What kind of work that allows me to paint and draw while working for a normal job

[Chaoz]

there is thread
http://conceptart.org/forums/showthr...-it-as-artists

dpaint mentioned security guard, and receptionist...I do have a security guard license and been one and looking for a graveyard shift so no one will know im drawing during this time. but It is hard to find it right now so I need more options

what other positions do you think will make good practice opportunities to do art relating stuff while working a normal job. im in school during this time so I can't really get full time.

[QueenGwenevere]

Theater usher? I know an artist who does that... She gets a lot of sketching done on the job, apparently.

Or how about fire warden? Okay, I don't know anything about this job, but it seems to involve sitting alone in a tower in the woods all day, seems like you could get a lot of sketching and painting done.

Or gallery assistant. I've done that. When there's work to be done putting up or taking down exhibits you run around a lot with drills and spackle, but in between there can be a fair amount of downtime, depending. Plus, networking opportunities, yo.

[Dusty]

Theater usher? I know an artist who does that... She gets a lot of sketching done on the job, apparently.

I can vouch for that.
I was a theater usher while in art school and it was badass! Occasionally, they'd put me behind the concession stand which was pretty busy, but most of the time I stood at the ticket box tearing tickets.
It got to a point where I was the ultimate artist slacker at that job because I could tear a ticket with one hand. So a lot of the times I would barely even look up at the people. They didn't care anyway. I found most people didn't actually LIKE to be addressed on their way to the theater and found it odd or awkward to have someone rattle off some "Welcome to Loews Theaters! You're movie is in theater #2, 2nd theater on your right!".

So I tore the ticket with one hand, glanced at them, and said "Theater 2".

It was awesome. I still have a TON of those old sketches, too.

[Mrianna]

I'm working a call center right now, inbound, and when we're not busy i can get some decent work put it. But that would be like first thing in the morning or real late at night.

[Kamber Parrk]

Cop.

The dirty secret about cops? They don't do that much.

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek" did much of his early writing while working for LAPD.

[vineris]

Some computer repair work. If you're installing software or running virus checks you can get plenty of drawing in while things chug along. It depends on how long your task list is, though.

[Chaoz]

that sounds genious especially with that tablet with pressure sensitivity it sounds even better since i can digitally paint now. wait can i have a tablet out?

[Kolbenito]

Agree on PC repair tech type jobs. As long as you jump on stuff when it comes in and get it done, nobody will care if you do some sketching at your desk between tickets. I wish I would have done that more when I had that kind of job.

[bish0p2004]

I actually work in a group home and most of the guys we have in the house are very high functioning so they have their own hobbies and things to do for the most part....so we get a lot of down time at the house. They also go to sleep very early and I can get at least 3 hours in of drawing time pretty much 90% of the time.

Hell, I even bring my Samsung Slate 7 to draw on everyday.

[keeptime]

I'm working a call center right now, inbound, and when we're not busy i can get some decent work put it. But that would be like first thing in the morning or real late at night.

I used to work at an outbound call centre and I got a lot of drawing done while waiting for the machine to find a number that picked up. I wouldn't vouch for that job though. It sucks your soul dry.

[Star Eater]

At my old construction job, when I moved from site work into an office, I think that's where I got most of my art done.
Plus, I had a tablet because I used to help out with creating presentations. I got a ton of artwork done there. One or
two are in my portfolio. The only trick I could give was never to have my monitor facing the door and to always have
a look of furrowed concern or concentration whenever someone walked past.

Admittedly its not an ideal position for this thread, but it reminded me a lot of my art-on-the-sly days. Glad those
are over. I hate company toilets.

[ConnyNordlund]

I'd like to hear more suggestions. This is interesting.
I'm looking for a job right now myself, reading this is kinda fun. I never really thought of getting a job where I can draw on the side but that's a great idea. The only thing I had in mind was to get a job that didn't drain my soul into a pit of shit.

[blogmatix]

Many years ago a friend of mine was a messenger for a pathology firm. Some evenings he would be very busy ferrying samples of blood, shit and body parts from hospitals to the firm, but many evenings were extremely quiet. His hobby was reading; he probably read through many books on the job. Had it been art, he surely would have gotten many sketches done.

[karta tajba]

Parking at a concert place. You don't get to work many days, so always time for drawing and we get breaks and don't do much on other days.

[nofu]

I had a friend who worked as a mailman and post is delivered only in mornings here so well, he didn't have time to draw at his job but he just had a lot of free time.

[Chaoz]

I am going to revive this thread since it sounds like a good idea for people to know too. I am currently a concierge at an appartment, I dont do much other than the occasional patrol and report writing so I bring my laptop and tablet with me and now my tablet is kapoot so I need to buy a new one these few days, I still want more options since I don't really want to be a security guard forever in case my plan fails

I know I am having it good but more options is more options and more knowledge to share with everyone.

[Velocity Kendall]

cool thread
call centre work eats, but i recommend cad drafter for the city council, those old boys spent weeks doing their lousy pen and ink plans back in the day, so if you can survey and CAD quickly you can do something in 2 hours, spend the rest of the day doing whatever you like, email it at the end of the day and theyre over the moon.
that pretty much turned out to ne the same with freelence; work fast, then get stoned and relax and draw.
mikes tips on screen orientation and a look on your face/skype avatar that suggests youve just cracked a fiendishly diffficult and pressing problem when anyone comes into your office are definitely key too.

