"I'm Broke, But Can You Make Me a Masterpiece?"

Why custom art isn’t free just because the tools got faster

So, let me paint you a picture.

You’re an artist, illustrator, or other visual content creator who’s incorporated AI into your workflow at some point. One day, you open up Facebook, Instagram, TicketyTok, or wherever it is you go online when you feel like sharing some of your renders.

There’s a message request waiting there for you.

Maybe it’s from someone you know in passing. Could be from someone you’ve never met who stumbled across something you made at random. Either way, they’re reaching out in search of custom artwork for a CD cover, a tattoo design, or maybe just a gift for a friend.

And while they admit they’re broke and don’t have a lot of money to throw around, they’re hoping that maybe — just maybe — you can help them out. Cheaply.

Cue the sigh. Cue the eye rub. Cue the immediate inner monologue of, “Do I even have the bandwidth for this? Because I know how this usually goes…”

Spoiler: It goes like this more often than not. And yet… I might still say yes.

Let’s talk about it.

The Opening Line Every Artist Knows by Heart

“I don’t have much money, but…”

I have heard this exact sentence — verbatim — dozens upon dozens of times over the years. It’s basically the universal handshake of freelance digital artists, especially those of us who dabble in AI or otherwise use digital tools to bring our visions to life.

It’s never malicious. It’s not even always entitled. A lot of the time, it’s just how people are used to opening the door. They lead with scarcity, with apology, and with the hope that you’ll either:

• Feel bad for them and cut your rate, or…
• Be so balls-out passionate about art that you’ll do it for free because you love making art just that damn much

But here’s the thing. I do love making art. A lot. Always have and almost certainly always will. And that’s exactly why I don’t just give the things I make away for a fart and a song.

On Returning After an Unplanned Hiatus and Thanksgiving

Haynes King - The Letter

So here I am -- back from a somewhat involuntary break from blogging and working on getting back into the swing of things. I didn't plan things that way, but I did wind up busier than I needed to be, so I had to make a few judgment calls on the fly. I'm no longer willing to risk burnout or cut into my personal time with my husband to get ungodly amounts of work done, so I decided to simply put a couple of things on hold instead.

Sadly, blogging didn't make the cut as far as my writing life goes, but in retrospect, the break seems to have been good for me. Not only do I feel less poopy about certain things I'd been feeling poopy about, but I'm genuinely excited to get back into the groove after some time away. I've really missed expressing my thoughts this way and interacting with other writers on Medium and across all my social media channels.

As for what I have been up to, I did indeed wind up participating in this year's NaNoWriMo event. And I won, as these days I try to follow through on the writing commitment I make to myself come hell or high water. So that means I have a whole new collection of short stories under my belt -- one for every day in November. 

In April, I'll probably edit it for Camp NaNoWriMo and then begin releasing the stories one by one after that, as that worked out remarkably well last year. In the meantime, I still have plenty of stories leftover from last year's event that still haven't seen the light of day, so I'll still be floating the occasional fiction piece out there in the meantime. 

I've also been really busy with my copywriting business. I started writing marketing-themed content for a new client toward the end of October, and it's been working out really well so far. Not only does he toss me a good amount of work and pay me really well for it, but he eventually invited me to become a credited contributor to his company's blog. That means that although he's still my client and I'm still a hired freelancer, I'm no longer a ghostwriter as far as this particular client is concerned. And I'm stoked about it.

As anyone who's known me or read my stuff for long knows, I've had kind of a love/hate relationship with freelancing, in general, and ghostwriting, in particular when it comes to my writing. On the one hand, I love earning my living doing something like this instead of killing myself behind a cash register or a reception desk somewhere. But I don't always love letting other people take credit for content I worked hard on, especially when that content contains a lot of myself. 

I do occasionally still take one-off assignments about odd topics I don't really care about, but as I've gained experience, I've also niched down quite a lot. Most of the material I write for my regulars these days is on topics that I'm genuinely interested in and knowledgeable about -- like marketing, food, or relationships -- so it's not always easy to just give it away and let someone else take the credit for it. Being given a byline by this new client has really made me feel seen and valued in an exciting new way, so I'll be pursuing more opportunities like that in the future for sure.