Dear Tumblr,
All those posts you see of young artists charging $3, $6, $10 for a drawing because they need help? That’s fucking exploitation, and fuck you if you think it’s reasonable or a “good deal" to pay nickels and dimes to squeeze a full-color original drawing out of some talented, hardworking kid because things are tight, and they can’t afford their textbooks. Or food. They sure as hell can’t afford to make you art for $6.
Instead, stop. And ask them where you can donate. If you can afford a $6 drawing, then you can afford to spend $6 simply to help someone. You don’t need internal organs as payment.
Don’t allow young artists to be exploited.
this and this some more.
I’d go one step further and say: Offer to pay them decent Illustration wages instead if you still want a drawing, say around $20/hour. That way not only will you blow their socks off with your kindness and respect for their abilities, but you will also endow them with a sense of worth that they’re probably hurting for after being surrounded by the sort that makes them feel like their services are so worthless.
Illustration is a professional skill requiring years of training and dedication, regardless if there’s a school involved. If you enjoy that artist’s work and want to help them out, either donate like suggested above or else pay them what their work is worth and pass on the word.
Basically!
And if someone claims something that took you an hour to draw isn’t worth at least around $10 per hour of work, dont listen to their bullying. To the non-artist, its hard to see the worth in art especially if they didn’t put 10, 5, 2 or even 1 years of solid effort to get to the level of artistic ability there are today.
If the person complaining is still unhappy with the price despite that reasoning? Well let THEM make their own drawing themselves and spend the $10 elsewhere. GL to them getting the level of artistry you have without those years of experience they put behind them!
Honestly, I make designs for people for free, but someone offered me $20 for one once and I nearly cried.
PLEASE TIP ARTISTS.
ESPECIALLY IF YOU THINK THEY ARE UNDERCHARGING.
Writers too, please!