[OmenSpirits]

Office employee at a computer terminal. When I was writing I wrote short stories, and 60% of a novel, and was drawing constantly. Did most of those bargue's while at work. Doesn't hurt to be very good at your job (which I am and take no pride in doing drone crap, but it has its advantages).

[CCorsair]

Really the best job for Drawing and work is to get job doing it.. If you hired to be a security guard you need to be a security guard and doing your job.. (not siting about drawing gave yard shift or not). My fist jobs I had was working for a Graphic screen shop and they told me even with all the screen work and camera work I did they wanted me to draw and to make graphics.. Not sure if you can get one like that but they are out there.. I did freelance work at the same time plus had a second job as dishwasher for a pizza place.. (that didn't last long) But I still had the graphic job till the two people who owned the company split up and closed the shop but i had good start to my work and worked freelance for many years. You just need to decided what you want to do for living and what you want to do for fun and see how to make both work.. I have tons of computer skills so i use them for daily work in Computers and have moved from tech to security work.. My art skills play in it as it give me a good way to observe people in my job and gives me better deduction skills as well.. and I get to draw and do my art. At best find how to make both of the things you good at be a job or way to bring in income.. no income no time to do anything as you won't have the funds to what you want to do .. And you can't do security guard work and draw.. it just not good way to keep a job.. it's not like in TV shows or Movies you are not sitting at a desk all the time and you are there to guard the people who hair you stuff.. no draw it..

keep looking and keep asking around.. some has to need you skills that will make you happy..

CC

[Chaoz]

actually the security guard image is not false. I actually do sit on a desk all the time and watch the monitor screen at midnight. afternoon and evenings even. no one ever bothers you, they will never know you are holding a tablet and think you are writing reports. I only patroll once in a hour for ten minutes. also starting freelancing too early is not too good of idea if I build a network

[MRJunior]

one more to add in your list;

months ago I listened an interview of Kekai Kotaki that he used to draw a lot when he was working late night at a radio station, something like check if the "playlist" don't fuck up.. maybe it could be a good idea

[Chaoz]

one more to add in your list;

months ago I listened an interview of Kekai Kotaki that he used to draw a lot when he was working late night at a radio station, something like check if the "playlist" don't fuck up.. maybe it could be a good idea

sounds quite good but isnt radio going out of bussiness? or am I wrong?

[Angel Intheuk]

My current day job is switchboard worker, even on our busiest days I can do 2 or 3 hours of sketching if I'm focused. The only trouble is that on the busy days it can get frustrating but it balances out, like today, it's been about 20 minutes since I last took a call so I've been on here (hmm I should be drawing really )

[TristanFletcher]

Would a job at the public library allow a lot of time to draw?

[Brightdreamer]

Would a job at the public library allow a lot of time to draw?

Speaking as a library page (lowest on the library employment totem pole), the answer would be "No." I work at the shipping/materials distribution center; aside from a 10-odd minute break in the middle of the 5-hour shift, there is no guaranteed down time, nor is there a place to put a sketchbook for even a quick gesture on the fly. (If the computers go berserk, or we have a very light load and finish before the last truck shows up, we get a "natural break," but it's not something you could count on.) In an actual library branch, there is no shortage of stuff to do, in my experience. You probably have to get a nice desk-based job, with enough hours for a lunch break, to get enough free time for sketching/writing/creating/whatever-non-work-stuff-you-mean-to-do. (Maybe info desk... but that's higher up the employment rung, so you'd either have to get a degree or start out as a page to get your foot in the door anyway. And even then, I wouldn't count on it... libraries are surprisingly busy places behind the scenes.)

On the plus side, a metric spitload of inspiring books passes through my hands on any given workday... and, if there's no hold slip on them, I can check them out and take them home.

But I can only speak for my local library system...

[Sumgai83]

I'm working for a government job right now. It's actually a 8.30 - 6 pm job (and people are allowed to leave on the dot). Depending on the location you can sit somewhere that no one notices, then you can parcel out a bit of time to draw. You'll have to be lucky though, if you're stuck at a visible area then you'll have to do work.

But...it's still a 8 hour job which means you can draw during lunchtime and after all, all the way til sleep.

[Syle]

I just wanted to bump this thread in case there are some fresh ideas out there.

[Harkins]

My graphic design job was the best one I had for drawing. Paid extremely well and I could get like 2 weeks ahead on creating graphics. I would just sit there and digitally paint and stuff with the Wacom. My boss actually didn't care as long as my work was caught up.

[Syle]

My graphic design job was the best one I had for drawing. Paid extremely well and I could get like 2 weeks ahead on creating graphics. I would just sit there and digitally paint and stuff with the Wacom. My boss actually didn't care as long as my work was caught up.

That sounds pretty sweet.

What sort of skill set does that require? I've already got some experience designing some logos for some of my friends' businesses. I am very proficient in Photoshop, but that's about it.

[Birkeley]

I used to have a data entry job in which I could meet the daily work quota pretty quickly and I would write stories when I was done (had to be good at minimising notepad fast in case anyone crept up on me though; only got caught once!). These days I'd probably read eBooks instead. I wanted to point out that, while it may not be as good as drawing, I think there are probably quite a lot of jobs out there where, as long as you get your allocated work done, you could take some books about drawing/art in digital format and read them on the PC and get some studying in that way.

I don't think this is cheating the employer. I can understand why some might be a little miffed if you are using their equipment for personal stuff, but at the same time if they are paying you a certain amount to get a certain amount of work done and you do it then you've met your obligatons and expectations and how you go about allocating the time isn't really anyone else's business.