Tips for Beginner Artists

Today I wanted to share a few of my top TIPS for artists who are at the beginning of their creative journey. It’s a compilation based on my own experience and what I commonly observe in questions or comments directed to me, whether it is by creatives who connect with me on social media or by some of my lovely students who are in the early stages of their artist life. So I hope that if you are a beginning artist, these tips will resonate with you!

For the most part, the tips in here are not really technical or logistical but more mindset related. And of course there are always more tips as it comes to creating an art practice. But let’s just focus on these here today, shall we?

1 - Don't get overwhelmed with having a style just yet and just start to paint. Your style will show up over time as you create. Your artistic style is not something you can settle on by "thinking" about it or making a decision. It just happens as a results of having an art practice in which you allow yourself to explore, experiment, learn, and create with joy. And this does not happen quickly. Feeling that you have found your style can take time especially as you explore a variety of different creative approaches. Oh, and even when you really feel you have a style it will likely continue to evolve and show changes (which is a beautiful part of the journey). So don't spend too much time worrying about style if your art journey just began, but just have fun creating and exploring! And trust that your style will emerge as you keep creating.

2 - Explore a variety of materials - student grade as well as high quality paints. Don't think that just because you have recently started your creative journey, you need to stick to student grade materials for a long time before you paint better. Try professional grade (aka artist range) paints as early as possible so you can explore them and see what possibilities they offer you and explore the effects you can create with them. They do make a difference and can be an important part of your learning and growing your skills earlier rather than later. You don't need the entire color range to begin, but you can pick just 2 or 3 colors that you like from the professional brands and bring them into your paint practice and exploration. You can mix and match different brands and quality levels of acrylic paint as you create and this is a good way to learn about and compare your materials in action. Now since my experience is with "acrylic paints", this entire point is based on my experience with this paint medium.

3 - Don't worry obsessively about technique to the point where you don't pay attention to how it all comes together to form a painting. Now, technique is important because there will be certain ways in which we will enjoy the creative process more, and that is very much related to our technique. And technique is one aspect in art making that can make it look very interesting or unique (and it will become part of our creative style). But in the end, composition and how you chose your colors and place them is more important than precisely what tools, tricks, or technical aspects you use. Now I know at the beginning technique is what many focus on the most (at least I definitely did), as there is often so much intrigue and fascination in that as we explore all the tools and materials, and those cool effects. So let that definitely spark your creativity, and go ahead and explore various techniques. But don't forget that in the end, when you look at an entire painting, it's more about how you compose all the elements in your art in a way where they look beautiful in a "cohesive" way in the completed artwork. So on the way of your explorations, make sure to learn more about composition and color harmony as well.

4 - Don't compare yourself to others (I know I said this a few times in other posts as well, but it’s important to re-emphasize) . Look at people's art to be inspired (yes we all get tons of inspiration on Instagram or Pinterest these days!), but then step into your own creativity and create your own bubble for a while where comparison is not allowed. There's nothing wrong, especially at the beginning, to be strongly inspired from one another and feel like we are being pulled into many directions. You may find yourself trying to create similar works based on some styles you saw. Or maybe it’s a workshop you’re taking from an artist and it's totally fine to emulate their work at this stage as you are still learning about new techniques and approaches - that's how we often start to learn and create that momentum and structure to get us exploring more and spark new ideas (and even as an experienced artist, it can be really great to be inspired and learn a few new things or perspectives from another artist to strengthen our work). But after a while you will actually feel your own unique gestures and style and way of thinking will always come out more and more. And as you allow for that to happen you will walk your own path. Yet you may at times still find that you are comparing yourself to others' progress, others' style of art, the success you “perceive” others have, or how you think they created a “masterpiece” and you did not. And many times your comparison can start feeling judgemental towards you or make you feel inadequate. Please stop doing that to yourself. It can kill your inspiration and it is unkind to yourself. Remind yourself that you do not know how many months or years that person has been working to get there. Or what their life circumstances have been, or how many hundreds or thousands of paintings they created, and how often they failed to get there and got up and continued. Or perhaps you do know, so then just remind yourself of that. And most importantly remember that everyone is different. That’s the beauty. Don’t judge yourself. Swim in your own lane while having fun. It will be the key to your resilience and success, and your ability to truly discover your unique creativity, your story, and your authentic voice in art.

5 - Keep a healthy mindset overall about life and wellbeing. Read various artists’ blogs (helloooo - thanks for being here!). They share wonderful things that are beyond just the art, like their challenges, or how they think. It can be very inspiring. But also inspiring non-artist blogs and podcasts (specially those that focus on personal growth or the journey of life) can be of great help. Nurture your mind and soul with things on a daily (or at least regular) basis that keep you grow as a human being before an artist. Be kind to your body and wellbeing. Take walks. Be in nature. Do what makes you stay healthy and in love with just life itself, regardless of what challenges we face and will continue to face.

6 - Hold a vision of YOU in the future as a successful artist (and by “successful” I mean any definition of success that matters to YOU), where you create your own art that you love and people love. Imagine in this future vision how you make people feel with your art, and keep that vision alive in your imagination (even when you don't know how your art will look like at that stage or how you will get there). This vision will be the glue and driving force. It could be a vision for the next 5-10 years. And the more you believe in this vision, the more likely you will get close to it (and maybe even much sooner). Now perhaps this one may relate more to those who wish to take their art beyond a hobby. But even if you intend to keep it as a hobby, you can envision the joy and peace you have as you paint in the future, and the paintings you hang in your home or gift to friends, and how others will feel the joy coming out of your art and yourself as the artist.

7 - Maintain a desire for exploration and growth. Allow yourself to fail and make “mistakes” (this will help you grow). In fact the earlier you let yourself create a mess in your creative process, the more relaxed and free you will be going forward. After all there are no mistakes in art but only lessons. And in the end, it's not about reaching that end state vision or that “perfect” art (in fact “perfection” should not be the goal at all as it doesn’t really exist). It's about who YOU become in the process and through the journey. And it's about becoming that person who will make your art great and make people admire you and your work. So, no shortcuts, love the journey with the ups and downs.  The journey and the desire to learn, explore, and grow is, in my personal view, the best recipe!

So, what do you feel are your biggest challenges as a beginning or early artist, or which of these points resonated most with you? Share below.