Mimi's Extras: Staying Motivated As An Artist.
Howdy!
Staying motivated as an artist can be a hard thing to manage for some, especially nowadays where you can see a lot of artists online who are infinitely “better” than you at doing what you would’ve otherwise done. And today, I’m here to tell you my own story regarding that as well as some advice that could hopefully help me and you in the long run! I’ve been drawing ever since I was a child, I did not pay much attention to what I was doing until I got older. By then, I ended up noticing that others besides me online were somehow better at what I do in such a drastic way that, I’ve just had to ask them how they’ve done it. Some pointed me to some actual resources, while others just insisted on the good ol’ “keep practicing” mantra. One of those latter people, let’s call them T, I happened to become friends with… not for long though. I’m a huge nerd, there’s no hiding that, and.. I was really passionate about learning stuff and letting others know about it.. T however, wasn’t very pleased with me trying to advise them. And so they ended up making an entire group chat to mock me behind my back for it.
This broke me. It made me feel like I had to prove myself somehow both to T as well as the world and, maybe myself as well. Because of that, I’ve ended up gathering an ungodly amount of knowledge to try and compensate.. yet, I didn’t end up applying most of it, and I haven’t been drawing well ever since. Part of me is writing this to make sense out of my own thoughts yet, another part of me is using this as a cautionary tale that, maybe I myself could learn from. So here’s this: Only you can make your own art, and you’ll never get to see it until you start doing it.
It may suck at first but that's only part of the process. And besides, you’re the first one to decide the value of your own art, so be easy on yourself! I suggest you to start doing things already instead of eagerly waiting for motivation that’ll never come like I have been.
And.. that’s about it. Thank you for listening, this was Mimi, and happy arting!