My art is nowhere near as good as I thought

[AnastarziaAnaqway]

Don't know if this is the right thread, and it's hardly a massive world problem, just a bit of a confidence thing I guess.

I've always enjoyed drawing and had more time to do it since the lockdown. I thought I was pretty good, not absolutely amazing but as long as I liked it that was the main thing.

Anyway, I wanted to put it out there so I joined some online groups where people could freely share their art.

Now feel totally out of my depth. The vast majority of the work is incredible, I imagine a lot of them are professional artists.

I was interested in getting feedback, one person said that my work was pretty good but otherwise it was more along the lines of 'good start, keep going, try working on xyz'. Others were getting endless praise and compliments.

I've also had this with an instrument I play.

I suppose comparison is the thief of joy and the main thing is that I like my art. Just feel a bit out of my depth and had my confidence knocked really, anybody else felt this way ?

Trust me, OP, this is normal. I worked in an artistic profession and was constantly knocked down for years. Daily. I went to work and started at the bottom and had to ask for scraps of dogwork, and ask for help and criticised and the criticism I got was that I stank. And I did. But I just wanted to do it, and I didn't have anything else I wanted to do. So I kept going. And so did a lot of other people who were beginners. There is nothing wrong with being a talented beginner. That doesn't mean you're bad. It just means you need to keep going, keep enjoying the process, keep learning!

Listen to what the brilliant Ira Glass had to say on this subject.

jamesclear.com/ira-glass-failure

You really mustn't give up!

Did you watch Grayson Perry's series during lockdown where he so positively appreciated art by non-trained people painting for the first time?

ALL art and music is a combination between creativity, ear or eye and talent, and technical craft and practice.

Carry on for fun at all costs, find ways to develop your craft and practice if you want to. (art study books, online tutorials etc)

I am a professional illustrator and I have a crisis of confidence every other week and frequently compare my artwork to illustrators I admire and wish I could be as talented as they are. The thing with art is that you never ever stop learning and developing, and if you stopped now it would be such a shame and a waste. Please keep going with your art, do it because you enjoy it and just keep learning and being inspired by others, that's one way of developing your own style. And remember that taste is subjective - and if we all liked the same kind of art there would be no variety or ever anything new and interesting. Keep on going

OP

thanks for this thread, it's like breath of fresh air! I love discussing this sort of thing. Lots of interesting stories.

To all those who were discouraged at a young age-get painting, drawing or playing to spite those arseholes

I like drawing and painting but don't do it very often. I also follow several artists on FB/Insta and occasionally think when looking at their amazingly talented pics "why do I bother?" but there's room for everyone, and some peoples delicate style will mean more to some than anothers perfect "photo-realist" style.

And I love buying lots of prints of artists work and really do buy a range and not all of my favourites are absolutely perfect pieces of art. Some I just love because of how they look, the scene they've captured etc.

Magicmallow

"Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" is an excellent book, I have it somewhere, must dig it out.

I don't understand why you left, OP. If you enjoy it and think you have talent, why not want to get better? They were, as you say, amazing artists and giving you valuable feedback and tips for improving your technique. No one gets good at anything without applying what they've learned from constructive criticism.

If you do something because you enjoy it, the people in your small social circle love it, and it gives you an outlet, then crack on.

Not everyone wants to improve/get critiques/spend lots of time training to get better, sometimes just doing the thing is fun in and of itself.

I'm sure I could be a better cook if I went on a cookery course, went online and compared recipes etc, but I don't want to- I'm happy to enjoy baking the odd cake and for my friends and family to say they like it!

In my work, I have to write, and that writing gets severely criticised before it's published. I am currently facing over 5 single spaced A4 list of corrections on a not that long paper. It wouldn't be possible to do that job and not experience criticism, or compare yourself to others and find yourself wanting.

It doesn't strike me though that you want that experience, and if something is your hobby/pleasure time, why should you?

One of Mark Rothko's paintings was sold for $86.9 million. And yet if you went on your group and shared art that looked like his, I bet you'd come in for more than a bit of criticism.

There's no accounting for taste.

@Ylfa

It’s just really sad that we so often think we have to be good at something to do it, whereas I’m magnetically (or masochistically) drawn towards activities for which I have zero aptitude - probably because the improvements come so quickly at the beginning. So that’s its own buzz for a while, then I move on to something else.

That is me. Totally!

With the exception of one thing. A, technical Hobby/ sport i was very good at. But I had to put a LOT of work into it.

I remember giving a talk on training techniques to a successful team that I was helping to coach and i Shared my training schedule. They pretty much all recoiled in shock at the amount of work that I put in on a regular basis (I recall standing there at the front while two or three of them actually gasped)

One of them said afterward that he was so shocked because they all though I was just naturally good. Nope. It takes practice. A lot of practice.

So don’t give up hope OP. Either embrace the mediocre but fun, or decide to give it a lot of practice. Either way enjoy what you do.

Someone once said to me that if people are prepared to criticise your work, they are taking you seriously enough to think you might benefit from their words and be capable of improvement. If you were considered beyond hope, you’d get a vague pat on the head and be sent on your way.

Moreover, what constitutes good Art is very subjective and dependent on the aesthetic sensibilities of wider society at the time too. Van Gogh sold one paintings in his lifetime. Picasso would have been thought mad if he had tried to promote his paintings when art was supposed to be realistic.

