Jeremy Kaplan
Have you ever seen street artists out there doing their thing? Those people with their devil-may-care attitude and style for days, going around the world with their sprayground backpacks and their hacked clothing, existing at the very edge of the grid, living the life… Do you want to go there too? Do you think you would be happy leaving it all behind and starting a new life? Do you think you have what it takes?
One way to do it is just to be independently wealthy first, then go out and do your dreams, and if this includes street art, so be it. This means you would be able to do it one hundred percent on your own terms. But obviously this is actually the hardest way to go about it. How many independently wealthy people are there ever going to be on this planet at any given time? And this rings especially true if you want to take the really strict definition of independently wealthy, that of someone who never has to even run an errand they don’t want to because some manager or agent is taking care of it for them. This is a very high mountain to climb.
So let’s talk about the other way; you have maybe some small money coming in, or maybe not. Either way, you’re going to have to HUSTLE to make it work. Making ends meet as an artist is not easy nor has it ever been easy but there are ways and means of making it come into being.
First off, you have to look at your health as a priority. If you’re dealing with spray paint, gas masks are a MUST. If you do this long term with no gas mask, you will get sick and die, period. And you may or may not be able to afford proper health insurance, so there is one more reason why you have to take care of your health as much as possible.
You also have to get it out of your head that this is a hobby, unless you are in the independently wealthy situation stated above. This means, be prepared to work your butt off. Doing one or two pieces and expecting fame and money to come pouring in are what most people do, and it’s not working out for them. Don’t be one of the hordes of ignorant wanna-bes. Put the work in. Be prepared to throw up HUNDREDS of pieces before you get noticed, because that’s actually what it’s gonna take. And that moment you feel it’s time to turn in the towel is the final test. The successful artists in this world are the ones who stuck it out when their emotions were against it.
