Do you really want to be a professional artist?

Recent comments from YouTubers Sonya F and kachuchart got me thinking this week.

You know, you don’t HAVE to be a professional artist. So much of being a professional is hard and tenuous. You need to be really dedicated.

There is nothing wrong with being an amateur. That word does not mean you are no good, it just means you don’t make your living with your art. It means you can do the art you like to do and not have to please anyone but yourself. Amateur come from the latin – Amo – to love. One who loves to do something – one who doesn’t have to do it.

A professional always has to please someone who might pay the bills!

I also talk about positive thinking. There is so much rubbish talked about this – just thinking positive won’t do. You have to be positive and live positive – It’s a choice in life. There are forces – mostly inertia – that make you want to stay where you are and keep choosing to do what you do now. But if you want things to change in the future, you have to make that change now.