And, yes, I think it is often possible to tell if someone has practised for a while and matured in their technique and developed their own unique style. So keep going and enjoy the process of evolving as an artist. You have an innate talent that can be worked on.

Another point about the group is that the others might know each other quite well and have got into the habit of flattering each other! As an outsider you may not have benefitted from the friendship effect.

Please keep going and realise your potential!

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

One of Mark Rothko's paintings was sold for $86.9 million. And yet if you went on your group and shared art that looked like his, I bet you'd come in for more than a bit of criticism.

There's no accounting for taste.

The art world is a joke!

I love art and am on fb pages for people to share art and i get it. However one thing that a lot of people love is photorealism. Theres a lot going around and it is an incredible skill. However i personally dont like photorealism i think i would rather just have a photograph i want my art to look like art. However theres a lot of photorealists in my group and people go proper doe eyed and they get nothing but praise but non photo realists always have "constructive critisism". Sometimes its disheartening but i think, who are the most famous artists in the world, we are talking picasso, dali, van gogh, frida kahlo and none of them are photo realists. (there are some famous photorealists just not very famous). My rambled point here is art is subjective, dont compare your work to others as everyone has a different opinion.

The trouble with FB groups is, in my experience, it seems to be all or nothing. You get ones where most posters slag off people who are posting stuff that is actually OK, and the other end (which drives me crazy) are the ones that say 'what do you think' and everyone says 'it's brilliant' when actually it's rubbish. And the 'please don't criticise' - sorry if you can't take criticism don't post on FB. As PP posters have said, use it as a learning opportunity - if you have got a basic talent (and it sounds like you have) go to classes, get some teaching. Very few artists (people in general) are brilliant without training. Good luck, and as long as you enjoy it who cares? I've written books and plays - I'm never going to give JKR a run for her money, but I don't care, I enjoyed writing and people have bought them, so that's good enough for me!

I remember giving a talk on training techniques to a successful team that I was helping to coach and i Shared my training schedule. They pretty much all recoiled in shock at the amount of work that I put in on a regular basis (I recall standing there at the front while two or three of them actually gasped)

I remember attending a day event run by a literary agency, mostly attended by aspiring novelists. One man was absolutely aghast and disbelieving at the number of revisions I had already done to the novel I was working on -- it had never occurred to him that he needed to do more than write a first draft through to the end, check spellings and grammar and send it off to a series of grateful and interested agents.

An example the other day some woman did this fantastic black line sketch. Now, thats one of my favourite styles to the point all 10 of my tattooes are in that style. However so many people critisised her telling her it was unfinished, colourless, unappealing and told her they hated hand drawn she should invest in computer software to make it digital as they didnt like the handdrawn aspect... Her work was fantastic and i was one of the only people to tell her i loved t and would buy it.

'Jack of all trades, master of none' is fabulous. You can turn your hand to pretty much ANYTHING! What an asset to an employer, a relationship, a family you are.

Feel proud of it, please. It's brilliant, really it is

I am a total novice - hated art in school but through a friend I had just started lessons when lockdown happened.

I joined a couple of FB groups and one that I posted in regularly seemed very driven by the system rather than people. It was very busy but if you posted at a certain time of day you would get loads of feedback and encouragement, never anything negative, but at other times you would be lucky to get two or three likes or responses.

There's little room for ego if you genuinely want criticism. A learning mindset that accepts and evaluates feedback is essential, IMO.

What destination do you want? There are technical aspects to drawing which usually need to be mastered (Simplistically, Picasso was, I'm told, exceptionally talented before departing to Cubism and new destinations) but, for fine art, the destination is your own voice. Now there is photography, there seems less purpose in photo realism in drawing and painting so most art that sells is more about the artist developing a unique voice.

Take the feedback and evaluate it and continue the journey. Good luck.

Im in a similar area and I never, ever feel my stuff is good enough. For years I was redoing stuff and chucking 80% of it away before I tried submitting more and taking the criticism on board. Still feel its sub par when its being published now. Its probably a good mindset if you want to endlessly improve but I completely understand the frustration.

I know exactly what you mean. I've just posted some of my portrait sketches and I'm sitting waiting for comments, telling myself they're useless and nobody will like them or people think they're awful and are too embarrassed to say anything.

I've got an art degree and have taught art and think that I'm probably quite good at what I do but I still doubt myself - but I tell myself that the only way you can make progress is through constructive criticism and I'm my worst critic.
I choose my forums carefully to match them to my style of work and the media I like to use eg it's no good going on a predominately painting one if you like drawing. I also post on Instagram and a few Facebook drawing forum. I was on one and the expectation was to produce a piece of work each week and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with it and I'd end up stressed by the pressure so I left it.

There's little room for ego if you genuinely want criticism. A learning mindset that accepts and evaluates feedback is essential, IMO.

Nah i disagree here. If you want to make it as an artist you need an ego the size of the moon to make it to the top. In art everyones ready to cut you down you have to push them away and carry on like your the best thing ever.

Well that's the stereotype. In the trajectory from student to star, even fine artists tend to be somewhat receptive to criticism during their art school phase and when they want a dealer. They need to stay on the bus as Grayson Perry describes it but it doesn't mean they're deaf to all criticism, IME.

Across creative pursuits, classical musicians who don't accept criticism and instruction from the conductor don't have a career. Similarly actors from directors.

Even in 2d illustration, for every star fine artist, there are probably 10,000? illustrators who won't have a business if they ignore feedback from customers.