Things They Don't Tell You About Being an Artist

These are things I wish someone told me years ago!

You are Allowed to Say No

If you don't feel comfortable, prepared, or available enough to accept that commission or request... You don't have to accept it. It's okay to say "no". If you're worried about how the person will react, don't be. Just give an honest and professional decline response, like "My schedule is full" or "Flower portraits in fingerpaints aren't my speciality, but I know Person McArtist over here (link) does those very well." People have been upset by my declines before but my career didn't fail and people didn't stop asking!  

You Don't Have to be Good at Everything

Most artists specialize. In school teachers tend to make you learn several, or dozens, of styles and mediums because that's their job. You have to explore different things to learn what you're good at and master the medium you like, after that you are allowed to narrow your thing to one medium or style. You can't be everything to everyone, just like you can't be every artist to everyone. I've tried...it's hard, tiring, draining, and it crushed my creativity. 

If You have a Niche it's OK to Explore

If you've narrowed your field, you're allowed to venture out of it. I took a theatre and stagecraft class in college to push my boundaries. It was so scary for an introvert to walk onto a stage among experienced people. I had no idea what I was doing, but I'm so glad I did it! I learned new skills, a new field, and met interesting people. Sometimes it's good to take a break from the usual and try something new. Draw a different subject, paint with different colors, or try something completely different like I did.

Self Discipline and Practice are important

If you want to improve or upgrade your creative game, you have to practice. We've all heard this 1 million times since we were children. Practice! The key to practice is setting a time everyday or every other day, to create. That's discipline. You will not improve very fast if you don't make practice a priority. If you practice just whenever you feel like it or every few months, your body will have to re-adjust every time. It will feel rusty. But if you make practice a daily habit, then your muscles and brain will have a better time getting things done. It's very similiar to exercise. If you practice often enough, eventually you'll be able to do more difficult exercise. If you only exercise once every few weeks or months, every time is going to hurt and be intense. 

Schedule your art practice as a discipline. (Self-discipline is dedication to do something, even when you're not in the mood.)

You don't have to be a Pro

Maybe you feel pressure to make art as a professional? Or perhaps when you make something you feel pressure for the end result to be product worthy. Art doesn't need to be a job. You are allowed to make art for fun, for feelings, for boredom, for yourself...just because. The world isn't expecting you to make a masterpiece. If someone is putting pressure on you to make professional art, tell them to go do it! If you're having a hard time with this, use the author's technique of picking a person...one person whose opinion matters to you and usually, if not always, loves your art.

Make art for your cat or dog. I'm sure they'll think is awesome! The point is...when the prehistoric artists of the caveman days were painting the walls with handprints...they didn't think, "Will this be worthy of a gallery show? Perhaps the clay paint is too harsh for subject?" No, they didn't think about that. They just made art!

If You are a Pro, People are Buying Your Work not just Work

This is something I repeat for myself! When someone wants to buy an artwork, they are buying it because of who made it. This means they want you to put your heart into it and they'll love it. Maybe they like the colors you use, or your technique, or maybe it's your style...whatever the reason, just be true to yourself. Sure, there are people who will want a specific thing, that is when communication is important. Remember the first thing I said? You can say "no". But if you're stuck because you don't know what they'll like, make it the way you always have - they based their decision off your previous work.

There are No Rules

Some members of the art world will try to tell you there are rules. They will say how to do something or that there's a true artist way of doing something. They are wrong. Sure there are guidelines, tricks, and aspects of art that people have learned over the years, so they pass them down...but they are called the elements of design or the principles of art not "the rules". They're great when you are stuck or need help improving a composition...other than that do whatever you want. You want to glue cheap yarn to a plastic cup and spray paint the whole thing gold? Then do it.

Are there things you wish you knew sooner about being an artist? What are some things you learned the hard way? Add them to the comments - aspiring minds want to know!