Artrepreneur Success Rule #7/10

Rule #7: Always Remain a Student

As in life, art is a journey, not a destination. It took me a while to learn this. When I first started out, I had this future day in my head where I would be killing as an artist. I used to visualize this day where everything would finally make sense. I would have arrived and all my dreams would be fulfilled.

Now that I’ve been at this for almost a decade, I’ve accomplished a lot of my original goals. However, I don’t feel like I’ve made it at all. I just have new goals. My original way of thinking was dangerous. Success is a moving target and it always will be. The sooner we accept this fact, the better our relationship with our art will be. Now, my goal is simply forward motion. The only way to move forward is through continued education.

I mentioned in my last post how important it is to cultivate business knowledge to make money from our art. But education doesn’t stop there. Today, I’m talking about the art itself. Your art will always be changing and evolving whether you like it or not. The things that worked for you yesterday may not be working today. Today, you may need to try something new by cultivating a new skill. It’s important to nurture this forward motion instead of resist it.

You’ll never feel like your art is good enough. I have to say this again because it’s so important - you will never feel like your art is good enough. However, is it better than last year? This is the question we need to ask ourselves. If you’re constantly learning, the answer should be yes. We need to focus on celebrating this fact instead of wishing our art was better today. If you keep learning, you can know your art will always be better than yesterday.

Ways to learn are from our fellow artists, past and present. Trial and error is another way. Never be afraid to pick up new supplies or try a new technique. Take a course online or in person. Go on an artist retreat. Life can teach us about art too, as long as we’re open to the lessons. I’ve read so many books that have nothing to do with art, yet have served as an “aha” moment for my work. Learning comes in the form of medium and technique, but also in discovering new ways of sharing our art. The expression of art is just as important as the art itself. This may be through learning photography, video, or even podcasting.

By continuing to learn every day, this is how we keep the spark alive and commit to our art for the long haul. Any time I’m feeling bored with my work, I usually need to pause and learn something new. This is how I’ve kept my momentum going after all these years. I truly enjoy learning about art. The further along we get in our journey, the more we have to remind ourselves to pause and learn. Personally, I’ve fallen into the trap of getting too comfortable with my work. It’s easy to default to what’s working well enough. However, when I fall into this space, I loose my passion for my work. Suddenly art doesn’t feel as fun as it used to.

When looking at the work of other artists, it may look like they’ve arrived. To you, it may seem like they have their own style and are working on amazing projects. It’s easy to feel envious that they’ve made it if you feel you haven’t. However, if you ask them how they feel, they will tell you they have so many goals left to accomplish. They will say that their work hasn’t come close to realizing its full potential. Usually these artists that appear to have it all have just have been at it longer than you. They left the dock sooner. They worked long hours for years on studying their craft. If you doubt this, check out some of their early work. Look at the year they started sharing content online.

The only way to get better tomorrow is to study today. In a few years, a little every day compounds into great work.

Stay tuned for rule #8!