advice for new artists (from a slightly less new artist)
august 15th, 2024
The first thing you need to do to be an artist is to stop taking yourself so seriously, to stop being afraid to suck at things. The first time you try to make art, whether that be drawing or writing or crocheting or singing or whatever it is you’re trying to do, you’re going to be bad at it. Same with the second, or the third, or maybe even the fiftieth - everyone learns at their own pace. And that’s okay. That is not the purpose of art, art does not have to be well-made to be good art. Good art is the art you had fun making, the art that satisfies you, regardless of skill or experience.
You want to be skilled? Alright. First, you need to suck at what you’re doing. You have to be really, really bad at it, and you have to suck with all your heart. Put all your passion, your heart and soul, into doing what makes you happy without worrying about how good it is. Improvement will come with practice. Lots of practice.
In the wise words of Jake from Adventure Time, "Dude, sucking at something is the first step towards sorta being good at something."
By the way, all the people you compare yourself to have probably been drawing for at least five years (and once upon a time, they were just like you. They have all been where you are right now). No, other people’s sketches that you see on Pinterest are not “ridiculously easy” and you’re not a failure for not being able to replicate them yet. No, people hugging is not a simple pose, no matter how easy it looks in that other person’s art, no matter how much you beat yourself up over it. At first, the only angles you’ll be able to draw well are straight ahead and side view. Or maybe not even that, maybe you're still getting there, and that's okay too. I’ve been drawing regularly for over a year and I only just recently started experimenting with more complicated poses and angles. And only then did I start to grasp it, only then did the art I was comparing my own to start to look like something I could understand.
And let me tell you something else: it got way easier to learn stuff when I stopped telling myself I was a failure for not knowing yet.
Many of the same principles about drawing also apply to writing, but another common mistake I’ve also seen people make, is refusing to start with anything besides the beginning.
In doing this, you are clipping your own wings before you even try to leave the nest.
When an idea comes to you, you must write it down. No matter how far along you are in your story, but especially at the beginning. You will build around it, for now your priority is to get your ideas on paper (or Google Docs, or FocusWriter, or whatever program you’re using) (but you should definitely use FocusWriter, it’s great, especially if you have ADHD). Your beginning, middle, and end, will come when it’s ready to be, as will your title.
You know, my passion project The Sun God’s Shadow wasn’t named that until three months ago, and it didn’t have a planned ending until five months ago (I’m writing this on August 14th, 2024), despite having been fleshed out enough to be considered an AU since October 2023. I’m still just filling in gaps, I’m still just writing down whatever comes to me.
Greatness takes time. Learning a skill takes time. Don’t rush yourself, and don’t burn yourself out trying to get there. If you’re getting burnt out, take a break for however long you need; rest is productive and worthwhile too, and besides, you can’t boil an empty kettle.
Just take your time, man. That’s about it.
