Comparing yourself with other artists.

[Stacyfaith]

ahah i admit to comparing myself and yes it isn't healthy, like alot of the people stated in here~
i look at others art and then back at mine and i then feel very very competitive. very competitive, especially if its "better" than mine, i guess its a good thing as it helps me strive to get better, but also bad since i.. just want to be the best ahah.

i don't take criticism well, and i know constructive criticism is a great way to find out your flaws and then improve from there, but it just sucks knowing that you suck at something you know? i appreciate the criticism, but it always gets me.

im also counted i guess as a younger artist, im 14, and i do ok art for someone my age.. and i would understand if older people would feel down if they saw a younger artist with better quality art i guess.. like but in our century at the moment, alot of young kids are getting exposed to the internet, and art, and tablets, and tutorials etc so they get a good kick into the art world.
but yeah i also vomit in my mouth when i see someone the same age as me or younger do better than me ahah.

Wow, your art is really nice! I can't even imagine how good it's going to look as the years go by.

 

[doveling]

Wow, your art is really nice! I can't even imagine how good it's going to look as the years go by.

aha thankyou so much <3~

 

[Nay]

I put myself down a lot even before anyone criticizes me. It's a defense mechanism I think. It's a bad habit.

For me, the most important part of criticism is objectivity. Opinions are good, and can be flattering, but if I can't fit it into the context of my own art I ignore it. I appreciate it, ofc. But after years of low self worth and having others decide things for me I now choose to integrate things into my art, independent of other's opinions. I always welcome objective criticism though!

 

[nammie]

well as my mom always told me, there's always gonna be ppl better than you and worse than you, no point measuring your self worth by looking at other ppl's accomplishments (and ofc this doesnt just apply to art lol)

tbh I'm more sad when I look back at my old art bc realize that I prob peaked in terms of the age/art skill ratio when I was like 14 in that I don't think I could reproduce some of the stuff I made at that age which is kinda... sad lol

 

[Peebers]

I compare my art to other artists here like poppet (she's so good!) but for me it's a good thing. it gives me goals for myself to get better and gets me motivated because maybe i'll be as good as her if i work harder!

my mom always told me to never compare my 3 month progress with someone's 6 year progress v u v

 

[ssvv227]

I think it's important to always be looking out for other artists. There are always things that they are good at and thus things to learn from. I always compare myself to the others, fully aware of the fact that I am just not as good as some of them. That is my motivation to improve. I observe the way they handle the lighting, the use of textures and colours; I would imitate their art style to a point that I feel I can produce something on par with the works that I admire. There's a lot of trial and error and things don't always work; you just keep on trying.

edits. your moms are so nice. My mom once said that I'm just...ok.

 

[Nay]

edits. your moms are so nice. My mom once said that I'm just...ok.

Same lmao! I praise myself tho so it's ok.

 

[Katattacc]

everyone has their own stye unique to them.

 

[Lock]

I think there's a balance that comes with the territory... But it's all situational to what you aspire to do. There's so many influences outside of what other artists are doing that always comparing yerself someone else can hold back you back from feeling truly satisfied. I mean it happens and everyone has their moment of doubts or feeling lost, but ultimately I believe that if it's something you are close to and passionate about, you'll find a way to move forward with it. Of course that process takes a lot of self-assurance and support, but I think the first step in anything is being observant, aware, and accepting. Knowing who you are as an artist isn't something that just happens over night, so having friendly competition with others can help you find the parts you are missing faster than closing yerself off. Feedback is always a sensitive ordeal because it can feel invasive of yer personal space, but as long as you stand by what you do then anything can be considered constructive.

I've always been a self taught artist until I went into college. My first day in a drawing class my teacher had us do a still life for an hour and a half. Then he had us stand up and walk around the room to look at what everyone did and told us to pick our favorite and sit in front of it then say what we thought was nice about it.

