sukotsuto blog

Hey little artists, don’t give up! But also don’t get a big head.

artist-confessions:

All my life I’ve been drawing, and all my life I’ve been lavished with compliments for my drawings. I was that gradeschooler who earned pocket-change by drawing everyone’s favorite cartoon characters. I was the middleschooler who was hero-worshipped by the other anime fans when I could replicate the artist’s original style. I was the highschooler all the teachers called on to do “artsy things”, and all the students complained about how “unfair” it was that I was so good at art. Do I sound conceited? Of course I do. I spent the first 18 years of my life having my ego pumped bigger and bigger by everyone I met.

And now I’m the college student failing my freshman-year drawing courses.

After spending eighteen years being told what an “amazing” artist I am, I’m having a lot of trouble coming to terms with the fact that I’m not. I’m having to deal with the aftereffects of hundreds of compliments, hundreds of “I can’t believe you’re so young!”s and hundreds of “How can you draw that well at this age?”s. I’ve got probably the biggest ego on campus, but I’m the only one in my Comp I class whom the teacher says is making no improvement.

Why is this self-pitying rant important to younger artists? It’s because you still have time to become humble. I’ve seen a lot of confessions from and about younger artists on here. I’ve seen some art that is better than anything I do now, and I’ve seen some 13-year-olds draw worse than how I drew at age 8. But they still have time to grow. They still have time to learn. I’m not saying that I don’t have time to learn, or that I can’t grow any more. But I spent the most important years of my life learning and growing in all the wrong ways, and now I’m having terrible trouble getting out of the hole I’ve dug myself.

So I have some tips for younger artists. They might not be the best tips, but they’re things I wish I’d learned years ago, when my college fees and future career didn’t depend on them:

• Ask older artists for advice, and listen to it. You can learn a lot from people, whether it’s a parent, teacher, or someone here on Tumblr!
• Learn to take critique well. I’ll readily admit that I was in tears during my first critique here on campus. It’s hard to hear someone tell you your art is no good, but it’s important to listen to how to make it better.
• Keep practicing. Just because you’re the best artist in your group of friends doesn’t mean you can’t improve! My art style stagnated around the time I was in 7th grade because I was the best artist in my class, and I though I couldn’t get better. But you can always get better.
• Take lots of art lessons! Most schools only offer basic art classes, or classes where half the time you’re painting weird collages with stickers and glitter glue and feathers. Find a private teacher who specializes in a certain kind of art, like still-life or sculpting or portraiture.
• Believe in yourself. I don’t think that needs anything added to this one.
• Never ever use “I’m too young” or “It’s my style!” as excuses for why you can’t improve/change something. You’re never too young to improve, or too old! And look at some famous comic-book illustrators or manga-kas: they change their styles a lot! It’s not a bad thing to have your art style evolve and improve. Even professionals can always get better.

If you’ve gotten all the way to the end of my rambling, thank you for reading. And if I helped someone out, even a tiny bit, then I’m happy.

-Anonymous