What’s the best art advice you’ve ever received?
3yr
Katey Jensma
Hey Proko Community! I see a lot of artist struggle with the same things, motivation, deliberate practice, inspiration, etc. I want to know the best art advice you have ever received.
I'll start with some of my favorite quotes:
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.” – Salvador Dalí
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh
Some advice I think EVERYONE should know is this: Don’t compare your work to professionals work, instead compare your work to your past work. This can boost motivation by seeing how far you’ve come since the beginning. Looking back at my old stuff was a wake up call, I couldn’t believe the progress.
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3yr
I think one the most striking advices I ever got came from @Stephen Silver during a mentorship session, and it was to not focus on how many likes I was getting on social media as a parameter to develop myself as an artist. It may sound a bit obvious now, but, when we're struggling to improve or get noticed, it's pretty easy to mix things up and start chasing a large following rather than attempting to improving the foundation of our skills.
It's hard to choose the best one but the first that comes to mind is:
"Originality is more concerned with sincerity than peculiarity"
I would say that enjoying the process and having fun is a good lesson. Steven Zapata is a big fan of this one, it is also something I learned through experience.
Slow down and enjoy everyday. Life goes by way too fast. In other words, to go faster you must slow down.
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3yr
This reminds of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 😆 “Life moves pretty fast - if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it”. Although it’s not specifically about art, I’d say stopping and looking around sometimes is actually what can keep us inspired to create.
I don't know if it was Matt Kohr (CRTL-Paint), Marco Bucci, Adam Duff or somone else, but they said something like "just SHOW UP each day" that really stuck with me. It was was supported with advice on building habits, practicing, just getting out your sketchbook or tools even if you don't use them, etc, but it was that core of work ethic that said you'll get there if you put in the effort, and all it needs to be is showing up each day - good and bad - the rest will come.
It was Marco Bucci. I think you're referring to this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDPnlsJ1zG4
Super motivating! His view on talent is also something that opened my eyes!
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3yr
This always comes to mind when I sit down to draw!
It was not directly said as an art advice, but I like this quote by Gilles Vigneault (a French-Canadian poet and songwriter) :
"Tout a été dit, mais pas par moi." (meaning : "Everything has been said, but not by me")
Those of us who strive for originality in our art may get discouraged by the idea that everything has already been done by someone else, but for many different reasons I believe there is still value in doing it.
Piece by piece will bring you peace by Stephen silver
I really like this quote from @Stephen Silver 's book "Conquering the Artists Struggle"
“Passion- To do something without being asked, for the pure love of it.
Purpose- To know what it is you are aiming for.
Practice- To work at your craft daily, and to explore. Patience- To relax, be present, enjoy the process no matter how long it may take.
Persistence- never, ever give up, find new ways, take initiative, follow your heart.”
I found Marshall's summary of "metaphor as composition" very useful
I think we could probably have an entire post dedicated to advice from the amazing @Marshall Vandruff.
