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Slate Culture Feed

Working: When To Let Go of the Creative Dream

Slate Culture Feed

Slate Podcasts

Tv & Film, Arts, Music

4.22K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For this week’s episode of Working Overtime, hosts June Thomas and Isaac Butler help a listener who’s wondering whether a career in the arts is realistic. Being an illustrator has always been this listener’s dream, but breaking into the industry and finding financial success has been an uphill battle.  Do you have a question about creative work? Leave a message at (304) 933-9675 or email us at working@slate.com.    Podcast production by Kevin Bendis and Cameron Drews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.9

This episode is brought to you by TNT Sports. Nothing brings people together like sport.

0:06.0

It's unmatched. TNT Sports is here to provide more unforgettable moments.

0:10.3

There's exclusive UEFA Champions League and Premier League football,

0:13.5

along with the best rugby, boxing, UFC, WWE, MotoGP and more.

0:18.6

This isn't just sport, this is everything.

0:21.1

Stream TNT Sports on Discovery Plus or watch TNT Sports channels on BT, Sky,

0:26.0

and Virgin Media. Subscription required. H18 Plus TNT Supply.

0:56.4

Sock it to me, Dadio.

0:58.1

There you go. Our writer Asteramane Anonymous, so there's no name on this one,

1:02.8

and here's our working overtime producer, Kevin Bendis, reading it for us.

1:07.7

Hi, working. My question has to do specifically with the theme of illustration.

1:12.5

I've been trying to break into the illustration scene for years now.

1:16.3

I studied to be an engineer, but ditched my career in tech to get individual design and branding.

1:22.4

In the hope that this would lead me closer to illustration.

1:26.5

I love to read and to illustrate, so I hope to one day to be illustrating books.

1:30.8

However, I'm starting to realize that the market is overflowing with brilliant talent

1:35.9

and there aren't enough jobs. A lot of commissions are really low-paying,

1:40.4

unless they're the top tier ones. Getting to a place of reasonable success after years of

1:45.6

working hard at your craft without an end in sight or a sense of what that reward might look like

1:51.7

feels more and more daunting. I wonder if I should just go back to corporate,

1:56.5

which albeit is a bit dry, but at least guarantees some sort of goal system,

2:02.1

some sort of career path. So here's my question. How do you decide when to let go of a creative dream?

...

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