Ever since I was little I’ve always wanted to be an artist. An artist who could draw anything or anyone if I set my mind to it. I would always fantasize what It’d be like to be one of those ‘famous artists’ who people look up to (no one has ever looked up to me for anything and when people have ill tell you it’s a real honor). But it’s been years now and my art skills are starting to lack more than it ever has before.
Every time I come across an amazing drawing I start to feel angry and sad.. wondering why my art skills aren’t good enough to be on that level. And then I come across people who are a lot younger than I am and my chest just tightens. I get the thought that my art at that age was never like that.. And I feel like a failure.
My dream, my passion is crumbling right in front of me because I feel jealous and I feel like I’m a failure. I honestly want to give up but I don’t because I’ve felt so passionate about the subject and I feel like I can get a real job out of it. A job that I would enjoy..
But my mom thinks otherwise about this. She thinks it’s a waste of time, she thinks I’ll never find a job and I’ll be one of those ‘hungry artists’, she thinks I draw ‘bloody creatures’ (in which I do not! I can promise you that) all the time. She always asks “why can’t you draw nice things?” Or “why can’t you draw rabbits?”. My parents are never really impressed with my skills and when they are, they expect me to draw something they like… I feel at a loss and I feel like this dream of mine is going to slip through my finger tips real quick if I don’t do something.
I don’t want to lose this last piece of hope that I’ve held onto all these years.
6 comments
If you are passionate about it and enjoy it then keep at it. If your parents don’t like your drawings then that’s their problem. Just keep at it and improve your skills if you can and i’m certain you can be successful if you do just that.
Does drawing make you feel good? If so – don’t give up on it. There are so many negatives in this world that drag us down, if there is one positive in your life then keep it. I gave up drawing for years – and now – just yesterday I bought a DVD series to help me get better- have you tried conceptart.org/forums ? There are people on there that will help you, give opinions etc. but you have to remember – every person has their OWN Idea of what makes art ‘great’ – don’t worry about the others – its how you feel that really matters
Not everyone learns every facet of their chosen passion over night. Everyone learns, interprets and applies what they’ve learned differently. If art is your passion, then learning what methods other artists use to create great art and learning what art critics find to be evidence of good art should be where you focus your attention and efforts. Know your target audience and understand what it takes to “move” them with your art. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
Music has always been a passion of mine – and I suck at every attempt I’ve ever made at playing/creating music … but I’m not “jealous” of those who can create music better than me – I’m thankful for their ability to bring me a beauty I can only dream of in my mind. Additionally, I can communicate my experience with other musicians ways to make their music better by giving them ideas from the hundreds of other musicians I’ve heard – this is how I can contribute and “make” music without actually doing it myself.
My point is, learn from those whose art you value – allow yourself to be influenced by their techniques – don’t copy them but learn the nuances and textures that make their art stand out and add them to your tool kit. And work on and practice your fundamentals – no musician just “plays” the perfect solo without weeks, months and/or even years of practicing their fundamentals. I’m not sure what your chosen subject matter is … but draw apples until they are soo good that a view tries to reach out and take it off the canvas. Learn and document how to make every shade of color their is, practice sketch lines until each line tells its own story all by itself.
All this takes time, patience and effort upon effort – dedication to your craft down to the smallest detail and skill.
And to get a job as an artist will mean being able to create things you yourself would never in a million years consider creating for yourself – but doing so with skill and pride but more importantly, hearing how your supervisor explains/describes the thing and capturing their vision … by no means and easy task. Learning to listen to detail and hearing the emotion/excitement and pain in the description of the subject and translating that to capturing it in the art you create.
talentless dawg
The world is full of failed artists. Tons of hopeful candidates have tried to be artists, musicians, writers, actors, etc. and never a dime in their chosen craft.
I’m not suggesting that you give up. If you enjoy art then definitely stick with it. Just be cognizant that dreams often do not come true. For every success story there are at least another 50 tales of failure. That’s ok. Losers usually have interesting stories.
*never made a dime*
Agreed – It’s a wise idea to have a back up plan or two to fall back on while you pursue your dream of being and artist/musician/actor etc.
Sometimes you can even combine the dream with a more reasonable option like you can still be very artistic in wood working, marketing etc. Musicians can also be teachers or instrument builders … and so on.
reality dawg