hey guys! i've been following you for some time and it's been really inspiring to see you two grow and achieve so much. i've been dealing with a lot of anxiety and feelings of inadequacy about my art, mainly due to art school applications, and i was wondering if you hve any methods to deal with this kind of stress?
Hey there! Thank you, first of all. :) And we have been watching your work as well, and you’re super talented!
Yes, we go through that periodically. For different reasons.
We don’t really have any particular method, or routine to help distress ourselves , since any stress related feelings about our art usually stem from thinking we need to improve or not “getting” something fast enough. So we can’t really say much about school stress since you may be familiar with our current job. It really just comes down to you not telling yourself that you’re inadequate. It’s one of those pieces of advice that may not help you because everyone’s experiences with college/art stress is different.
This may not be pertaining to question, but we’ll make it as general as possible and hopefully it’s helpful. We did applications for art school, (more work than the actual time we were there, which is ironic), we did feel like as if our work was not “art school” material. So the stress of portfolio preparation was something we dealt with, and had to accept whatever happened because of our financial situation. So it was our portfolios getting us in, or no art school. And that was our decision. Not our parents. They were willing to help out any way they could, but we didn’t want to see them suffer financially. So a lot of it was riding on our portfolio among all the application crud that comes with it. And to put it simply, there hasn’t been a single soul when applying to college that hasn’t experienced some type of stress. That’s always a guarantee. The relief comes after everything is done.
If you’re worried about your work not fitting in a certain school’s criteria, we definitely felt the same way. You have more of an advantage, judging by what you’re putting into your portfolio. We didn’t have any fine art pieces. All we had was our illustrations and stuff we did for fun. And that made us self-conscious about our work. Our portfolio didn’t look like a Renaissance painter’s sketchbook. It was just our regular work. We were comparing our portfolios to other people who applied and got in with a full ride. We felt intimidated. But it’s something college applicants, especially future art students, worry about.
All in all, don’t let acceptance/the process of applications, or whatever other stress you’re feeling, get to you. And this is for anyone in general, and not directed at you specifically : if college applications are making you so stressed to the point of having a breakdown, than you won’t be able to deal with other more important things in life.
It won’t be the end of the world. Sit down, watch some movies, draw for fun, eat chocolate (because it’s delicious). And having a back-up plan is always a good idea, just in case option number one doesn’t go as planned. Don’t stress too, too much. Easier said than done, but don’t doubt yourself. And don’t let any aspect of the application process, or results, go to heart. You have passion! Let that be the driving force behind your career! Not applications and the fear of not being accepted :)
