Craftsman vs Artist

This is a pet peeve of mine, not dating advice.  But it will relate to my next dating advice blog, so you might want to read it anyway.

Art can generally be categorized as either "Artist's Choice" or "For Hire".

Of the world's most famous works, many of them were "For Hire". For Hire does not mean not artistic, it means you do what someone paid you to do, not what you want.

The Mona Lisa was a portrait.  Da Vinci was paid to paint that particular women, if he painted her 'weird' (i.e. Picasso style) or painted someone else, he wouldn't  get paid.

Normal Rockwell's paintings were for a The Saturday Evening Post. At least at the beginning, he painted what they wanted on the cover (he probably got more control as he became famous.)

Michelangelo had to deliver the specific christian scenes the church wanted - and worse, the Pope kept interrupting him and giving him side projects.  He originally was hired to build a tomb, but the Sistine chapel was one of many such interruptions.

I myself am an amateur artist.  I sculpt, I dance, and I write.   I know the desire to create what you want.  But it is not the right of an artist to do so.   Being an artist does not automatically mean you get to do what you want.  The words artistic license refers to the ability to differ from reality, not to differ from the guy paying your bills.

Yes, some artists never work for hire.  They paint/sculpt/etc. what they want, and try to sell it.  Usually that kind of art sells better after the artist is dead, and almost always only sells via auctions.  When you want total artistic freedom, you give up a steady paycheck.

Most 'traditional' artists that sell,know this.  Even people whose art sells for massive amounts of money at auctions knows that if someone tries to commission a piece, they have to give them what they want.

The problem I am discussing usually happens for 'artists' that are also craftsman.  Often there is no sharp dividing line between an artist and a craftsman.  Cooks may be craftsman, putting out acceptable quality meals, or they can be artists, creating delicious masterpieces.   Same with photographers, wedding singers, etc.  Instead of a sharp border, there is a gray area in between the craftsman and the artist.

The problem is that artists can usually demand more money than a craftsman.  So many of the people creating  in the 'gray area jobs' want to be pure artists.  But at the same time, most of the jobs in the gray area are from people seeking craftsmen.  Everyone restaurant owner has a story of the arrogant cook with ridiculous demands.  Then there are the less ridiculous demands, that quite frankly are still not reasonable

For example, a cook that gets upset when the customer wants salt, pepper, or even ketchup.   Then there are graphic designers that dislike it when the customer changes what they do.   There are also a bunch of artists that try to steal work from craftsmen.  For some reason wedding photographer 'artists' have stolen the market from craftsmen.   People don't want a wedding artist, they want a wedding craftsman.   No one I know wants to hire an artist that will keep the negatives/digital files and permissions to reproduce.  The idea that the photographer would do this is quite frankly ridiculous.  It is a wedding, not a model shoot.   If the photographer wants the rights, then the photographer should pay for the privilege of using us as their models.  We don't pay you to be your models.

Look, if da Vinci could take orders from Francesco del Giocondo, and Normal Rockwell could take orders from George Horace Lorimer, and Michelangelo could take orders from Pope Julius II, then cooks, photographers, and other artists working in crafts can take orders from their customers.


I love art.  If you can be a starving artist and want to be it then go for it.  But don't try to get work for my craftsman's job and then get angry that I am treating you like a craftsman instead of an artist.  You want my money, then you take my orders.  While there may be a minute number of rich hedonists out there willing to pay you for whatever art you feel like creating, don't expect the majority of people to pay you to do what you want to do.