Do You Make Art As An Adult?

Sometimes I feel surreptitiously motivated to produce art.

I often class art as one of my SI's, but I mostly only appreciate art.
Historically, I've felt demotivated about making things in general likely because I feel like there being a social reward to doing so is in some way required in order for me to be productive in this way.
I frequently fantasize about having had a clos-knit art friends while growing up so we would show each other our OC's, collaborate on some sort of shared world, talk about narratives, etc.
Lurking on DeviantArt, YT, Twitter, etc. helps me vicariously live that fantasy by assuming the artists posting stuff there have lives of that kind.

Aside from the lack of a social component to the creative process, the idea of being a unemployed, not college-educated, friendless, likely futureless adult causes me to feel like I'm wasting my time whenever I try creating art.
Do you feel somehow like that too, or can relate to anything in my exposition?

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  • I'm an unemployed adult. I left school at 16 so don't have qualifications beyond GCSEs and I don’t have many friends so I spend most days at home alone. I struggle to imagine a future in the conventional sense. But honestly that’s why creating art is SO important to me. It’s my way of showing up in the world and saying 'hey look what I made, maybe I'm not as useless as I thought I was' (even if I'm just saying it to myself).

    I know I shouldn’t have to prove myself to anyone but sometimes it just feels good to know I’ve done something productive. It also helps when I am meeting people and they ask the dreaded "what do you do?". I feel a little less embarrassed saying I’m unemployed when I can say that I create art. I really don't believe anyone should need a job or a skill to justify their existence but making art does help my self esteem in that way.

    I really get what you said about the social side of creativity. I’d love to have a group of friends to share ideas with and just be creative together. I made an Instagram for my art at one point which I don't use anymore but when I did it gave me a sense of connection and validation.

    Beyond purpose or meaning though I do think that just the act of creating is very therapeutic. That alone makes it worthwhile even if no one ever sees it. Humans have been making art since the beginning of time so it's an intrinsic trait. To me creative expression in any form can never be a waste of time.

  • Thank you for replying. It is good to know there are other people in a somewhat similar situation to mine.

    And the "What you do?" thing never really bothers me. I tend to either lie or just say "unemployed". I'm glad you found a way you're comfortable with to deal with that, though.

    Hmmm. Does having an Instagram account for your art still cause you to feel a sense of connection and validation?

Reply
  • Thank you for replying. It is good to know there are other people in a somewhat similar situation to mine.

    And the "What you do?" thing never really bothers me. I tend to either lie or just say "unemployed". I'm glad you found a way you're comfortable with to deal with that, though.

    Hmmm. Does having an Instagram account for your art still cause you to feel a sense of connection and validation?

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