It's easy to take stuff like that personally. It's easy to feel like crap when you don't sell anything at a craft show. It's easy to feel down when you post a new painting on facebook and no one says anything about it. But you know what? It doesn't matter. There are so many billions of reasons why XY and Z happened, and I bet you that it has nothing to do with you as an artist. How do I know this? Because art is subjective. Yes, we have classical realism which is often touted as "good" art, but even if you draw like a two-year-old with no fingers, I guarantee you that someone out there is going to dig it. It may be hell trying to find that person, but someone out there is all about your art. The trick is finding that person, or those people.
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So, what I'm trying to say is: Don't give up. Maybe you won't be able to live solely off your art. Monkey + Seal both aren't able to do that. Right now, we have to work day jobs to support ourselves. This won't be the case forever, but it is a reality right this second. But we're not giving up. We're marking ourselves and doing what we can to get our art out there, so that people who are interested will buy. It's all about finding your audience.
But at the end of the day, it really isn't about sales. It's about knowing that you're doing the very best you can on every single piece, and doing it because you love to make art. Now, just because you could spend 50 hours on a painting doesn't mean that you should. If your best is 30 hours, then spend 30. If it's 5, then spend 5. Hell, if your best, for that given time, day, energy level, and general circumstance is a 5 minute sketch, then do that 5 minute sketch. Just make sure you're doing it for yourself, and buyers, and fans, and people into your art will definitely follow.
2 comments:
Hey Eve...thanks for all your posts, i wish i found them earlier. Been in a slump of late, feeling lost and confused, and reading much of what you wrote help zap at the weight that is holding me down.
Thanks :)
;) Every artist must face the fear and weight of creating. They are so many chances to say "no" to the work. In the end, we can only do what we can do at this moment, right this minute. Even if it means catching up on rest first before getting out the paint brushes. It's okay to be in a slump, in fact, it's perfectly normal, the trick and hard part is getting out of it. The only way I've found so far, is to be kind to myself and doing the artwork anyways. Trust me, it feels better to create than not to create, even if it's painful at the beginning to start. Whatever is holding you back, imagine it at the palm of your hands, . . . now, let it go. Let it go. What's left is you and you have the power to create.
-Eve, Seal
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