If there is one thing I learned about art as a potential career, is that it takes a lot out of you emotionally. All jobs have disadvantages or costs. A construction worker will come home feeling physically tired, because it is physical labor. They might whine or complain, but they will still come into work the next day. That's the thing; you love what you do, and you will be willing to work through the aches and pains.
As an artist, there are times I don't want to finish a drawing or painting. I'll want to give up or leave it. This is emotional labor. Just because it gets tough, I can't just tell a client I can't finish their job because I don't want to.
It happens though. There have been artists I loved seeing work from who let their idea die, but it was usually to move onto other work more meaningful to them. One girl I used to follow work from had a comic recapping the story of a video game I love, but with an over-exaggerated comedic flair. She has since moved onto other works, but I still enjoy going back and reading her comic.
One blog that I always wait anxiously for updates from is Books of Adam. He's a story teller, and uses his drawings as keypoints to his storytelling. The style is fun and comedic, and I always get a giggle from reading his crazy adventures.
http://www.booksofadam.com
He's turned his labor of love into a job of sorts, which proves a lot of love, hard work and a good idea can make you successful. It's the people that really understand what emotional labor is, and can keep doing what they love despite it that really shine through.
One spot on the internet I frequent very often is a roleplaying site called Gaia. Through friends I found a guild called This Is Halloween. It's a fun role playing story loosely based on the world of Nightmare Before Christmas. It has grown so much in just a couple short years, and one thing that amazes me is the Admins dedication to making it a fun place for members. They don't do it for profit. It's free to play for approved character quests. The amount of time and effort put into making it an active story, and constant reaching out to new members is amazing. There are likely many times they would want to just stop because things aren't going smoothly, or people are complaining about one thing or another. But they keep on truckin'. This is true emotional labor.
Organizing events, answering questions, helping with plot ideas, and so many other busy and time consuming activities while dealing with their own lives outside of the internet. To do all that, you must truly love what you do.
One last blog I'd like to talk about is a fashion oriented Outfit designer based on characters from Cartoons and Anime. I love signing into Tumblr to see what sort of outfits they come up with. Often times I'll see one and try to take inspiration from it in how I dress.
http://character-inspired-fashion.tumblr.com
I can't imagine how difficult it is to come up with dozens of outfits a week, even if you do have multiple visual references considering what they're based on. It's a creative challenge, and one that is well executed. They don't get anything out of it other than followers and knowing their work is being appreciated.
So I guess what I want to really drive home is that things well get tough. Things will be hard. You'll want to throw your pencil across the room because of a bad comment, or no comment. This is our passion, and if you are willing to put in that emotional labour, people will notice. Not just for others, but for yourself. I really admire people who put forth great effort like this, with little to no drama. Drama comes and goes, but don't let the bumps in the road stop your journey.
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