I am one of those (possibly annoying) people who can “just draw anything.” Without trying very hard, I can whip up a decent caricature of the goofy guy across the bar, a pretty drawing of a mountain lake, or a really cute walrus. Usually in pen. And usually prompting people around me to say, “Oh my god, I just can’t draw.” And I typically respond by humbly admitting that it’s not magical, I’ve just been doing it a lot for a really long time.
Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved making art of some kind. I think mostly because it was a quiet, solo activity I could get lost in for a while. And it seemed like a good way to keep adults from pestering me. If I was “doing my art,” I was apparently engaged in an approved activity that couldn’t be interrupted with questions about homework or pleas to clean my room. After I was done doing my art, I was no longer in the safe zone, of course. I was fair game for homework and housework.
I liked all kinds of art. Painting, latch hook kits, wood burning, Decoupaging little plaster puppies, you name it. When my grandma came to visit, she would load me up with art supplies and craft projects until I almost didn’t have room to do them. But mostly I loved drawing. I drew everything. Given a giant paper pad and a pencil, I would be occupied for hours. I drew in all kinds of styles, from realistic landscapes to Ziggy and Mickey Mouse. I still have some of those early drawings. Some were good, some were decidedly not so good, but I kept cranking them out regardless.
Of course, the more I did it the better I got. I got noticed, too. I won bookmark-designing contests at school and became a 2nd Grade celebrity. My family knew me as The Artist (no, not that one), and my parents would sign me up for drawing classes and indulged my need for more paper — my dad once brought me a giant box of unused dot matrix computer paper from work. I probably went through it faster than the printer would have. You might say I had a passion for drawing. Adults noticing that passion liked to comment, “Oh, I know what you’re going to be when you grow up.” They said it so much, and I did it so much that I began to believe that yes, that’s what I should probably do to make a living. Duh.
And that’s exactly what I did. Not right away, though. Aside from doing sporadic, low-paying freelance gigs and scribbling on napkins for free, I didn’t actually earn a living from being an artist until I was almost 30. And soon after that, I was doing the job I had dreamed I would be doing back when I was doodling on printer paper. I became a storyboard artist and animator at Nickelodeon. From there, I had a long and successful career both as a freelancer and full time employee doing animation, graphic design, illustration, and eventually my own screenprinting business. You may have even seen my name on some stuff. Fun.
The funny thing about all this is that as I was actively doing these jobs, I probably wouldn’t have said that art was my passion. In fact, sometimes it was downright dull. Sometimes it was fun and sometimes it was just earning a paycheck. There were days where I even hated it. I’m sure there are those who would wonder how I could possibly feel that way when I was doing something that many people only dream about. Yeah, I’ve often wondered that myself.
I was thinking about how when I was in the Air Force, I spent my days running up and down the stairs of massive cargo aircraft, driving vehicles on and off the planes, chaining down pallets — sometimes in the worst weather — then standing on the tarmac in the freezing cold rain or roasting desert sun, considering how lucky I was to be able to do that job. There were days I loved it — I dare say was passionate about it — days when I was just earning a paycheck, and days where I hated it.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the nature of passion and work and how we try so hard to combine the two. Just about anyone who has sought answers as to what job or career they should pursue is given the advice, “Just follow your passion.” I used to spout that aphorism myself, because for a long time I believed it. After all, I followed my passion and it resulted in a successful art career. These days, I don’t think it’s the best advice.
In his book The Algebra of Wealth, Scott Galloway suggests that, instead of following your passion, you should follow your talent. The reason is that while you may be passionate about something — dogs, for example — it doesn’t necessarily follow that you would enjoy being a veterinarian. Instead, it’s better to cultivate a talent you already have and turn that into a lucrative career. Maybe you’re really good at making spreadsheets and tracking money. Becoming an accountant is one way to leverage that talent and make a lot of money. In your downtime, you can indulge your passion for dogs.
Another aphorism that’s overused is, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” I would change that to “Do what you’re good at and the money will follow.”
I’m fortunate enough that I am both good at something — drawing — and I also love doing it. For fun, anyway. But it turned out that every time I tried to sync up my passion for drawing with work, it became just another job. The shine rubbed off. Along the way I discovered that I’m also good at analyzing data and creating visual representations of vague concepts. For a good portion of my career in art, that’s what I did. It wasn’t as sexy as animating cartoons, but it was extremely lucrative and I had a knack for it.
These days I create art for art’s sake. I still love it. Maybe I’ll sell it in some way, but it’s not something I need to do to pay the bills. Instead, I maintain websites and write about software. Is it my passion? Hardly. I enjoy the work and I’m good at it. I get to mess around with databases, write some code, solve technical issues, create tutorials. It’s a living that I can live with. In the meantime, I can indulge my passion for art — I’m thinking of doing another animated film or even hosting a festival — but the money isn’t a factor.
If you’re banging your head against the wall because you don’t have a so-called “passion,” to turn into a career, I’m here to tell you, let that shit go. Find something your pretty good at, develop the skill, and figure how to get paid for that. Then go dabble in all the other things you love just because you can. You’ll make more money and more importantly, you’ll be happier.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
Leave a Reply