Do you doubt that you’re an artist? All of us have the ability to be creative and create art. Here’s how to unleash the artist in you.
Most people I know have at least one of the necessary qualities of
being an artist, so the chances are strong that you too are an artist. Sound
unbelievable? Have you always secretly wanted to be considered an artist but
are convinced that you just don’t have what it takes?
If you want to succeed and prosper as an artist you must learn how to sell
art online and make money. But the most obvious connection that people make
to being an artist is the need to be creative.
I agree. Anyone who is a true artist must be creative. The great
thing, the thing that most people don’t take the time to think about, is that
being creative can mean a whole lot of things.
Most people think of an artist as someone who is able to paint a
scene on a canvas or illustrate a children’s book. Some artists may be able to
do those things, but many more will not.
To me, an artist is someone that simply creates new things.
Creating new things could mean making something like a piece of pottery or it
could mean thinking of a new way to organize a full room in your home.
An artist must be someone who appreciates the detailed things in
life. Perhaps you hesitate because you are not a detail-oriented person at all,
but relax. Being an artist can simply mean noticing the things around you like
colors, smells, or unique textures.
An artist notices everything around them. They are constantly
stimulated by visual things around them. An artist not only sees details but
they appreciate the beauty around them whether it is the beauty of a newly
designed building or the beauty of a leaf as it falls to the ground during
autumn.
Still not convinced you’re an artist? Look around your home or
office. If you have taken the time to decorate your surroundings you are
probably an artist. Yes, that’s right, you are an artist simply if you decorate
and add beauty to the things around you.
Do not let yourself get caught up in all of the stigmas or
conceptions you have of a true artist. Consider the things you enjoy spending
time doing.
If you have filled your free time with non-creative things,
consider making some time in your schedule for simple things like making a card
for a friend or rearranging a room in your house.
Once you start looking for ways to be
creative you will never run out. The question should not really be if you
are an artist or not. The more appropriate question to ask is what kind of artist
you really are.
The first steps of a child are always the most joyful! Children
think in images. Their consciousness is not socially conditioned yet. Their
first drawings, the first signs on paper, make a lot of sense to them.
They put all their emotions in the first paintings. They create.
They are direct. They are artists. Each of us has a little child — an artist
inside. In each and every one of us is a direct perception of the world around
us that speaks to us.
We need to express ourselves, express our feelings and thoughts.
This is not a desire to become an artist — we are already artists — we
create — we draw — we paint- we write…
For children, it is not very important if the painting is an exact
copy of reality. What is important for them is how they perceive reality and
how they express themselves and their feelings on paper.
If you have a chance to observe a kid's painting, you will be
amazed at how much joy and happiness they can experience just by drawing a
simple picture. When they draw or paint, they are the creators; there is no
separate painting and painter. It is one whole process of creation.
You can do one simple experiment. Go to a kindergarten class or
find a group of children about 4 to 5 years old and ask them a question: “Who
can paint? Raise your hand.” There will hardly be any child who will not raise
their hand.
Now go and find a group of adults and ask them the very same
question. You will be surprised. There will be few if any of them who will
raise their hands. You may wonder: where did those artists go from within us
when we grow up.
Unfortunately, when we grow up we become more and more conditioned
by the environment. We become more and more self-conscious about our skills.
Now, we try to make our paintings and pictures to be an exact copy of reality,
and if it is not so, we get frustrated and give up.
We start making excuses like: I am not good enough; I don’t have
the necessary skills etc. But the trick is to hold on to that child-like state
within us. That state gives us joy and the highest degree of happiness while we
are creating something.
It is that inner artist that will guide us through the challenges
and adversities of learning the skills to become a great artist. One of the
greatest painters in the history of humankind, Pablo Picasso, once said, “For
all my life I have been learning to paint like a child”.
If we stay in touch with our inner child-like artist, then
learning any skill will become only a matter of time and practice — nothing
more.
What happens if we let the inner guide teach us? During the course
of our lives, we become more skilled in the ways of transferring our thoughts
and feelings on paper. We learn to make a painting more alive and more
expressive.
We are now able to grasp some laws of expressing ourselves. We
look at what others do, we become more and more experienced, we read books, and
we study. And one day, our skills become excellent.
Even other people start calling us artists. We devote all our
attention and all our time to the training of acquiring art skills; we
continuously think “How to draw…” And “What to draw”
Finally, I would like to give you some practical advice. If you
really want to learn to draw and paint, it is really necessary to paint
something that is very interesting, very exciting for you. Something that
really speaks to you!
You may even feel the necessity to paint it. Only then will you be
able to experience the highest degree of happiness in the process of creation.
And only then will your work touch others.
Probably it’s worth looking at your memories, look into your
subconscious in your early sketches and etudes. It is very easy to miss
something that lies very deep in you, but those things can really prompt the
inner artist to find an important theme for the work.
It can be absolutely habitual things, for example, a picture of a
yard filled with the wonderful light of a sunset or a painting of a hero from
an interesting book you have just read.
Look into yourself, into the artist living in you, and define your
work only by your feelings. Unleash the greatest artist that is already in you.
I wish you much success in your creations!
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