#done seeing popular artists sacrifice their identity and morals for wealth

[katyspersonal]

I subscribe under every word. In fact, I say what this person is describing is PREFERABLE way. When you rely on internet popularity to work in art field, you'll end up losing your soul, without exagerration. You'll have to keep up with the trends and trim your original ideas into popular demand to win more exposure, you'll have to provide at the right time, you'll have to say and think the "correct" things whether you personally understand them or not, you'll have to trim your personality and identity into mellow boring thin that would not make anyone angry, and don't forget instantly rejecting "problematic" things and blocking people who even slightly might get you in trouble even if just yesterday you called them a friend. And not only you'll lose the sight of why you loved drawing to begin with and become miserable, but also trading your morals and personality for this wealth does NOT guarantee protection from some freak obsessively stalking your entire internet history and some day jeopardizing or straight up crippling this career over a dumb thing you said months or years ago. And how do you save your career? You out your personal, intimate feelings to explain why you said that before the witch-hunters court and your "fans" that are ready to grab pitch forks any moment and grovel. And God forbid you speak like a normal person and not like a corporative brainlet! That is not acceptable!

Okay I got carried away but you probably could think of at least several names of the internet-popular artists that went through this cycle. Creativity should be liberating and enriching, not restrictive and sanitized (and with this darn Damocles Sword above your head as a bonus). I can't express how much it is NOT worth it. Your immortal soul, your principles and interestes are more important than shoveling dollars from Patreon and commissions. My IRL friend got art degree in university, and the way she earns money from her art? Just like OP said. She draws things for events, she does exposure of her paintings at events and some get sold, she offered her designs and concepts for a theatre that was struggling without a designer at the time, she painted bland boring walls in a bar into something interesting... And also as someone who knows a ton about art and art history, she opened her small school with a friend, and enough people love her art to want to learn from her specifically. Not art tutorials for her patrons, but actual, physical room with cool pupils!

Everything is possible, really. Don't give up, guys, and always prioritize opportunities that do not rely on online popularity. Becoming marketable online is not the only way, yall just list courage and forgot what really matters because of capitalism.

I think at some point in time we need to sit down and start explaining to artist who want to make a career out of art that there are FAR more options than just "living off of commissions" and "posting my art online and praying I get paid for it".