If a guy says he does art for a living, what goes through your head?

Doranq

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Side note, you have not seen the art he does.

This applying to in general and if you were looking at him as someone you might date/just began dating.
 

Enid

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He's a designer, teacher, caricaturist, sketch artist, graphic novelist, printmaker, glassblower, painter, architect, photographer, film director, author, actor. That's what I would think, off the top of my head. There's a lot of kinds of art.
 

MickeyLee

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I couldn't date someone I didn't respect as an artist. Cuz eventually they would ask me about a project or piece, and I could not lie. I would be all "you have wasted so many years of your life along with a shameful amount of art supplies"

See? It's better to know before you get involved.
 

LaFemme

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It would give me pause, quite honestly. I have two artists in the family. Actually three, I forgot a cousin. The two I thought of at first are extremely talented but chronically broke. Painting, drawing and such, especially the early years when you don’t have a path is tough. Both are supporting their art with menial jobs.

My cousin is really well off and well known. He’s very fortunate. Took him years. One piece of his goes for thousands of dollars. So there’s a gamut. I’m not likely to run into that type of artist too often.

I’m at an age where I’d prefer to date someone in the same income bracket as me. Still, love is love, so you never know.
 

EllieP

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I had to laugh when I read this thread. I did marry an artist, and I had no idea how successful he was. I mean, I guess I should have known if I had that much of an interest in music, but I didn't know how much musicians made.

When we got serious I knew I wanted to marry him, and I ran a whole much of financial scenarios how I was going to support a daughter, myself and a musician. Would he have band members crashing on our couch? Would he need money to rent a studio? I didn't know anything, but I knew I loved him and wanted to be together.

I think that clinched the deal with him when I told him I would support him no matter what as long as he remained serious about his music and pursued it full time. He knew I wasn't a gold digger then. Just blonde.
 

Holly Doors

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I live in Cornwall England which has a fantastic coast and many famous artists, the first thing that goes thru my head is of a guy at his easel painting contemporary seascapes.

Thinking I would wanna check out his work before dating seriously tho X
 

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It wouldn't matter much at all to me. I make my own money, I don't need a man for that.

I also don't mind being the one supporting him if he's a person I truly love and care for deeply.

That's not to say I would encourage laziness and lack of effort in other aspects of the relationship, but yeah.
 

Tight_N_Juicy

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Would you really be comfortable single handly paying for everything? How would you feel if he starts asking you for money or even worse starts helping himself to your purse ?

I already pay for everything in the relationship I'm currently in. The only bill I don't pay is the phone bill. I have zero regret about it. He's welcome to my purse. He knows it. He doesn't take me for granted, so he can have everything I call my own. We've lived together for about 6 years now.

Within this coming year we will be reworking our financial situation for reasons I don't want to disclose in the open forum, but trust when I say: I am fine being the "bread winner". This isn't something I would do for *anyone*. I do it for the man who earned the kind of love I have for him.
 

Tight_N_Juicy

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Wow hear hear well done, so long as he knows your worth and doesn't take you for granted,
I personally don'ts think I could do ever that maybe that's because of my trust issues :/ but never mind eh ,
I hope I'll be lucky enough to meet someone who I can trust blindly like th6st in this lifetime
good luck with everything :)

Thank you :blush:

I really do want as many people as possible to be able to experience the kind of relationship I have with him. I think the world would be a better place. Not that we're perfect, but pretty damn close ;)

:heart::heart::heart:
 

EllieP

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It wouldn't matter much at all to me. I make my own money, I don't need a man for that.

I also don't mind being the one supporting him if he's a person I truly love and care for deeply.

That's not to say I would encourage laziness and lack of effort in other aspects of the relationship, but yeah.

That was exactly my feeling at the time! I don't care what it would take, I just want to be with him. I'll make it work somehow. I was going to ask him how he felt about bologna sandwiches for dinner five nights a week.
 
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I would be fucking impressed. It would cross my mind that he might be bending the truth slightly and had two other jobs that he'd prefer not to mention, but I genuinely wouldn't care. Creative people like to be around other creative people generally. In terms of relationships, it's somehow different to simply having different interests, or hobbies, or professional fields.
 
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I would think "oh, he's an artist" and inquire about what kind. A lot of my friends attended and graduated from a fairly prestigious art school. I don't really think anything in particular about it. Some are more successful than others. One went on to become a lawyer and started her own firm, so you could definitely say she's doing pretty well for herself.

As for supporting someone, been there, done that. It would have to be for a very special person, because I want myself and the person I'm with to be able to support themselves. Having said that, I don't care about being rich. I don't care about name brand shit.
 

