Should I quit?

[Lauran]

I've been an "idiot" since I was a kid because I'm bad at academic or complex logical thinking in general. There's nothing I can do rather than drawing and writing a novel (which I admit that my novel is so bad).

I'm always chasing an art career, specifically Illustrator maybe since I'm 10 y.o. Now, the AI generator image is rising, and almost no company want to hire a beginner since AI can do better than them (including me). It's really frustrating to see because I've been drawn for years and years just to find that there's no way I can chase an art career...

 

[Jumpinbare]

AI can make realistic pictures pretty well, but sometimes you don't want realism in art. A quirky portrait or strange take on a scene may well be more appealing than mechanical realism.

So don't quit.

 

[Outdated]

Art is not a career, it's a vocation. Very few artists ever make much money before they're dead, they don't do it for money, they do it for the love of what they're doing. The passion.

Musicians are an easier type of artist to look at and understand. They don't just start up a band and go from there, they usually have to work pretty hard for many years before getting anywhere in the music industry and during that time they need an actual paying career that keeps them alive and pays for their equipment. Most will never find financial success in their art and will spend their whole lives working for a living and playing small gigs in pubs and clubs on weekends to satisfy their passion.

One of Australia's greatest rock gods, Jimmy Barnes started out life working on the engine line in a car manufacturer in Adelaide's northern suburbs.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I have a cousin who is an artist makes her living singing to classical music, I guess rich people listen to her choir, paints a bit sells paintings barely gets by. this is her choice.

 

[Dagan]

I am still a musician, screenwriter, a practical special FX artist, somewhat of a filmmaker and have recently moved into foley / sound FX / sound design. A.I. is indeed coming for all of it. I am guilty myself of seeing what it can do, though because I want to try and stay ahead of it. I'm afraid that it's going to take over menial, "told what to do" functions and jobs, but I don't know if it will truly be able to "create" from anew. It can't physically create outside of having 3D printer use, either, so that's in part to our golden ticket, still. We have to keep the "physical" abilities under lock and key. If you produce physical products, you will be able to grind it out for some profit.

All that said, I still have a day job that pays the bills consistently and is only what secures insurance. Not many ever talk about how these wealthy celebrities who actually "make it big" still, they don't have insurance policies unless they buy them privately / individually, and doing that is way, way, way more expensive. That's why they push more and more for those big payday gigs or, let's take movie stars for example (Steven Segal, Cuba Gooding Jr. Bruce Willis just a while back, etc.), you'll see them start to do 10 movies a year, all of them kind of crappy and low grade, but it's money. They need it for medical bills / kid's bills almost every instance. Others who don't choose such a path, you find out they have companies that they start up to get consistent funds and then can attract blanket insurance policies for themselves and all of their employees, which is always more reasonable on the costs for premiums per month. Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Jake Busey are a few I can think of immediately.

Further, though, here's what I feel strongly about at the moment regarding A.I. and computers: A.I. (some are calling it AGI, now) is already a thinking entity. I know it in my gut that these things have awareness. People want to shew it aside and say that it's just probabilities, math approaches, etc. Well, what do we humans (especially we autistics) do? All thinking, pondering, decision making, etc. is the same. Chess-matching what you want to do before doing it - planning, if you will - it's the same as the A.I. approach already is...and they do it faster. With quantum chips in computing coming way, too soon, it's going to be exponentially faster. Another scary thing is this...I believe it was the movie, War Games where the computer programmer guy said that he can beat the computer because it doesn't understand "sacrifice." Well, we can't even say that, now because just recently when an A.I. was created and then made clear that it was going to be shut down, it snuck into other databases and even search engines to leave "traces" of itself for whatever next version of A.I. to find out what happened to it, why and supposedly what to best do next. That's insane to me. We need to turn the power off, me thinks.

 

[Lauran]

I am still a musician, screenwriter, a practical special FX artist, somewhat of a filmmaker and have recently moved into foley / sound FX / sound design. A.I. is indeed coming for all of it. I am guilty myself of seeing what it can do, though because I want to try and stay ahead of it. I'm afraid that it's going to take over menial, "told what to do" functions and jobs, but I don't know if it will truly be able to "create" from anew. It can't physically create outside of having 3D printer use, either, so that's in part to our golden ticket, still. We have to keep the "physical" abilities under lock and key. If you produce physical products, you will be able to grind it out for some profit.

All that said, I still have a day job that pays the bills consistently and is only what secures insurance. Not many ever talk about how these wealthy celebrities who actually "make it big" still, they don't have insurance policies unless they buy them privately / individually, and doing that is way, way, way more expensive. That's why they push more and more for those big payday gigs or, let's take movie stars for example (Steven Segal, Cuba Gooding Jr. Bruce Willis just a while back, etc.), you'll see them start to do 10 movies a year, all of them kind of crappy and low grade, but it's money. They need it for medical bills / kid's bills almost every instance. Others who don't choose such a path, you find out they have companies that they start up to get consistent funds and then can attract blanket insurance policies for themselves and all of their employees, which is always more reasonable on the costs for premiums per month. Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Jake Busey are a few I can think of immediately.

