Comparing yourself with other artists.

[Laudine]

It is what I've been struggling with for most of my life actually. I have mostly been self taught, and I'm also a pretty insecure person.

There are tons of painters that I really really admire. I perfectly know what kind of art I love and want to create. Problem is whenever I try to paint something, I always feel disappointed with them. I'm my worst critic and I can always find hundreds of flaws in my work, be it textures, colours, depth of field, composition, etc. I ended up comparing myself with ones I admired, and just felt ashamed and sad.

It has gotten worse in the past few years, to the point I'm afraid of drawing. I'm scared of failing again and set myself up for embarrassment. I still really want to create ideas I have in my mind, however insecurity lurks deep inside me, and I believe it shows in my recent works. I'm still struggling with it the moment I type this.

For now I'm trying to accept myself and my current puny skill, relit my passion, and improve myself from there. Thank you for the quote! It certainly is very encouraging.

A painter I really admire said something very inspiring in his book, and I try to live by that word. Here is what he said, I think it'll help any aspiring artist

Spoiler: By Richard Schmid

 

[Money Hunter]

It is what I've been struggling with for most of my life actually. I have mostly been self taught, and I'm also a pretty insecure person.

There are tons of painters that I really really admire. I perfectly know what kind of art I love and want to create. Problem is whenever I try to paint something, I always feel disappointed with them. I'm my worst critic and I can always find hundreds of flaws in my work, be it textures, colours, depth of field, composition, etc. I ended up comparing myself with ones I admired, and just felt ashamed and sad.

It has gotten worse in the past few years, to the point I'm afraid of drawing. I'm scared of failing again and set myself up for embarrassment. I still really want to create ideas I have in my mind, however insecurity lurks deep inside me, and I believe it shows in my recent works. I'm still struggling with it the moment I type this.

For now I'm trying to accept myself and my current puny skill, relit my passion, and improve myself from there. Thank you for the quote! It certainly is very encouraging.

A painter I really admire said something very inspiring in his book, and I try to live by that word. Here is what he said, I think it'll help any aspiring artist

Spoiler: By Richard Schmid

I understood nothing of the quote you gave... something something unique something strength.

So everyone is unique and that is strength! Thanks!

sorry im dumb

 

[UtopiaJ]

I'd really like to become a good artist. I draw/doodle a lot in class, but I never bother learning how to become a good artist. There are a lot of people in my school that are very excellent drawers, but I just know that I'll never be as good as them, so I don't even bother..

The only way you're going to get good is practice. There is no short cut. Thinking you'll never be good enough is your only obstacle. Keep practicing and you will get better over time. I used to suck big time and had two best friends who were amazing artists. Growing up in their shadow was intimidating but I kept drawing. Today out of the three of us, I am the only one who became a professional at it. They chose different careers and I surpassed them skill-wise. Practice and perseverance is the key. The way I see it, there are two kinds of artists; the ones who are naturals at it and the ones who worked hard and practiced before getting good at it. Everyone hits their peaks at different times. If this is something you really enjoy doing it, then keep at it. Take an extra course maybe. Have fun.

 

[Money Hunter]

When I see artwork better than mine, I'm awed and inspired. If possible, I even ask what tools they used to get a certain effect, or how long it took them to get it right (especially in the case of doing backgrounds, as I'm so-so with nature backgrounds and horrible at doing any other background).

I'd love to be able to create some of the awesome fantasy artwork, or paint-like drawings, but wind up with brightly/bold colored furry or chibi drawings, instead. I respect the work of people who can create such pieces, and not let it make me feel inferior.

Even so, I don't let it get me down. I know I'm not the best artist out there; I'm self-taught, and only started to draw because of both hyperfocus with anime and as a way to deal with my panic attacks. I know I always have a lot to learn, and that my style is my style.
I tell a lot of people who message me on DA that there's always room to learn and grow, and not to get impatient or compare themselves to others.

I do a lot of autism awareness artwork, so as long as the message is clear and people can either learn from it or associate with it and feel less alone, I'm alright with not being able to create mystical or outstanding backgrounds, or magical paint-like or pastel colors.

I'll just keep practicing as I draw what I like to draw. Art is a way of expression, and I think that, if you've properly expressed yourself in your artwork and enjoy creating art be it traditional media or digital, you're doing it correctly.

This is a very good example of good comparison.

 

[UtopiaJ]

I'm very very afraid of making mistakes because I feel like I'm not accomplishing the thing I set out to do: please other people.

You're fighting a losing battle then. From your signature, I see you are still very young. Don't worry about pleasing others. Just keep doing what you enjoy and practice. You'll get good at it, enjoy it and pretty soon others will start recognizing that. Making mistakes while you're young is normal and a given. Its ok to create something that's not very good, because you're still learning and growing! Give yourself some time, skill doesn't happen overnight. You have to make mistakes, make some bad art before you get good at it. You can't expect perfection on your first try.

 

[Bowie]

I've always thought that, in order to be happy with yourself, you have to be comfortable as you are now, but always be aspiring to be better. Artistically, it's pretty much the same thing. A lot of my work is very random, to say the least. I like to have random shapes colliding with each other or strange substances leaking out of colourful, barely recognisable creatures, so there's not a lot I take from other artists, so to speak.

