Pulpu

Last year, I used to work as a part-time teacher while I pursued trying to work on my illustration. A part of my brain that became hugely influenced by social media’s artist influencer culture made me convinced that I could make a living off of art too. But I was always exhausted.

This year, I’m working full-time yet I’m less exhausted. I feel more fulfilled, more vibrant, healthier, and even more focused and creative.

It sounds counterintuitive to tell you that having a full-time job while creating art is less exhausting, but I have a case to make.

Money

Last year, I was making less money off of being a part-time teacher while I was still trying to build streams of income through art. I had more time and freedom to create, so I was sure that I could find a way to build my artist career.

To please the Instagram algorithm lord, I’d upload very regularly and build my followers. I studied and researched myriads of ways I can make some income through art, such as selling merch, gallery, artshows, etc. I actually tried making my own products, and got contacted by a galleries to do exhibitions and show my art in artshows. These were all great opportunities, but I felt very exhausted after making one art piece.

I thought putting less energy into full-time job and having more time to create will be less stressful and exhausting. However, it turns out, that I ended up focusing on money and I became stressed about many things other than creating. I was worried about recognition, and how I can monitize people’s attention. It a was very daunting experience to try to gain recognition while my bank account was dwindling as I got more and more exhausted.

I spent almost the entire last year talking to friends and family about how I plan to make money through art and the steps I’m taking to make it happen. My friends, colleagues and family would often praise me for my achievements. However, my boyfriend joked that I should make a “Pulpu Accounting Firm” if I want to make a living off of my character.

“Or how about Pulpu Insurance?”

I’d get annoyed but it was funny so I let it slide.

However, by the end of that year, I came to realize that my art was no where near money making status. Yes, there are people who can make good money through art. Yes, there are people who are good at marketing their art. And yes, if I kept at it, and just had more time, I could get some recognition. But right now I didn’t have enough art or business or marketing skills to make my dream happen. My bank account was suffering and my exhaustion was steaming through my skin (my skin was literally red from skin problems back then). I was just running out of time and energy to make my dream come true.

When this year came around, I decided to take on a full-time job to focus on my teaching career and stepped back from creating for a bit. I remembered I cried a bit when my boyfriend told me that I should create because I love it, not because I want to make money. If I want to make money I should do Pulpu Accounting. Having part time job made me more obessed about money instead of giving me creative freedom.

After I started full-time teaching, my art hiatus got longer and longer, not because I was exhausted from work (I actually really enjoyed working full-time, so I gained more energy), but it was because I thought that art might exhaust me again.

I came back to creating not too long ago. I was surprised that I wasn’t exhausted creating anymore. I spend creating about the same time as I did before, and I’m actually a bit more consistent these days without feeling like my body is failing me.

I felt more free, more whimsical, and took my time to think about what’s true to me, instead of what pleases the algorithm lord.

I also took more time to study. I’m studying more about business and marketing without the pressure to rush it too much. I actually feel more competent than last year because I’m taking necessary steps to build my skills and knowledge instead of pressuring myself to try anything and everything I see on instagram.

I have more time to work on being an artist on a long-run with the stable income.

Self esteem and self efficacy

My competence as a teacher became important part of having more energy. I spent the beginning of this year focusing on getting used to working full-time, but also just focusing on my love for teaching. Because I spent longer hours honing my teaching skills, I felt more confident and competent as a teacher. That helped me to have more energy in other part of my life too, especially art.

Taking inspirations from work and life

Not every art needs a clear purpose. We create to create, and we are born to create. However, as a person who likes to plan, and who prefers to make plans again after failed attempts, I wanted some direction to my art.

I love teaching too, so I wanted to find some ways to combine them together.

I have many plans, and I bought many books on education, art, and business, but right now, I drew inspiration from my current work.

I teach in an English academy that teaches reading through picturebooks. There aren’t many academies that do this in Korea, but we focus on English aquisition through reading instead of learning English academically.

I taught in other academies too, but I felt the best as a teacher reading picturebook and encouraging reading. I think it’s because I feel creative and I have a lot of fun reading picturebooks, but it’s also because I see changes in students too. My students I have now, are the least stressed students I’ve met in English academies, and I gain so much joy from them acquiring English naturally from just having a lot of fun.

And thanks to my work, I read borrowed (stole) some books from my boss’ bookshelf and studied on English reading. I learned that voluntary reading is more effective than learning English academically, and having fun is essential in langauge acquisition because it lowers students’ stress and opens students’ heart and mind to acquire more language.

One day, while I was doing my morning self-study, I wrote this on my Notion:

“If I want to use my skills and give the best education for kids who want to learn English, I might as well make a picturebook that kids love to read.”

Because my new direction for drawing and building my art career has a bigger purpose than creativity itself, I became more motivated to build my artist career.

Conclusion:

The journey from part-time teaching to pursung art full-time has been a transformative one, and it was valuable personal growth.

Having a full-time job now, I gained even more finantial stability, inspirations, and competence.

So I hope this journey serves as a testament to the importance of balance, self-discovery, and finding alignment between passion and purpose.