The starving artist is both metaphorically real and a symbol for the challenges that many undiscovered artists face. Life can be a constant battle between taking your art seriously, practicing art full time, or getting a 'regular job' to make ends meet.

Unlike the hobby artist, the professional artist creates, not as a way to relax but as a way to express ideas, to speak out and communicate things that they need to express. Art is not a recreation it is a major activity central to the artists being. Thus in order to recognize that, in order to continue, the artist must find a way to make their creativity earn an income. This is easier said than done.

Traditionally artists are not business people. They don't do market research. They don't product test. They don't hold focus groups. They create art based on their own need to express whatever it is they feel they need to express. Hence the market for their art is constantly changing with each new direction.

Gallery representation goes some way towards filling that void. Galleries know their markets and choose to represent artists that appeal to their audience. However there are only so many galleries leaving a large proportion of artists out on the edge, trying to find representation or other options to sell their work.

New markets, such as the internet, have opened up more avenues for getting an artists work seen but not necessarily made it any easier to sell. It's widely agreed within the arts industry that artwork is more likely to sell if experienced in person rather than through a photograph. Therefore the need for a physical exhibition space when selling art can still be a barrier to earning an income.

There is also the technical abilities of the artist when it comes to the process of getting their work online. Not all artists are adept at digital photography or even computer literate enough to get their work online and displayed in the best possible light.

Again, even if an artist is able to get their work online, either via a gallery web site or their own site, artists are not necessarily adept at online marketing and promotion.

In fact the process of artists having to constantly market their own work can be very detrimental to the ongoing production of new art. It can be quite a blow to an artists self esteem if they continue to fail at selling their work despite being told that what they produce is really good.

Family pressures are a real issue too when you're not earning enough money to support yourself. How long can an artist continue to believe in themselves when the need to support a family takes over? The very act of taking on part time work to meet expenses can be another blow to self esteem as an artist. Extra, non art related, work can lead to decreased productivity in both creating and promoting the artists work thus leading to an even lesser likely hood of earning an income from art.

Whilst it is unlikely that many artists literally are starving the metaphor for the starving artist is certainly not a fanciful idea. Many artists, in order to pursue their artistic career, must live simple and frugal lives. It's one way to maximize the chance of developing a successful career that may allow for indulgence later, when their artistic income earning potential is more sound.

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