There were days you didn't eat. There were nights when you cruised the pubs for barfly hags in their 50s - not for the sex but for a place to sleep. You suffered for your art by peddling your ass, by scoring underage tail for directors and by ruthlessly cutting loose anyone who didn't have what you needed to succeed. People put you onstage because they owed you one, because they were tired of telling you no, or because they were afraid of what you might tell their spouse... but once you were onstage, they couldn't deny it. You had talent, you had energy, you had stage presence!
— Thespian Spy, Vampire: The Masquerade - Clanbook: Toreador (Revised)
Artist: I want to devote my life to ART
Artwork: you also need money to live
Artist's tombstone: OH NO
Artwork: you also need money to live
Artist's tombstone: OH NO
My name is Ted. I'm a successful artist with thousands of fans but I made like 12k last year and I live like a 17th-century ship stowaway. I honestly have no idea how I don't have scurvy right now. ...I've had books out from major publishers, had a comedy special on CTV, won awards... I go back home and people stare at me and talk about how famous I am, but the arts economy being what it is, I literally am poor! I am a poor person. There are definitely some kind of handouts I could be collecting right now if I was actually responsible.
— Ted L, People Watching, Episode 7
Sonic Bunny OC: To support both my family and art career, I have reasonable prices for quality fanart!
DeviantArt Watchers: Why should we pay for fanart?
Sonic Bunny OC: I'm gonna die on the streets. Aren't I god?
DeviantArt Watchers: Did I say something?
DeviantArt Watchers: Why should we pay for fanart?
Sonic Bunny OC: I'm gonna die on the streets. Aren't I god?
DeviantArt Watchers: Did I say something?
"Did my poverty help my creativity? Uh, no."
Old Man: So! Clarence Diggs! I thought it was you! Never learned your scales or modes, did you young man? Just screwed around in class, as I recall! Now look at you, you tone-deaf little weasel! Ha ha ha ha ha! What's that chord you're butchering?
Homeless guitarist: Oh my God! It's Mr. Blanchard, my old music teacher!
Homeless guitarist: Oh my God! It's Mr. Blanchard, my old music teacher!
"Sorry about the crowbar, kid. You'd be surprised how many people want to steal scrap. But, man, once I make it into art, I can't give it away. I mean, what am I? A junkman who makes art or an artist who sells junk? You tell me."
—Dean McCoppin, The Iron Giant
"When she plays the toy piano
With her arabesques and trills
She's a wonder, we all love her
But it doesn't pay the bills"
With her arabesques and trills
She's a wonder, we all love her
But it doesn't pay the bills"
—The Magnetic Fields, "When She Plays the Toy Piano"
"I went to art college, I tried to make it as a graphic artist, a comic book artist, and you know what I got for my efforts? A visible ribcage."
—Stuart, The Big Bang Theory
Speed Dater: I am...a poet.
Retsuko: That's code for poor!
Squidward: Don't you get it?! I'm a LOSER! I've lost my job, my home... everything!!
SpongeBob: (gasp) Even your paintings?
Squidward: Nobody would take them, so I had to eat them!
—SpongeBob SquarePants, "Can You Spare a Dime?"