Doranq

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I live in Cornwall England which has a fantastic coast and many famous artists, the first thing that goes thru my head is of a guy at his easel painting contemporary seascapes.

Thinking I would wanna check out his work before dating seriously tho X
Would you need to if you knew he was well off financially/if he had a different occupation?
If he was well off financially and refused, would you still consider dating him? (His reasoning being he enjoys the freedom that comes to being totally anonymous, his real life not impacting his job)
 

MickeyLee

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Would you need to if you knew he was well off financially/if he had a different occupation?
If he was well off financially and refused, would you still consider dating him? (His reasoning being he enjoys the freedom that comes to being totally anonymous, his real life not impacting his job)

Now I would really have to see the artwork.

What the fuck is this guy painting/creating? To have such a possible negative impact on his life?
 
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I don't date men already have mistresses - be it human or an art form.
I don't date men who aren't financially viable.

I can appreciate some forms of art and the drive it takes to create it.
However I don't appreciate divided focus.
 

AlteredEgo

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I think asking about his art is an organic next question. The first time I dated an artist, he was a video store manager. I was concerned for his future. We were getting along fantastically, and talking about how we each spend our time. He graduated from School of Visual Arts and wanted to he an animator. I asked about his art, and he showed me some sketches and drawings. I became deeply concerned. I was already casually seeing an ad exec whose artwork and storyboards were beautiful. He also had a degree from SVA, and I thought he might find more lucrative work, with an actual future (You cannot seriously be a video store manager in 2004, Dude!). But his drawing was not impressive. Still, I thought maybe I just didn't like his style. We continued to get along famously, and started kissing in the snow, obstructing sidewalks and ruining our ability to manage our own temperatures. He asked if I wanted to come over and watch his animated shorts. "David, did you just invite me home to see your etchings?" We laughed. I went home with him. After a few hours of intense but clumsy sex (so many of my sexual mishap stories are from when I dated this guy) we finally got around to watching his animation. Again, I thought the artwork itself was too raw and under-developed, but the stories were very good, and quite competently animated.

I added his portfolio to the pile of art I asked the one friend to look through. He laughed at this particular portfolio. But he did ask to see more work from to others, and to meet with one of them who suddenly became paranoid that his work was about to be stolen and disappeared for years. I asked if he couldn't find a paid internship for poor David, and he said he'd revisit the idea of him if he got some exoerexper elsewhere first.

David found out where a bunch of animators and directors from Nickelodeon (I think.) hung out and did karaoke. He pointed out every person he wanted to meet. I charmed them and introduced him. Every last one of them asked for his reel, and he gave it to them. They pulled us into their rounds of drinks, and I did a duet with one of them. He had been going to that bar every Wednesday for months trying to meet them, but lacked the social skills. We broke up shortly after that. We were getting a bit emotionally caught up, and I think he couldn't introduce me to his parents. The other woman he'd been seeing was a lot more like him, socially awkward, sexually inexperienced, and white. I was rooting for them. She was easy to keep track of on Google, but they didn't stay together so I lost interest in her life. He is difficult to find on Google, which is probably one of many reasons he failed to monetize his passion. He never did get a single entry on IMDB. His shorts haven't won any awards, or even gotten into many festivals. He was so passionate and resourceful. I really wanted to see him win. Skill just takes practice. I thought his passion would get him the experience he needed. But I think he really needed an ally to close the gap between his drive, and his ability to present himself to Opportunity.

I just looked for his shorts online. They are no longer findable. That makes me a bit sad.

Yeah, I'd date an artist, but not one supporting his work in a dying industry. Video store manager in 2004? For real? I hope he switched to some other form of retail at some point, and didn't just die.

A search of his name pulls up a VERY successful artist, but it isn't him.
 

Doranq

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Now I would really have to see the artwork.

What the fuck is this guy painting/creating? To have such a possible negative impact on his life?
More like neither has an impact on the other. You’re free to do w/e. Which cannot be said for numerous other jobs. Even if what you did wasn’t bad, you can still get fired, you can still have your reputation ruined, you can still be judged for your occupation, etc etc. But if the person doing the job is unknown and it is unknown what the person does, there’s not that big bleed.

Especially in today’s world, privacy can be pretty important. Besides you don’t have to draw anything bad to get yourself unwanted attention or even harassment.

And sometimes maybe Steve wants to be Steve, not Steve the guy that draws this or Steve the mini celebrity.

I guess it could be something insidious but it wasn’t what I had in mind when I had asked.
 
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