I love reading all of the art advice on here. It’s good to be reflective on occasion. I am subscribed to a lot of art subreddits and I read a piece of advice in passing that really stuck out to me:
-Don’t cave to friends and family asking for a “discount” because they know you. Stand firm on your pricing structure. For some, creating and selling their craft is their job. Especially if you work through commissions mostly for income. If you worked as a cashier in a grocery store, your friends and family wouldn’t normally try and guilt you into half off groceries every-time they visited.
The other piece of advice that I can think of right now, is to take breaks. If you are stuck on a particular part, then step away. get some tea, exercise, something. When you come back, take step back and you will see your project with fresher eyes which can help solve the problem you were facing earlier.
One of the bits of advice that stuck with me came from my figure sculpture instructor. We were making busts and she said that if you intend to sell your work that customers don’t always know where to put something large if it is intended to sit on a shelf. But that almost everyone can find a bit of wall space for a piece of art. I also learned to make and cast plaques in one of her classes. As someone who wants to sell their work, I took this to heart. Most of my ceramic work is designed to hang somehow, not all, but a lot.
Oh, yes! Friends and family should want to support you more than strangers, not less!
Another bit of advice, multiples do not mean a reduction in price. You don’t eat a burger at a restaurant then tell the waiter you liked it so much you’d like another but since you are having TWO the second one should be half off. LOL, as if. Weird how that sort of twisted logic can be applied out of context without batting an eye but you say it in another way and it is plainly reeediculous!
I grew up near Cranbrook Art Academy and my parents were very involved with encouraging the students so I grew up with some amazing artists. I was closest to Toshiko Takaezu who taught ceramics a Princeton for many years. She taught me to eat with chopsticks when I was 5 (to this day I eat with chopsticks every day and carry 3 pairs in my purse). The advice that she gave me that has always been most meaningful is:
“Artists don’t wait for inspiration. They work.”
Other good advice (not from Toshiko):
“Art isn’t a destination. It’s a journey!”
“Your last piece was practice for your next piece.”
“Never compare yourself to other artists.”
Somethings I learned from decades of painting: Often when I would finish a piece all I could see were my failures, the things I didn’t manage to do. It could take literally months for me to be able to look at my work and finally see what I did.
The next piece is always my favorite.
If you can hold a pencil, you can draw. It might not be the drawing you wanted to do, but keep at it and it will become what you want.
I feel the process at college of doing lots of samples to try out techniques, colour palettes and material combinations is brilliant. It is so not the usual - right, this is what you need to make, get on with it.
Also - do what you enjoy. Yes, I could learn to play the piano but I don’t want to, I want to play with fabrics and paper and paint and get messy doing it. That feeds my soul, so why waste time with piano lessons?
(I cannot believe I only found this thread today.)
Thanks everyone for sharing your wonderful pieces of advice!
(Re: If you can hold a pencil, you can draw.)
The same goes for writing.
I have been into creative writing for the last two years and have to remind myself that I write, therefore I am a writer.
I might not be a published, let alone bestselling writer, but I am a writer.
I learned how to write at the age of six.
Also: don’t wait for inspiration! Inspiration doesn’t come from waiting, but from doing what you love to do. In my case lately: writing.
I never had trouble finding inspiration in any other creative field. So this initial ‘lack of inspiration’ was probably more a ‘lack of confidence’.
I can write, I am good with language (especially my first language, Dutch) and I have a vivid imagination. So there’s all of that.
I AM a writer (and an artist, designer and maker) and I’m darn proud of it!
A quote I once read that inspired me was something like “if someone accused you of being an artist, would there be enough evidence on the walls of your house to convict you?”
I have very little wall left. Between me and my lettucecraft family, I’ve not needed to paint the walls for years. Ok they do need painting, but there’s not much wall left to see!
We used to say, “If it’s finished, it’s perfect!”
But we were working with tight deadlines. Now, my motto seems to be “If you’ve only done one version, you could probably make it better!”. It’s nice to have the time for perfection.
