In your opinion, is it a bad career move for an aspiring artist in fine art to do caricature drawing at carnivals and malls?

No. Show your flexibility!

Actually I use to see a “Caricature Artist” at several craft shows and street fairs. Then I bumped into him at a night club, he was the singer in a locally followed rock band.

Oh he was also an art teacher at a well known private school in Connecticut during the week.

Just set up a pseudonym and do the art that puts pizza in you belly under that name.

It takes a lot of skill to capture a likeness in a few strokes. I think it would be excellent practice. And if you ever thought it was going to be a liability on your resume, you could just leave it out.

You never know who might be impressed with your work. It can get your name out in the public. Artists have a reputation for being a little quirky, so it probably won’t damage your reputation. Here is a thought. Maybe you could turn it into a kind of performance art.

Could prove quite useful in training lighting and shading of nonstandard shapes.

any solution circumventing the vow of poverty common to your profession should be embraced with enthusiasm.

@rockfan I think it takes a very special talent to draw caricatures too. IMHO I think it would broaden your capabilities.

Not at all. Ya gotta eat while honing your fine art.

Plus,Bill Plympton…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Plympton

As an artist, pursue your goals, but be practical. Work your side gigs.

I worked as a tee-shirt airbrush artist while in art school.

I worked in an art gallery while building up freelance illustration work.

I designed props and invitations for bat mitvahs while starting out as a graphic designer.

I taught night classes while I was running a small creative office during the day.

I’m a full time professor now, but still teach side classes online.

Art is seldom lucrative. Always keep multiple balls in the air.

Any publicity is good publicity. The more artwork you do, the more likely it is for you to succeed in art. There is nothing shameful about a side flow. Own it, and ignore the haters

I just saw an commercial for Uber looking for drivers that made me think of this thread. The tag line was “Work your side hustle.”