The Art Critic

I don’t find anything more beautiful than the mind of an artist. We are creators, dreamers, thinkers and more. What I’ve always heard about artists though, is how we are more sensitive to our emotions, whether we are more open to feel them or they are felt more intensely. This has been known for a long time, we know this from Van Gogh, Michelangelo, and so on.

One problem we have sometimes is confidence in ourselves and our work. I know so many talented artists that have let this get in their way, and I’m one of them. We may often compare ourselves to other artists, artists who are more experienced than ourselves – this can be discouraging, even if we know this is ridiculous. We look up to these artists with 10 or even 20 more years of experience and we think, “I’m not as good as them. I never will be.” It’s thoughts like this that are hurtful to us and our work. Our individual journeys as artists are all unique to us. We are not the same, though we support and appreciate each other, we also need to accept our different styles, paths, places in life.

At least once in our lives, we’ve struggled with this back and forth of ‘am I good enough? No? Yes. No. Yes?’ We wonder if we aren’t good enough to pursue our artistic endeavors because we may not deem ourselves as good or on par with another artist we admire/watch. Social Media can make this even harder. We post our work, we put ourselves out there and there are two things (out of many more) that may happen.

1. We watch these artists that are better/more experienced post their work and get praises upon praises and thousands of likes.
2. People comment on our own things, and of course so many of them can be supportive, with positive and kind comments. Unfortunately, there are also those who are mean just to be mean but claiming it to be ‘constructive criticism’.

I am guilty of following artists that I absolutely love, and comparing their work to my own. Even if they are completely different to what I do which is (primarily, but not limited to) painting, while they do body art, photography, digital art, so many! It doesn’t make sense. Why do I compare myself? It’s no good for any of us. We are our own person! I have also had experiences with many people commenting on my posts, my social media, criticizing my work. Of course, I always welcome constructive criticism. This does not mean you have to force yourself to accept someone’s obviously abusive commentary on your own work. Don’t let yourself get down about it. Don’t let it convince you that you are not good enough.

For years I had always had this inner monologue that argues with itself and I still do. I used to let it win, let it take over; let myself get discouraged. I stopped working, stopped painting. I was convinced. Convinced that I am not good enough. I was going to go to school for something that I was not passionate about because it didn’t scare me, it didn’t make me question myself. It didn’t make me challenge myself. It didn’t make me happy.

That’s where I stopped myself. It didn’t make me happy. Why would I do something that doesn’t make me happy? Just because I was scared of not being good enough, when no one but myself told me that. So, I backtracked, I took a year off and worked. I created, took commissions, practiced, and applied to a different school. I fell in love with art all over again and taught myself how to never let this inner monologue defeat me or my art again. I still struggle with it everyday, and that’s why I work hard and tell myself why I am good enough.

Every time I question myself, I remind myself where I am, what I’ve done, and that I deserve to be here. I’ve learned to tell myself, ‘no, you are good enough because of A, B, and C,’ and I’ll list every single reason why I’m good enough, why I work. The list gets long sometimes, sometimes I don’t need it to be.

There are times where when I need to remind myself why I’m good enough, I’ve been told that I’m a jerk, I’m full of myself, I’m patting myself on the back, etc. So I’d stop myself for a little. I know other artists who tell themselves these things too, who tell themselves why they are deserving, why they are good enough. However, if someone calls them out, they’ll stop like I did. We need to understand this: they don’t know us or what we are thinking. They don’t know that you’ve had so much trouble reminding yourself that you’re good enough. So don’t let yourself worry about what they think.

Don’t give up on art if it’s your passion, don’t give up if art makes you happy. Don’t let yourself get down if you’re afraid of sounding self absorbed. Your accomplishments are nothing to be ashamed of. You need to accept them, and you need to tell yourself, ‘no, I’ve made it this far, I’ve achieved A, B, and C.’ These don’t need to be presidential awards, not at all. Even if it’s just an encouraging critique from a mentor, selling a small piece for $10. Support from your family and your friends. It’s all important, it’s all an accomplishment. Everyday you’ve gotten farther in your journey as an artist.

Remind yourself this:

Ignore the rude comments. Other people are not in charge of your journey, it’s all you. You aren’t against again either, don’t compare yourself. Work hard for yourself, create for yourself. Tell yourself this. Your headspace is equally important to your creating and art as your actual studio space. Confidence is just as important of a tool as your paint brush, your pencil, your stylus. Take care of your space and tools. Remind yourself this: You are good enough.