The Gilded Cage of Commercial Art

I've been creating art all my life. Ever since I first got a pencil in my hand, I decorated the walls of our home with shaky lines and drew little creatures freely wherever I felt they fit. I didn't care about limitations nor rules and I don't think I've ever really learned why they should even exist in terms of art. When I was nine, I decided to become so good at art that no one would question my talent. That was stupid and childish, but well, I was nine so what can you expect? There will always be people who question you and most often the worst, harshest critic you'll ever meet is yourself. It is only good to face people who don't think all positively about your work as it broadens your horizon, which is really useful for a creative worker. Not everyone likes all kind of art so there's absolutely no use to try to please all the people on Earth, not even beginning about the whole universe itself.

What is important, is the way you work and what you receive from working. If you're not trying to please anyone at all and you still take commissions, it won't probably end well on your side: the customers have needs, they want you to express things they can't, don't want or don't have time to express themselves and it means that you have to meet their desires some way or they will be displeased. You have to listen. Just like it's benefitical to listen to the people who criticise you, even if you didn't agree with them, it's very good for you, your work and your business, to take the clients seriously and try to do something they really want you to do. All clients don't, however, always know what is the best way to present something visually, so even if you worked strictly by the contract, you sure can stretch limits. Ideally, there are no boundaries in terms of art and usually all rules you're given can be handled more as guidelines. If you do your work well, keep it unique and capture what is important and relevant to your commission, it's usually all fine. Remembering that you can express yourself and let your own voice be heard in even strictly monitored works keeps it fun.

I will stop creating art when it stops being enjoyable. I may whine a lot, I may curse, I may sound like I'm in a living Hell while I'm working on a piece and I may be on the verge of losing it but in the end I enjoy it. I enjoy overcoming the obstacles I come across and getting things ready just the way I implied. The whole process is one of the greatest joys I experience, perhaps the greatest. I actually love even the most annoying, frustrating parts of it, the moments I just can't do something and then, almost magically, get it done in the end. It's a marvellous moment the feeling of success I receive from that is something way more valuable than all the things you can get with these little pieces of doodle paper, called money. I do a lot of personal work for practise and my own entertainment, of course, but I find the same fun in creating works I've been asked to, as long as I can use my style and work the way I like. If I'm asked to paint, I want to paint the way I paint, if I'm asked to ink, I want to ink the way I ink, simple as that. If I'm told to use another technique, I can give it a shot if it's something interesting, visually pleasing and worth learning, because learning is always good, but if I'm asked to turn my style completely upside down, it can never work with me and the efford I could make would be in vain. I support being various and doing different things, trying new techniques and learning all you can about creating but you also have to know your own limits, the limit of when the work you do is not yours anymore, when doing it starts to feel bad, wrong or something that doesn't speak your mind at all.

Art for fun can be a way to express freedom and created listening to no one but your own heart and soul, but commercial art is all about finding the balance between your own wild rebellion and the customer's needs. We aren't, after all, here to meet our clients' expectations, we're here to exceed them and that's when it's time to get really creative. New is good and refreshing but you should never forget who you are because I bet you've done a lot of work to become that very being.