This column really hits home. I spent decades utilizing my illustration skills as a retoucher in the Ad business. Then, once the industry started changing during the pandemic, and firms became far more parsimonious, the clients started dropping off.
So I started to fall back on my illustration skills with story-boarding. Plus I honed my videography skills. But I found that living in the Pacific Northwest didn't have anywhere near the base for clients as NYC did. Meanwhile, the ageism of the creative fields became really apparent as i neared 60. So I fell back on my illustration/cartooning skills, and, well, now generative AI has screwed artists in a big way.
Now I'm a few years away from retirement (which doesn't really exist for creatives), and good grief, I'm getting mighty tired of constantly evolving to adapt to a world that feels like it's lost its mind and its appreciation for artists.
On the plus, I will give that book a read. Who knows? Maybe I'll glean some new path from it.
It's truly a conundrum. And while there is not a one-answer solution to each person's problems in this area especially there is no shortage of ideas out there to try. Sometimes the most obvious thing is staring at you right in the face.
This column really hits home. I spent decades utilizing my illustration skills as a retoucher in the Ad business. Then, once the industry started changing during the pandemic, and firms became far more parsimonious, the clients started dropping off.
So I started to fall back on my illustration skills with story-boarding. Plus I honed my videography skills. But I found that living in the Pacific Northwest didn't have anywhere near the base for clients as NYC did. Meanwhile, the ageism of the creative fields became really apparent as i neared 60. So I fell back on my illustration/cartooning skills, and, well, now generative AI has screwed artists in a big way.
Now I'm a few years away from retirement (which doesn't really exist for creatives), and good grief, I'm getting mighty tired of constantly evolving to adapt to a world that feels like it's lost its mind and its appreciation for artists.
On the plus, I will give that book a read. Who knows? Maybe I'll glean some new path from it.
It's truly a conundrum. And while there is not a one-answer solution to each person's problems in this area especially there is no shortage of ideas out there to try. Sometimes the most obvious thing is staring at you right in the face.
Good luck on your journey, E.R.