For most aspiring or continuing artist, you want to get paid doing what you love. In this world, you need the money. Being able to monetize your art boosts your confidence, allows you to create more, be more prolific, and it lets you go after the things you want in life. Browse a beginner art forum and most questions, aside from techniques, is like this:
how do I become a professional?
how do I get paid?
how do I get clients?
what's the quickest path to getting commissions?
My friend Seb designs in a company for money. It is work. He doesn't draw in his free time, prefers entertainment instead. Many such cases with the similar company dancer.
Not everyone succeeds as a pro; it's hard, what can i say. There's tons of videos and articles and courses that will show you how to make money or market yourself; this one ain't it. This one is for the losers and the outcasts in this game.
You are pressing on with the struggle, but what if no one wants to pay for your art?
Should you quit?
Yes. and No.
If your aim is to create for money, and you base your identity around being a marketable artist, and it's taking a toll on your health, or the pay off is too little for the effort, then quit. Get a job, stack that cash. I found that as a server, one dinner shift's worth of tips is more than a painting that I would spend a good chunk of the week making (that is, if I can find someone who wants to buy it). If you don't care too much about quality, you can be like Brian (a painter on Ebay) who churns out decently-techniqued paintings for cheap, and he is one of the few who is able to thrive like that. Just don't expect a Picasso. Dancing for birthdays, barmitzvahs, music videos, and other little gigs is bad or good depending on our perspective.
Or you can keep trucking for your big break, but know that it's a gamble on your mental and spiritual health, and it's a losing game for dancers especially, since dancers age out. "Art" is a rich kid's game. Hunter Biden is a shitty painter, but recently he got his own gallery showing in New York. K Harris' step-daughter got signed as a pro model, but we know it's not because she's super good-looking or camera-charismatic.
This is not to say you shouldn't do your utmost. Get that fucking money any which way (ethically). It's an art of navigating, all in itself.
When clients hire, they are also looking for something specific. Could be technique, skills, affilation, looks, race, sexuality, agreeableness, moldability, etc... it doesn't mean you are not valid if you don't get hired. They just don't want to pay for you, since it's business first. If you haven't been training in X technique since 12 (and it gets younger and younger every year) or have some slight disability, you might feel like you will never be good enough. That's all good. This is a strength: The rejected stone is the corner stone.
This is why investing time and energy in friends and creating together is both meaningful and important. We should focus more on this, love for God and one another. Money cannot buy loyalty.
This also leaves the artist who refuses to quit with 'the struggle'. What you struggle for is up to you. Maybe you do it for likes, or the attention of the people you fancy, or the byproducts, which is increased perception, a better body, being richer, being stronger, etc... They might motivate you in the short-term, but it's still a losing gambit over time. The house (death) always win.
I propose you do it for God. Wholly. Fuck the money. God is the employer.
Ted Shawn did this.
Creating is an act that ignites the soul-fragment of the creator within you; it is at once an act of love and one of service. Dance is a gift from the divine.
Don't quit. It was never about the money anyway.