Death to the Starving Artist trope 🔪
The idea that success is making all your money from your art at any cost is based on cultural myths, romanticized narratives, and societal expectations.
For centuries, the starving artist archetype has been painted as noble, almost necessary, for true creativity. If you’re not sacrificing everything, are you really an artist? This glorification of struggle fuels the idea that suffering equals authenticity.
Success stories often focus on the extreme: the musician who quit their day job to “make it” big, the painter who lived in squalor because getting a day job was selling out, the writer who left their family to live in a cabin for a year so they could solely write.
The in-between, gradual growth or balanced approach rarely gets airtime.
There’s also the capitalist influence. Society ties success to financial independence. If your art can’t pay the bills, the message is that it’s just a “hobby.”
Add the fact that highlight reels on Instagram or TikTok make it look like everyone is "living the dream" of their art, and you’ve got a dangerous cocktail that leaves artists, musicians, photographers, and writers feeling guilty for wanting any life balance.
Is There Any Truth to It?
Sure, it’s amazing if you can make a living solely from your art. That’s a dream for many creatives.
But is it necessary to validate your identity as an artist? Not at all.
Art Is About Expression, Not Income: Success as an artist is about creating work that resonates—with yourself and others—not about matching your tax return to your creative output.
Diversified Income Is Normal: Most successful artists have multiple streams of income. Maybe you sell prints, teach workshops, or have a part-time gig. That’s not failure; that’s strategy.
Fulfillment Beats Pressure: If making all your money from your art drains your joy or limits your creativity, it’s okay to find balance. Sometimes, having other income sources actually gives you the freedom to create without compromise.
Who benefits from this?
Creative industry gatekeepers, social media platforms, and capitalism. These groups profit or gain power, artists lose—financially, emotionally, and creatively.
1. Gatekeepers in Creative Industries
Who they are: Record labels, galleries, publishers, agencies.
How they benefit: The myth of suffering and scarcity keeps artists willing to work for exposure, accept unfavorable deals, or underprice their work. When artists feel their success depends on these gatekeepers, it reinforces the power imbalance, making exploitation easier.
2. Corporations and Platforms
Who they are: Social media companies, streaming services, online marketplaces.
How they benefit: Platforms profit from creators who feel compelled to churn out free or low-cost content to "make it" or stay visible. The more you hustle for pennies, the more engagement they get—while paying creators next to nothing.
3. Capitalism as a System
How it benefits: The "starving artist" myth reinforces the idea that creativity isn’t real work unless it’s lucrative, keeping artists in a cycle of underpaid passion projects and side gigs. This pressures creatives to stay in survival mode, limiting their ability to challenge existing systems or advocate for better pay. This allows society to consume art and culture without feeling obligated to compensate the creators fairly.
The "starving artist" belief creates barriers to financial stability, perpetuates burnout, and discourages many from pursuing art at all.
Shifting this narrative benefits not just creatives, but everyone who values art and culture. It’s time to replace "starving" with thriving.
Success as a creative isn’t one-size-fits-all. Whether your art funds your life entirely or it’s part of a bigger puzzle, you’re still an artist. What matters most is whether your work feels meaningful to you—and whether you’re building a life that allows you to keep creating, on your terms.
Success isn’t about living someone else’s narrative—it’s about defining your own.
