To a Discouraged Artist
A new artist who works for me told me he was discouraged by something that another artist said, and consequently his morale (and his sales) plummeted. Here’s my reply:
Article Transcript
I’m sorry that happened with the other artist. When that happens (and it will, often totally without malice, you just see the work of others who are farther along on their journey than you are and get discouraged) keep these things in mind:
1. You are in good company.
Let me tell you a secret about artists: Most of us secretly think we suck. Let me tell you another secret: This can be a good thing.
I have met artists who don’t think they suck, who have been stuck with the same “formula” for years, and who actually DO suck. I was one of them for a long time. The reason they suck is that once you think you’re an expert at something, you stop growing.
Never stop growing. Never stop pushing yourself to do better. If you do stop, you get stuck, and ensure that you never will get better.
We all want to get better. We all need to get better. The only way TO get better is to draw and push the limits. Even if you fail, you will have learned something.
Van Gogh was constantly despairing that he couldn’t put down accurately what he saw. But he kept painting anyway.
You’re in good company. All good artists think they suck.
2. Everyone was a beginner once.
Even C.F. Payne. Even Jason Seiler. Even Sebastian Kruger. Other artists are usually very gracious to remember that about themselves and to help you get better.
Ask for help. All of the above-mentioned people help others. That is part of the journey.
Veteran artists need your enthusiasm. It’s like a breath of fresh air. We need to help you. After a while of doing this, doing anything, it can become stale. Giving you advice and watching you take it seriously and blossom and grow is extremely satisfying. It’s a big part of what makes our job worthwhile. So thank you. Thank you for allowing us to share with you. That is a gift you unknowingly give to us, to me.
And when you get to the place where you can help others, do so, patiently, encouragingly, remembering that you, too, were once a beginner.
3. Keep yourself positive.
Making art for a living is a lot like playing a sport — a lot of it is psych games that you play on yourself.
Once you realize that, you’ll be far ahead in the game.
I refuse to replay conversations again and again in my head, and I have learned through discipline to banish negative self-talk. I also stay as positive as I can, I wake up each morning and thank God for all of my blessings, take frequent walks in nature to clear my head, pray a lot, and try to find the good in every situation, no matter how bad.
It works.
4. Learn to take criticism constructively.
One of the most valuable things I learned in art school had nothing to do with art.
I had a fabulous professor, a little old lady with a Brooklyn accent, with a twinkle in her eye and unlimited patience for new artists. She taught me that taking criticism and using it to make yourself better rather than using it to beat yourself up is one of the secrets to becoming good at being an artist (or anything else for that matter.)
I recently had to apply this to another area of my life. I am learning to sing. And I’m singing in church. In front of people.
I never knew there was so much to learn about singing. I have natural talent, but that isn’t enough. There’s so much to learn it’s making my head spin.
And I’m getting a lot of “constructive criticism” that sometimes feels like it’s not so constructive, even though it’s meant to make me better. It got my head in a bad place for a minute there. I got paranoid that I’m not good enough, that I’m going to be “let go.”
Writing this article has actually helped me with that. I’ve been reminded not to be so hard on myself and to just keep practicing.
Just remember that any criticism at all is actually a blessing. USE it to make yourself better. Look at what the other person said, determine if it is true, (there’s a chance they don’t know jack, or that they’re jealous, but it’s a slim chance. Even people who know nothing about art have a reason for disliking something even if they can’t put it into words), and figure out how to make it better next time. And refer to #3, above.
5. Don’t let a lack of formal education get you down.
My husband went to art school for a full four years and didn’t learn much that was helpful. His instructors just put him in front of a canvas and told him to paint. He learned very little about anatomy. He didn’t learn anything about color theory at all. He had to learn it all for himself. He did, and he drew caricatures for a living for 43 years AND managed to start the NCN (now the ISCA) before he passed away.
Anything that you can learn in art school you can learn on your own if you’re motivated.
There’s this thing called the library. It’s amazing. There are tons of books on every subject imaginable, the information in them is usually a lot more informative than the Internet, and it’s FREE! Use it.
6. PRACTICE
How did you learn to tie your shoes? Ride a bike? To read? To beat Super Mario 3D World?
Practice.
My son is 5. He draws constantly. My house is littered with pages and pages of his drawings. I am constantly picking them up after him. I kid you not, the boy is obsessed with learning to draw. I never thought I’d have to tell a kid to stop drawing NOW because it’s time to eat, get dressed, go to school, or anything else that needs to be done. Remember that passion and that fire to learn to put on paper what you saw, whether it was comic book characters, animation, or real-life people? Hold onto that passion and don’t let it go.
Draw wherever you go. Bring a notebook with you. Instead of playing on your phone, whip out your sketchbook and do quick drawings of passers-by.
Read about how to get better. Study other people’s work. Find and join groups on Facebook that have to do with your kind of art (you WILL find one, I promise). Copy other people’s work to see, first hand, how they did it. (Don’t take credit for it, however.)
Try new materials and new techniques. Go to live drawing classes -- most cities have them, and they’re usually inexpensive.
Stretch yourself.
Another artist encouraged me when I was at my lowest point.
I was at my first caricaturists’ convention, and I was seeing art like nothing I’d ever seen. It was amazing. It was mind-blowing. It was completely discouraging. I was so upset at my own work I couldn’t draw at all the whole week.
He said: “You’ll get better. I promise.”
He was right. And so will you.
7. SHOW THEM!
When I was in high school, an obnoxious kid named Seth found out I wanted to be an artist. He snorted and said, “YOU? Pfft. You’ll never be an artist!”To this day, I have no idea why he said that, but instead of letting it get me down, I decided I was going to SHOW HIM!
Here I am, a professional for 17 years. I may not be the best out there, but I am making a living at making art— and at giving others a venue to make art.
I love what I do, I love making people happy with my drawings, and though I don’t know what Seth is up to these days, I sincerely doubt that he can say the same thing.
8. Don’t Quit
Abraham Lincoln. Wilma Rudolph. John Lennon. Albert Einstein. Frida Kahlo. Muhammad Ali. Winston Churchill. Bruce Lee. Eleanor Roosevelt. Martin Luther King Jr. Even Kim Kardashian. What do they all have in common? They never quit.
Every famous person you can think of could be on this list. Success is not something that simply happens to the lucky. It is a process. It takes lots of repetition, lots of practice, lots of knocking on doors until the right one opens.
In his book Outliers: The Story of Success, author Malcolm Gladwell asserts that it takes about 10,000 hours of work to become a master at anything. This equates to about 10 years of working, 9-5, every single day. It’s a great book. Pick up a copy.
The point is, it is only through the mundane repetition of practice (see #6, above) that you can become good at anything, including art. And you can’t rack up the necessary hours if you quit. Everyone gets discouraged. That’s normal. Expect it. But don’t you dare quit. You only fail if you quit.
In conclusion, most people don’t follow their dreams. Most people are scared to follow their passion for fear they’ll fail, so they take an office job to pay the bills and quietly let their dreams die.
Don’t be that person.
Be the person who has the passion to follow your dreams. Be the person who has the persistence to never quit. Be the person you were meant to be, endowed by God with a gift to SEE and to put it down on paper.
Your gift is rare. There are more brain surgeons out there than working artists. Hone it. Use it. Don’t let people who want free or cheap art undervalue it. And above all else, be grateful for it.
The artists’ way is a difficult way. But you can do it.
It’s SO worth it.
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