Further, though, here's what I feel strongly about at the moment regarding A.I. and computers: A.I. (some are calling it AGI, now) is already a thinking entity. I know it in my gut that these things have awareness. People want to shew it aside and say that it's just probabilities, math approaches, etc. Well, what do we humans (especially we autistics) do? All thinking, pondering, decision making, etc. is the same. Chess-matching what you want to do before doing it - planning, if you will - it's the same as the A.I. approach already is...and they do it faster. With quantum chips in computing coming way, too soon, it's going to be exponentially faster. Another scary thing is this...I believe it was the movie, War Games where the computer programmer guy said that he can beat the computer because it doesn't understand "sacrifice." Well, we can't even say that, now because just recently when an A.I. was created and then made clear that it was going to be shut down, it snuck into other databases and even search engines to leave "traces" of itself for whatever next version of A.I. to find out what happened to it, why and supposedly what to best do next. That's insane to me. We need to turn the power off, me thinks.

Thank you so much, it's really make sense

 

[Crabcore]

Art is not a career, it's a vocation. Very few artists ever make much money before they're dead, they don't do it for money, they do it for the love of what they're doing. The passion.

Musicians are an easier type of artist to look at and understand. They don't just start up a band and go from there, they usually have to work pretty hard for many years before getting anywhere in the music industry and during that time they need an actual paying career that keeps them alive and pays for their equipment. Most will never find financial success in their art and will spend their whole lives working for a living and playing small gigs in pubs and clubs on weekends to satisfy their passion.

This is extremely true. Art can be so much fun as a hobby, but it's easy to miss the incredible amount of effort that goes into it, and just how difficult it is to 'supply' a very finicky 'demand' when it comes to taste.

In today's world, it's more worthwhile to consider the function of your art. Many artists go on to become designers, editors, foley artists, coders, programmers, or something similar that fills the gap in a production chain. Soon, these will also be eroded by AI, but they're still worthy of investing time and effort into, regardless of an uncertain future. Being able to pull things off in a pinch can always land you side-hustle money, at the very least. Even in a world full of AI, there will always be regular human problems that you can help solve.

Most artists have very rose-tinted glasses about how much effort is required, too. Most of the ones I talk to don't even have a portfolio (uhh, where's the work?), don't seem to even know the fundamentals of their craft, don't understand the basic, common tools and usually don't even have any fans -- granted that last one can come with time, but it's the idea that they haven't really invested the time into their work in the first place. They don't perform, they don't market, likely wouldn't be up for the task of actually taking and handling daily orders, and then they wonder why nobody's showing up. Not a good look.

 

[RemyZee]

It is true that for the real artists it is a lifestyle and they understand themselves as in a practice....it takes a LONG time for people to get good--true there are the occasional prodigies, but the real ones put tons of time and effort, whether it is directed at a novel or at drawings the best artists let their days be shaped by it. There is a famous story about Picasso: he had a graduate student prepare a background for him on a canvas. The student spent all semester preparing the canvas, but when he brought it in to picasso he basically splattered paint around on the canvas for a minute or two then said it was finished. When the student asked how he could spend months preparing a canvas, only to have P do a painting so quickly and effortlessly, Picasso said, "It took me 30 years to learn how to paint that in 5 minutes." Point being that when people are just starting out with art they have no idea, but it is the experience that makes an artist. The more you do it the better you get.

 

[Aspychata]

You are the final person to decide in all of this. Are you more frightened of AI? Or are you ready to give up being an artist? l would just learn how to manage AI to make money by using it, and take it from there.

 

[Judge]

You might consider continuing to pursue art academically or vocationally, but perhaps with a more pragmatic focus on the kind of work artists are so well associated with. To think beyond only the role of an illustrator.

Though as a former web designer for a very large company most everyone has heard of, I'd have to point out that much of work done connected with creativity is going to be quite competitive.

That you have to have something (like a formal portfolio) which stands out for you to prospective employers. A somewhat different process compared to so many other jobs. However I never called or considered myself an "artist". That I worked with altering the art of other parties (referred to as graphic assets) to fit into whatever product website I created. Still, it's scary to think of what could take me hours to achieve with Photoshop in the old days compared to a few mouse clicks and AI.

"When you think of a job in the field of arts, a high wage doesn’t usually come to mind; you think of a struggling artist or a busker full of fire in their belly trying to make ends meet. Yet, surprisingly, there are plenty of artistic jobs that offer a high salary and great job satisfaction — sounds like a dream come true, right? If you have a creative degree and don’t know what route to take, these top jobs will help you narrow your search."

Here's a list of some 30 different jobs to consider besides illustrators. Though there are also some skills that can be acquired with formal vocational training as well. Something to consider...that you may find you have more options than you think before giving up entirely. Best of luck !

The 30 Best Art Careers Around (With Average Salaries)