Wow… exactly what I’ve been goin thru right now. I was asked by my cousin to do diorama for his car collections, he has a reputation when it comes to money so I brushed it off but he kept insisting, so I caved in, I wanted to do the project but was scared he won’t pay me, at first he said he would just treat me for a stake! Come on! So I told him I’m an effin vegetarian! (But I am not) so I insist of the amount I wanted and in the end he did pay me but with a silly grin on his face that he wanted to get away if he can… after an hour or so he sms me he wanted more, this time he gave me 3x of the project, I was thinking maybe he thought it was the same price so I told him off that what he is asking is a different price from the previous one. So I quoted him 3x more just what I feel right for the project, he said it’s too much and stopped messaging me. Lol I just laugh and told my sis about it, She said he is like that! This kind of BS People thinks they can always get away with stuff for free, and what are we? Their slaves! sorry for my ranting!
This is not an advice but I realized, if I wanted to make it happen I have to get a bigger table, stop obsessing to organize things, tools and materials, it will always be messy, (I still organize but I’m trying to still work in a mess) or else I will not get any project done if I always wanted to keep everything neat and tidy. Do not try to please people, this has always been true to me, my mom is also an artist she is an interior designer, I think being a daughter we wanted an approval from our parents, you see my mom love miniatures too, she has several displays, but she never gave me any complement, I was actually waiting and longing for her to say “oh so pretty, or nice or cute” but not once! She even criticize my work, too small or not in proper scale, too big, she even says “it’s ugly!” it hurts a bit but I’m numb already, sometimes she will look at it and just walk away… I don’t know why, she is a very complicated human being but I stopped asking approval from her long time ago and just be happy with the work I’m doing… we can not please everybody, certainly not her! I just don’t mind her anymore. I’m used to it. Lol
Stop, step back (a few steps. across the room, even), and look at your work in progress every once in a while. You’ll be able to better see what areas need more work, or if it is “done”.
“The water doesn’t flow until you turn on the tap.”
The way to get new ideas isn’t to sit around waiting for inspiration, it’s to just make stuff. When I haven’t made art in a while, it’s easy for me to try and wait for the perfect moment or idea, but the thing to do is to start. Everything else follows from there.
I draw a lot. My mom draws. My friends draw- Between them I have learned that you will never learn to draw something if you don’t try. And ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try try again-’ Those two things have helped me to not give up on a drawing. Another bit of advice that my mom taught me is; even if you’re drawing fantasy, look at real life. It will help you-
Not really advice given to me, just observation/suggestion. Use reference photos if you can’t see it in real life. Even the Renaissance masters didn’t paint from their heads completely, they had real people sit for sketches. Google pictures of people/animals/things you want to draw. Pull stuff out of your kitchen cabinets and make a still life on a TV tray, just drop it there and draw it how it lands. That pile of dirt laundry on the floor? That’s an excellent study in drawing fabrics. Cat asleep on the sofa? Draw it. Draw everything and anything.
Don’t surf the internet looking for proof that you suck; look for inspiration instead.
Wash your brushes with Master’s brush cleaner and leave a thin coating on the brush to maintain point.
Don’t be afraid to “waste” paint and paper. https://onplanners.com/templates/smart-goal
Draw stuff you don’t like to draw. (Backgrounds, both genders, inorganics, etc.)
I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been mentioned…
If your drawing is “off” but you can’t figure out why hold it up to a mirror.
Re: “wasting” supplies…I once bought some professional quality water colors, but, then I was afraid to use them because I didn’t want to waste them (they were kind of expensive, for me anyway)…so after a year or so of just looking at them every once in a while I figured if I learned something it wasn’t a waste…but, by then they had dried out in the tube ! I still cut open the tube and was able to use them like the pan watercolor but, a lot of it did go to waste…
sorry for my ranting!
it hurts a bit but I’m numb already, sometimes she will look at it and just walk away… I don’t know why, she is a very complicated human being but I stopped asking approval from her long time ago and just be happy with the work I’m doing… we can not please everybody, certainly not her! I just don’t mind her anymore. I’m used to it. Lol
! I still cut open the tube and was able to use them like the pan watercolor but, a lot of it did go to waste…