[brc]

One of my neighbours is an artist. She makes a tidy living selling artwork depicting the local landscapes.

While you would think that there is a lot of sitting around dreaming and sketching, in reality the galleries are telling her what types of thing are selling, and she is creating 'product' to sell into that demand. Her studio is full of paintings that look very similar to each other, and there is precious little room for experimentation, because the galleries aren't super keen on giving wallspace to untried formulas.

In this way it's not terribly different from a lot of jobs. Sure, it's much better than most, but I would be careful about thinking life as an artist is truly an escape from the rigors of the real world.

Sadly for a lot of artists, their big breakthrough becomes the rod for their back, because all anyone ever wants is more of the same. This is why Ian Fleming ended up disliking the Bond books, even though they made him very rich. Same goes for endless bands, artists, sculptors etc.

[Zev]

In this way it's not terribly different from a lot of jobs. Sure, it's much better than most, but I would be careful about thinking life as an artist is truly an escape from the rigors of the real world.

FWIW, my suggestion was specifically to have art as a hobby, not a job. This way, it doesn't need to make you any money. Just to provide an escape and/or a stress relief. And in this case, who cares what others think of your work? You do it because you want to.

[brc]

yes I guess I conveniently ignored your point, I guess I was just trying to add in my part about making a living as an artist.

Ultimately, I think, that any type of creative work needs validation by others, even if it's not of the payment type. I think few people are driven enough to create without at least some positive feedback from people whose opinion they respect.