The economics of prison? Well, I guess the kid is back with more fun facts of prison. Yeah, right, fun? No, sir! Prison sucks; that’s for sure. No matter what prison you’re in, you have still lost your freedom and have to survive. So with all this said, the penitentiary is a world inside a world. We have a community economy and somewhat messed up infrastructure 🙂 Old prisons falling apart, pests in need of control, etc. Sorry for my language, prison does that to you too. Also, okay, so the thing is, as much as there are many people who don’t have financial support, you also have the other side that does have financial support, and this helps and does a big part for the people who don’t have much help. So, it’s a big part of the prison economy because artists or any type of people that have a trade in prison who don’t have financial support depend on these people, which are the customers. And those same people that are customers depend on TDCJ commissary’s goods or family to take care of business.
Because let’s say I’m the artist, and I am selling cards for birthdays, holidays, or love cards, we can bargain the price and the goods depending on how good the artwork is. Because nobody wants bad art or bad products. Like, would you buy a bad product? I mean, in here, a bad card is still bought, but not because we are going to keep it. It’s more out of sympathy, like you are just trying to help the guy. I’ve bought bad art cards and just threw them away, honestly. But back to the point, if it wasn’t for me or anybody that does have financial support, then the prison economy would just suffer. I’m pretty sure they would find a way to find some type of currency or barter because you can sell anything in prison, including your own food tray that the state gives you. But we make a whole lot of difference for people in prison.
There was a time that I didn’t have anything. My family barely sent money, and I went on for years without anything, only left to my own self to find a way to get what I needed. So, I’m lucky to be talented :). And you have many others that are also talented. Just because you are not an artist doesn’t mean you are not talented. Maybe you know how to speak to people and can talk someone into buying you some soap :). Maybe you’re good with electronics; maybe you do other things. But you have to find a way, or you will just plain be stuck with nothing. There is no way I can name so many artists or talented people because there are so many. But in art, some people are just talented and can draw anything; maybe they learn by themselves.
Look, no one taught me anything. I had to learn on my own with a pencil and paper. It’s the same with tattoos. I didn’t have books or people to tell me, “Hey, you need to fix that, and this is how it’s supposed to look.” I was on my own, but that’s just me. Some people learn out of a book; some people went to school for it. Yes, there are people in prison with college degrees; every person has their own story… People in prison love to buy portraits for their family, which their family asks for a lot of times. Peoples’ families make requests for certain things. They want a lot of females just want a plain pretty card with their name on it. I always ask what they like or want when a request is made for a card they want done for their spouse or sibling. But the most popular artwork that sells are portraits. It’s the first thing they ask when you draw: can you do portraits?
The second popular artwork is pop-out cards. Those sell but don’t go for much, so they make a lot. I bought a really good pop-up card for 50¢. He made and sold many; the saying goes “dollars add up” is really true, so he made some money to get what he needs. But you can basically request anything. I used to draw for books to read. Like I said, the people with financial support make a difference in the prison economy, so the guy had help, and I told him, “Order me this book, or many books, and I got you :).” So it’s a good thing we have these people. The most memorable piece I did was a piece of Kobe Bryant after he passed away, in color.