pushing yourself, and constantly learning.

- Lore, World, Group things, ect || For Closed species and ARPG species specifically. By buying a design you are gaining access to more than just a nice picture. This can be a HUGE DRAW for many people and it's why many enjoy closed species! There's a lot more than just a 'pretty pixel pet' in most cases.

- Partial rights and sometimes full rights || Depending on what you're buying you are likely paying for rights to use the artwork or design in some way as well. Usually it's personal use only but I've known some to be willing to sell full rights.
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Seriously. Consider all of this stuff. And for those who are buying art, keep this in mind before saying "It's too expensive." or "Why would anyone pay this much." or making... Ripoff designs. It's basically saying to us "All the time, effort, and years you've put into your craft isn't worth it."

And remember, for artists, to never undersell yourself. Pricing is difficult, which is why I always recommend doing research or testing the waters before setting solid prices, especially if USD isn't your usual currency (I see a LOT of artists outside the US undersell heavily because they didn't look into conversion rates enough). I have fallen into this trap of underselling a few times. It's not worth it and I come out every time feeling frustrated and burnt out. Not only does underselling yourself hurt you, it hurts the community at large because people tend to expect those low prices and it just furthers the hole many people are stuck in. We need to start encouraging people to make fair wages for their work, especially younger artists who might not know all this yet.

There's never anything wrong with getting more money if you can. It's a good thing! Don't feel guilty for increasing prices.

But don't... Bash people for selling low. It isn't their fault, we're raised to think art isn't valuable. If there's an artist you like and you feel their prices are too low I recommend actually commissioning them but also giving a really nice tip while encouraging them to raise prices! (This works A LOT of the time, trust me.)

Anyway before this ramble goes on too long I'm gonna come to a close here and say.

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- Be encouraging to fellow artists || Be POSITIVE, cheer them on, be happy when they have success

- Show your support in any way you can || If you can't afford their prices, give them a watch and fave/comment their stuff when you can! This will push them up in the 'popular 24 hours' 'popular 3 days' ect stuff and they can potentially get more people to look at their stuff!! You can also show them to your friends or promo them!

- Tip them if you can || Seriously, we always appreciate it and it can honestly make a difference. Many have 'buy me a coffee' on their pages. Buy them a coffee if you can afford to.

- Support their paterons if you can || Also awesome! (and you get cool bonuses usually)

- Save up to commission them or purchase their work if you can || Art is a luxury! Remember this! It's something many have to save up for just like going to a fancy restaurant or buying that new game, these things are all luxuries and are perfect gifts to yourself!

- Use other artist's success to motivate yourself || Maybe you're not there yet, but it's always possible to get there it just takes time. Be patient and take one step at a time to reach those goals. Don't hate on artists for doing well. We're all on different levels!!
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Hopefully this helps out some people? I've been thinking about it SO MUCH lately. I just really wish there was more positivity and understanding across artist communities. Especially with how much I've seen "ripoffs" or people being super entitled or generally just disrespecting hard working art and adopt makers.

Again this is just how I FEEL about the whole thing based on my personal experience and interactions. It's different for everyone!

Thanks so much for reading!! I hope everyone has a good week.