Doesn't mean it couldn't happen, only that I haven't heard it did.
The art goes, people find them and put them to use, you have more room to work again, you make more, and the cycle renews.There you have it in a nutshell!
I did craft fairs for years. Many years. I mostly did pretty well. Did the Renaissance Faire for 3 years. Then I had my own store. That was the best, much easier having customers come to me. After that I found setting up and taking down a booth was too much like hard work so I stopped doing that. Tried selling online but a lot of competition there. Things went into boxes and that's the story of my crafting life!
I have many artist friends. Some struggle, a few make a living at it. They all do the work, put the time and effort in, some click and others don't. I don't know why.
I'm curious, if you're willing to share, what your art medium is?
Oh, well, I don't know that I have one. :) I like to create, but that mostly manifests itself in writing, and lately, the writing is for posts here. I prefer fiction and editorializing, but find myself swerving into all sorts of subjects.
I do like taking pictures, when there's something interesting to capture.
When I was in high school, I wanted to become a comic book artist, but never really got good enough at drawing and of course, talk about competition. I've dabbled in video here and there, but really, I end up back at writing.
I do like to see what others are doing, ask them about technique, what they use to create things. I would still like to get stories in my head into the real world, and while many of those will take novel form, others may wind up in comic book series some day, with someone else doing the art. :)
My first thought was Scott Adams draws Dilbert and he's not a great artist!
But, yes, it's a competitive market, no guarantees of success.
However you create, in one form or in many, it's a gift to the world. And stays a gift even if you get paid for it!
If you really like the idea of the Abandoned Art Project I could see you making bookmarks with some of your writing, maybe some of your photography? You could add contact/feedback info. You could even make it the 'tag' so no extra packaging, and if it's interesting or pretty people would probably save and use it!
It's an idea, anyway, right? I'll think about it. It would be cool to see what people think when they discover it and have an honest use for it.
re: Scott Adams
I guess I've never really looked at Dilbert from a technical standpoint. A lot of comic strip artists don't really need to be great, they just need to convey an idea, and be consistent in drawing their characters. You don't usually have a lot of different angles in that type of art. It's normally two-dimensional, from the side and more or less straight on the subjects.
That, I might be able to manage, if that was what I was interested in. I, however, tend to get more ambitious with my composition than what my art talent will allow. :) And I really haven't been in production mode for years. Roughly 34 years ago, I wrote and drew a small graphic novel. Other than some character developing here and there, I really haven't done a whole lot more than that.
Yes, just a suggestion!
You are right about the Dilbert comic. It conveys an idea and doesn't pretend to be 'art'. More is expected from graphic novels, as you know better than I. I think if you are still thinking about the idea from years ago it's worth letting it percolate, playing with pencils on blank paper, doodling, and seeing what happens. Nothing to lose, no pressure, no expectations, find out if it's still something you'd like to do!