The "Starving" Artist

Thought it was really just about clothing huh, take a guess again! Visual artist, Tracy Hobbs stepped in today to discuss two of my favorite things; art and fashion.

"About six months ago, I finally quit my job to dedicate my full attention to being an artist." said Tracy. As one would imagine, its a bit of a struggle to dive into the world of art without a residual income as comfort.

When you truly love something, money shouldn't be the motive. However, in order to produce artwork, you have to have supplies, and art supplies are anything but cheap. Thats where the whole assumption of "the starving artists" is birthed. People think (and rightfully) that with the expenditures, artists must not be able to support themselves unless they are selling pieces of art for hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time.

This is a whole new world in terms of art. It's about more than just sheer talent. You have to also properly market yourself while consistently putting work out. Nevertheless, word of mouth is still the best form of promotion, especially in the art world. The goal is to have your work seen, so the best thing an artist can do is get their work into different peoples hands.

This is a painted rendition of R&B artist, The Weekend. The painting is properly balanced by blending just the right amount of cool colors with warm and positioning them in such a way that the painting gradually goes from one extreme to the other. Well done if I must say so myself Tracy!

Below, Tracy is rocking a plaid yellow shirt paired with some light blue jeans and grey timberland boots. The blue accents on the timberlands balance the subtle blues within the plaid shirt. I, on the other hand chose to wear an almost jade colored v-neck sweater over a multicolored polka dot shirt in cream. My pants are a sea green color so I off set them with a navy polka dot sock and a pair of tan suede bucks.

The paintings are of Issa Raye (left) and the late Prodigy(right) and can be purchased in addition to commissioned pieces by Tracy.