Then he told us to erase the drawing and spend the next hour drawing the new spot of the still life. I mean it was pretty painful and everyone kept apologizing to each other. Anytime someone would 'trace' the previous lines from the first drawing my teacher would have them erase it and do it over. It started to make sense to why he had us go through with it when he said to me "you should be able to trust what you are doing because someone already chose to sit in front of your drawing." It put into perspective that we all walked in trying to impress each other instead of paying attention to the real reasons why we draw to improve. Thankfully that was the only time I've had to erase someone else's work but that was a good first lesson to learn lolz

 

[Money Hunter]

/cut

woah! That's a... different teaching method xD Must've been like 'Wait whaaaaaa?'

 

[Money Hunter]

bump more people should see this.

 

[Dae Min]

I used to struggle with envy, jealousy, and overall sadness whenever I compared my art to others. Their art was so conventionally beautiful and amazing, and mine was bleh. I then isolated myself for 2 years, blocked deviantart, and stopped looking at other people's art altogether. After drawing on my own with no outside influence, the style I have now (especially for drawing Sonic) is odd but it's truly my own. No one else draws like me and I should be proud of myself.

Though there are darker days when I wish to draw more conventionally, and traditonally, beautiful

 

[Finnian]

lol good topic. thanks.
i was lookign through someone's art tumblr today (my hero artist since i was like 11 lol) today and was like "i will never be this good. my stuff is crap. i should give up."
i get so dang jealous and hahahaha
i mean i know i'm not a terrible artist or anything but holy crap i'm so far from professional it's not even funny.

lol
i kinda suck in the grand scheme of things though lol esp when im trying to make a career out of this lol.
im so stupid lol

 

[Temari]

Although you can argue this and probably give good reasons why this isn't true, I personally believe that art is a skill not a talent.
Anyone has the potential and the ability to learn how to draw and improve. If you take the time and effort to get better, you will see results. I don't believe that people are just "better." The people who you admire are only in their current place because they worked hard to get there. Anyone has the ability to get better as long as they are determined to take the extra time and practice a little more than the person they were yesterday.

I hope this all inspires you to continue to practice and never give up or lose hope c:

 

[Finnian]

Although you can argue this and probably give good reasons why this isn't true, I personally believe that art is a skill not a talent.
Anyone has the potential and the ability to learn how to draw and improve. If you take the time and effort to get better, you will see results. I don't believe that people are just "better." Anyone has the ability to get better as long as they are determined to take the extra time and practice a little more than the person they were yesterday.

ehhhhh
in my case it's skill. i was the worst artist out of my grandma's 36 grand children but i kept working on it.
then there's people like my mom, who has never even tried to draw and can draw better than i can.
some people have to work for it, some people don't.
but, it's passion that makes an artist.

 

[Dae Min]

This is all great advice. ^^ I wish I heard this before I had that mental breakdown a few years ago.

 

[lazuli]

whenever i see art that really neat all i can think of is 'what the hell am i doing'
bc like i know ive come a long way (my 12 year old art is such crap) but im like what do i do
art is the only thing im good at and if i think im not good at it at all then
i dont know what to do
especially since i want to make a living outta this

 

[Ghost Soda]

I try not to compare my style with others too much since I'm trying to make my style more original. Though I do tend to feel that my art isn't as good as others, mostly with anatomy because I stink at that.

Criticism-wise, I feel that, while someone can improve without it, it makes improvement much easier when you have your flaws pointed out to you. Like when someone points out a spider on your back; you can't see it but having someone point it out helps you get rid of it. Though some people have thin skin, and or giant egos and get all whiny if you dare to point out anything wrong with their ohsoflawlessbootiful art.

If someone told me it was terrible I would probably cry because I've been working for months now to perfect my style(and it's a long way from what I want it to be). I would rather them lie. That would push me further.

What, how is someone lying through their teeth pushing you further?

 

[Hyoshido]

When I see others Pixel art, I tend to get low because they're so much better than me, I've been doing this junk for years and I don't seem to improve, TBT is the worst for this because I'm not getting feedback or criticism so I don't know what I'm doing wrong, TBT just offers ignorance at best, except the odd few "This is nice, cute!" and other friendly messages from friends.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate people like my junk but when I've just been to Pixeljoint, I just want to stop because these people are perfect.

 

[pocketdatcrossing]

I generally compare things alot.
I think my art is good,sometimes I'm worried about the style though.