What’s the most helpful art advice you’ve received?

Art Discussion and Questions
41

That’s such a waste :frowning: I have a shoebox full of children’s art supplies. I’d get them at my birthday from my friends but my parents hated having finished crafts around, they would throw them away. I wasn’t going to have my precious craft supplies go to waste! So I kept my treasures in a box underneath my bed for when I was a grown up. I hadn’t figured that adult me wouldn’t be into kids’ crafts. But at least I vividly remember the joy of going through my stash.

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42

Oh yes! I have found this super helpful too - a great way to see your drawing clearly and what bits need adjusting.

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43

There is some great advice here, I’ve enjoyed reading all of it.

The top advice I try to follow is:

  1. Only compare yourself to yourself. Comparing yourself to others never leads to good things. Being inspired by others - yes. Enjoying others work, vision, and talent - yes. Learning from others - yes. Comparison - no. Comparing your work to others leads to unhappiness as then suddenly someone’s work has to be “better” instead of just different.

  2. Enjoy the process. If enjoying making a thing is the goal, the end result is suddenly much less important.

  3. Practice. The more you do a thing, the better you get at it.

  4. It will never be “perfect”. Know when to stop. You are your own worst critic, there will always be something to tweak.

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44

Everyone should read The Craftsman’s Handbook by Cennino Cennini and after reading it. Read bits of it every so often for inspiration. That book is a gem.

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45

Sounds interesting, I’ll check it out

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46

Thanks for the recommendation @BelleBeryl !

I’ve just been reading back through everyone’s thoughts again, and there are such great ideas and tips in this thread - inspirational! :rainbow:

A couple of you mentioned that it’s not always helpful to wait for inspiration before you started - if you start working the inspiration will start flowing. I’m always falling into this trap - spending far too much time waiting for the perfect idea about what to do rather than just starting something. But once I get started it’s so motivating. Such a good reminder!

I’ve started an art journal recently and that has been a great way for me to get through the “just start something” barrier. The Art journaling craftalong has been amazingly helpful for that - having a Zoom time and tutorial means I don’t overthink what I’m doing, and playing around with the group is so fun and encouraging!

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47

Xx oops, please delete, off topic

48

Just rereading through this thread and lots of good advice in here!

I’m not sure if it counts as advice or is more about mindset but I like the phrase “it’s just paint and paper”. There will always be more paint and paper, you can always adjust it or start over. Nothing is precious, it’s just paint and paper.

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