If you’re consistently making art, you’re already winning.
Maybe you haven’t yet “won” (what does that phrase even mean in the context of art-making?), but the secret to creating a fulfilling, self-sustaining career as an artist is simply to not stop being an artist. The “rockstars,” the “lucky” ones, the pros – they all have one thing in common: They’ve somehow learned how to continue making art (or, more properly, how not to quit) despite the inevitable roadblocks and derailments that every artist faces. That Every. Artist. Faces.
Johannes Vermeer, The Art of Painting (detail) c. 1662–1668. Oil on canvas, 120 x 100 cm.
Unfortunately, many artists who begin, maybe even most who begin, end up quitting. There are myriad reasons, but just two Big Ones:
- “Artists quit when they convince themselves that their next effort is already doomed to fail,” according to Bayles and Orland’s helpful artist’s self-help book, Art & Fear.
- “And artists quit when they lose the destination for their work – for the place their work belongs.”
“Virtually all artists encounter such moments,” say the authors, and they mean it literally. Virtually ALL.
Fear of failure is a normal part of creativity (it’s a sign you’re actually creating something instead of playing it safe). Successful artists feel it all the time; an exciting idea is born and dies because suddenly it’s no longer worth pursuing, and then what? Two choices: accept it and go in search of a new idea, or put down the brush, “and thirty years later, confide to someone over coffee that, well, yes, you had wanted to paint when you were much younger,”Bayles and Orland say.
Happily, this isn’t final. There’e a difference between quitting and stopping.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919), Monet Painting in his Garden in Argenteuil (1873), oil on canvas, 46 × 60 cm, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT. Wikimedia Commons.
If too many artists quit making art too soon, others don’t necessarily quit, they just stop. We graduate from college, we hit a string of failures, financial pressure forces a career choice, we make decisions about what’s most important for now, we stop paying attention to what we love because of things someone said or things we must do, or something else simply arrives that diverts our creative energy. Art is made by ordinary people who somehow manage not to react to those things and instead just keep going making art. The good news is that this, too, can be learned.
Art-making Involves (all kinds of ) Skills that Can be Learned
It definitely helps (in lots of ways) to build a network of friends and others in the field with whom you can share work, trade ideas and discoveries, and swap new opportunities. This in itself is something lots of artists (who tend to be comfortable spending long hours alone and isolated, happily immersed in solitary activity) often need to force themselves to learn. But it’s a behavioral choice, especially these digitally connected days, and not something imposed on you from outside.
John Singer Sargent, An Artist in His Studio (1904), oil on canvas, 56.2 x 72.1 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Wikimedia Commons.
It’s important that you know yourself. It takes time to learn why and what you really want to paint. It also takes time to learn that you do not have to impress anyone with your skills or convince anyone of your talent (or, more properly, to fear that what others say or do will prove you never had any to begin with). That’s all beside the point. It’s just fear talking, and the way to shut it up is just to look at it and to be honest, to level with yourself.
“In large measure becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, makes your work distinctive,” say Bayles and Orland.
Ultimately, you end up not quitting making art because doing so is important to you.
John Singer Sargent (1856–1925), In the Generalife (1912), watercolour and graphite on paper, 37.5 x 45.4 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Wikimedia Commons.
If you’re here reading this, you’re probably already excited about making art, so stay that way. It’s one of the most important things on the planet, despite being one of the least universally supported or embraced. There is no reason ever to quit. Ever.
You may stop for a while, but if you are feeling the pull, if you’ve ever heeded the call, you can come back (and you’ll have to!) again and again. As long as you realize that every one, every artists you know or have ever heard of, felt exactly the same fear, frustration, despair, defeat, and self-doubt at some point in their career. They just kept going.
You can too.
Sargent’s style is delicious, don’t you think? Check out Thomas Jefferson Kitts’ video, Sargent: Techniques of a Master if you’d like an in-depth tutorial on what he did and how.
Plein Air Painters in Florida This Week
A lively scene from the Paint Out Competition at Harbourside Place (Photos provided courtesy of Lighthouse ArtCenter)
Taking place now through March 11 in Tequesta, Florida, 35 of the country’s top plein air painters are participating in the 10th Annual Plein Air Festival of the Lighthouse ArtCenter. “The walls are already filling up with fresh art,” said Executive Director Jeni Licata.
These artists will compete for over $15,000 in cash and prizes. The week kicked off with a Paint Out Competition at Harbourside Place in Jupiter with daily opportunities at the ArtCenter Gallery to view and purchase the freshly painted works.
The week also includes free plein air painting demonstrations at picturesque locations across the area and paid workshops with Natalia Andreeva, Stephen Wysocki, and Lon Brauer.
On Friday, the Collectors’ Party & Sale takes place, where you can mix and mingle with the artists and fellow art enthusiasts while feasting on Lighthouse ArtCenter’s signature hors d’ oeuvres. All pieces are available to purchase, including competition pieces. This year’s judge is Kenn Erroll Backhaus.
They’ll finish out the week on Saturday with a Small Works Sale and Live Painting Event.
For more than 58 years, Lighthouse ArtCenter has provided artistic programming and cultural opportunities to the people of Palm Beach and Martin Counties in Florida. A member-supported not-for-profit organization, it offers engaging exhibitions, a dynamic School of Art, and diverse outreach activities to underserved community members.