 

[Money Hunter]

I've always thought that, in order to be happy with yourself, you have to be comfortable as you are now, but always be aspiring to be better. Artistically, it's pretty much the same thing. A lot of my work is very random, to say the least. I like to have random shapes colliding with each other or strange substances leaking out of colourful, barely recognisable creatures, so there's not a lot I take from other artists, so to speak.

Bowie has a dirty, dirty, disturbed mind.

 

[Bowie]

Bowie has a dirty, dirty, disturbed mind.

You have a dirty mind yourself for thinking that, my dear.

 

[Money Hunter]

The only way you're going to get good is practice. There is no short cut. Thinking you'll never be good enough is your only obstacle. Keep practicing and you will get better over time. I used to suck big time and had two best friends who were amazing artists. Growing up in their shadow was intimidating but I kept drawing. Today out of the three of us, I am the only one who became a professional at it. They chose different careers and I surpassed them skill-wise. Practice and perseverance is the key. The way I see it, there are two kinds of artists; the ones who are naturals at it and the ones who worked hard and practiced before getting good at it. Everyone hits their peaks at different times. If this is something you really enjoy doing it, then keep at it. Take an extra course maybe. Have fun.

Every post you make on this thread serves as pep talk c:

- - - Post Merge - - -

You have a dirty mind yourself for thinking that, my dear.

Hey, that's what I thought you meant, okay?
But in all seriousness, are you an abstract artist too? Because I know you're a 3D modeller, sound producer, vegetable cupcake maker and a bunch of other stuff.

EDIT: It's actually singer-songwriter, producer, 3D modeller, 3D animator and digital artist (I went to the first page and checked). I could've sworn I saw vegetable cupcake maker on that list.

 

[Laudine]

I understood nothing of the quote you gave... something something unique something strength.

So everyone is unique and that is strength! Thanks!

sorry im dumb

Haha it is a rather poetic quote. Basically it said yes, everyone is unique. Don't be restricted by what you think you should or shouldn't do (or don't be afraid of what people will think of your work). Think about your beliefs, strength, feelings and interest, accept them, and express them through art

 

[Money Hunter]

Haha it is a rather poetic quote. Basically it said yes, everyone is unique. Don't be restricted by what you think you should or shouldn't do (or don't be afraid of what people will think of your work). Think about your beliefs, strength, feelings and interest, accept them, and express them through art

Okay, now I get it :3 I just checked out your blog, and it's pretty awesome

 

[Bowie]

Hey, that's what I thought you meant, okay?
But in all seriousness, are you an abstract artist too? Because I know you're a 3D modeller, sound producer, vegetable cupcake maker and a bunch of other stuff.

EDIT: It's actually singer-songwriter, producer, 3D modeller, 3D animator and digital artist (I went to the first page and checked). I could've sworn I saw vegetable cupcake maker on that list.

Vegetable cupcake making sounds like a lot of fun, actually! I'm an abstract artist, yes. Very few of my pieces have relation to anything in particular. I utilise technology to make them, thus why I refer to myself as a digital artist, though abstract artist sounds a little better, so maybe I'll start calling myself that instead. If you're interested in seeing any of it, send me a private message sometime.

 

[Mega_Cabbage]

The thing is that even though you look up to one artist, possibly several other people are looking up to you. You just might not know it.

 

[UtopiaJ]

Every post you make on this thread serves as pep talk c:

Haha I guess that's true! Sorry about that, I just want to encourage everyone is all.

 

[Money Hunter]

Haha I guess that's true! Sorry about that, I just want to encourage everyone is all.

No need to be sorry, that's a good thing C:

 

[dj_mask]

As a musician, an oboist and a clarinetist to be exact, it's really hard to not compare yourself to others especially when you are constantly competing for seats in different ensembles. Now I'm not sure if this applies to music, but this somewhat makes me feel a bit better about my playing. I don't think I'm too bad, I recently made an ensemble where my recorded audition ranked 6th out of 50+ people, and everyone tells me that that's good, but it's annoying to me that 5 people ranked higher. I know that they're really good and should have ranked as they did, but it's kind of a let down to me because it's hard to not compare myself to the 5 who ranked higher, if you know what I mean...

 

[samsquared]

Comparing yourself to others is a good thing when done constructively. The key is not to punish yourself for being bad when you don't know how to be or become good yet.

 

[Money Hunter]

Comparing yourself to others is a good thing when done constructively. The key is not to punish yourself for being bad when you don't know how to be or become good yet.

Very true

 

[ssvv227]

Another thing you'll need is a lot of is patience haha. Perhaps this is the biggest struggle I have when doing art. I think at some point I came to the realization that if I want to do something that looks like it comes out of a concept art book, I would need to spend the time. And people do spend a lot of time, sometimes up to a week, to complete one single picture.

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

Me all the time. This is one of the reasons it's been hard for me to get back into sculpting and drawing, because I go to other art for inspiration but then I see all this amazing stuff, by mostly younger people and I just go "Oh..." and crumple up what I'm doing. it's an awful habit because I know I need to do it more to get better at it but sometimes my feelings conquer my logic...