For The Insecure Artists Out There

It can be tough putting your art out there, and it’s so very easy being a jerk from behind your screen. Some people just have a harder time dealing with negative comments so I just thought I’d write this for the insecure artists (whether amateur sketchers like me, or more technically advanced artists) :

So what if someone tells you your art is “ugly” or “bad” ?

Not all art is “pretty”, and “bad” is too vague to be either criticism or insult. Is the idea bad ? The execution ? Is bad the feeling that person gets when they look at what you’ve created ? Is it what they think you should feel when you look at it ? 

If anything, comments like these should motivate you to improve. Clearly you will never please everyone, and that’s totally alright (and if it isn’t, well, I’m not sure how to break it to you, but you might wanna rethink your goals because you’re going to be VERY busy). But if you keep pushing yourself to do better, you’ll please even more people with your drawings/ paintings / music, or whatever other creative activity you like.

Just think about it, while you’re having fun creating art, this person is spending time looking at art they don’t enjoy and making the effort to leave kinda pointless comments (I know which I’d rather be doing). 

I’m saying these types of comments are kinda pointless, because unless people tell you specifically what’s wrong, there’s fairly little you can do to make your art enjoyable to them.

They also assume that art is about the end product and not about the creative process. I’m going to face hard facts here : To my very great dismay, I’m not the next Picasso. I’m not the next Da Vinci. But I am a person who gets satisfaction from creation, however imperfect. I get a sense of achievement from drawings, however ‘ugly’, or ‘bad’ they may be, as long as I can finish them and tell myself “ I made this. These are the last few hours I’m never getting back, but there they are, and damn they may be ugly, but they sure were fun and here’s proof !”.

If someone else likes them as well that’s even better, but that’s not what you should base your art on. Be selfish with it. It’s about you (unless it’s a commission, but even then, people are probably asking you to do it because of what you do. And if they’re not happy but won’t tell you why, they should probably ask someone else or do it themselves.)

Any person whose day you’ve brightened with a silly little sketch, whose heart you’ve moved with a a short tune, whose imagination you’ve sent running butt naked through their heads until the mind-police comes around to try and catch it because Oh-God-Why-Am-I-Picturing-This-Please-Make-It-Stop… is a bonus to your satisfaction at having finished and achieved something.