What you ‘need’ to be an Artist

Being an artist is more than just putting ‘pencil to paper’, you need a lot of other life skills as well.

Having passion and dreaming of a life as an artist is also not enough. Because then you’ll probably end up with a lot of unfinished work or give up altogether at some point. 

If you really want to be an artist you’ll need to realize that it takes a little bit of everything to help you get there but once you do you’ll be on an incredible journey.

Problem Solver

Besides being creative, an artist also needs to be a problem solver. 

You’ll need to look at each new project with fresh eyes and find a new solution. Often an artist will know what they want something to look like, but they have no idea how to get there. You will need to find your answers to this problem during your process.

How can I make this drawing look realistic? Which techniques will I need to draw this type of hair? Which colors do I need to make this drawing look interesting?

To help you find your solutions, you’ll have to experiment with new ideas and new techniques to discover what works for you. 

Passion

Passion is a strong desire to do something. Passion is what motivates us to draw and create.

We don’t always understand it or know where it comes from, it’s more of a feeling that we have. It’s what gives you the patience and persistence to learn and grow as an artist. 

Art is not a necessity, in school we’re only taught the basics, if that. Most artists feel the need to create art, this ‘need’ comes from their own personal passion.

Patience

Patience is not something that comes naturally to everyone. We need to really love what we’re doing, that’s why we need passion to keep us going. 

A beautiful portrait drawing or painting doesn’t just magically appear, it takes long hours and hard work to create. The idea of drawing a portrait might seem wonderful and exciting at first but once you see how much work it is you might lose your excitement a bit, that’s why patience is so important. 

Persistence

Passion alone is often not enough to see something through. It’s not enough to actually finish that drawing or to improve your skills, for that you need persistence. 

Patience is what helps keep you going ‘in the moment’, persistence is what helps you actually finish your work. 

You might have times that you get frustrated with yourself because it’s not working out how you thought it would or you start doubting yourself because you’re not sure you’re a good enough artist, that’s where you need to be persistent and not give up. 

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s how you learn and grow!

Goals

In order for you to be persistent, you will need to make sure you have a direction and destination you want to work towards. Setting goals can help! 

Setting a goal is like choosing the destination you want to reach and most importantly it motivates you to keep on moving forward. 

If you sit down without a clear goal and try to improve your drawing skills by just randomly drawing something, you might eventually lose your motivation and passion. You need to know where you’re headed, why you’re doing it and what the end goal is. So make sure you have a clear intention before sitting down to draw.  

Study

Having a natural born talent is amazing but only happens to a very few select people. The rest of us have to study and practice endlessly to help us improve. 

People don’t always realize how many techniques and methods it takes to help create a beautiful piece of art. 

Techniques are not part of the natural born talent, like any other skill you have to take classes, study and practice a lot to master them. It takes time and patience but in the end, they will help you draw more realistically and even professionally. 

Habit

Practice makes perfect, or so they say. But practicing endlessly can also be boring at times and require a lot of patience. 

We sometimes jump from one project to the other because it’s not working or it’s too difficult. What you need to help you stick to your practice is to make it a habit. 

Setting goals is a good idea because it helps you keep in mind where you want to end up. But we also have to work at those goals, we can do that by making a plan. 

Try to schedule time to draw regularly. You can draw 5-10 minutes a day or twice a week for an hour, choose whatever works for you. If you do this, drawing will become a habit. It will become part of your daily life or your weekly routine.  

Don’t put off becoming the artist you want to be any longer! Join me and other members that are working towards their goal step by step and becoming the artists they want to be. Read more details about the Artistic Journey Membership or join us here.

- Emmy