1. Don't Wait for Inspiration, it's OVERRATED!
Inspiration is such a powerful drug for artists. When we’re inspired, we feel as though we are creating our absolute best work. The work seems to almost create itself effortlessly in a time vacuum.
The reality is, inspiration is inconsistent. It comes and goes. Relying on inspiration to be creative is a recipe for inconsistent results. If you rely on inspiration for your creative process, you won’t achieve much. You won’t feel inspired every day.
To be effective, you need to focus on your creative work daily. This requires a lot of time dedicated to your creative work, a lot of time which won’t be inspired. Instead of waiting for inspiration to spark your creative juices, rely on dedication and discipline of a daily creative practice.
The artists who tend to be more advanced than others are those who simply keep painting, drawing, writing, or filming. Developing your art requires this disciplined focus, and consistent effort, regardless if you feel inspired or not. So keep on keeping on!
2. Your Creative Process is EVERYTHING!
With art, a lot of times we focus on the end result. The finished painting, complete film, or written book. But focusing on the end result isn’t what drives us as creatives. Of course it’s nice to appreciate the final work, but the creative process is everything.Your creative process is everything.
Being able to focus on the process and not the end result keeps you in the zone. It keeps you present and focused on the act of creating vs the idea of the creation. Your art is nothing without a pure focus on the creative process as without it work doesn't get done.
We are what we repeatedly do. If we paint every day, we’re a painter. If we write every day, we’re a writer. Being deliberate about our creative process is what keeps us in the act of our building and making our creations. Keep your focus on the process, not the product, or end result.
3. The right time is right now
JUST START… whatever it is.
Waiting for the “right time” to do something is a bit of a waste of time and a form of procrastination. There is no right time besides right now.
The world needs more creatives. We need more people focused on a creative process, and making the time for themselves and their creative process. Build the website, paint the painting, film the movie. Whatever it is that you want to do creatively, do it.
If you’re waiting for the right time, ask yourself why you haven’t started yet? Don’t wait to be the best painter, just focus on painting the best you can every single day and you will grow your skillset as an artist.
Don’t let your creative self stay hidden in the shadows because you believe you’re not ready to show your work, or you’ve not perfected a certain skill. Be gentle with yourself and put yourself out there, today. Don’t wait any longer. The right time to do anything, become anything, build anything is right now.
4. Materials Don't Matter
The tool is less important than the hand which holds it. It’s not what materials you have, but what you do with those materials that makes a great piece of art, or furniture, or photograph. You don’t need the best of the best equipment, studio, paints, etc to make beautiful and impact creations. You need time, dedication, and a focus on sitting down and making, creating, or building.
Expensive art materials can be a nice added bonus, but not a necessity.
There are professional artists using house paint, Famous youTubers using their iPhones, and self published authors who wrote their books on a free word document.
Don’t feel less than as an artist or creator because of your equipment or tools you're currently using. Just focus on making the best possible work you can with what you have at this very moment. Most of the time, the more constraints a creative is met with, the more creative they tend to be. Limit yourself and see what comes.
5. Create Art Every Day
Creating art only on weekends, or whenever you feel like it isn’t enough. A creative practice takes an honest commitment to show up and make something every single day. This is where discipline will really help you out. The artist who is most disciplined, is the artist that will consistently get better, even if they aren’t as talented as someone else.
A consistent commitment to creating something every day is the key to growing as an artist. Be gentle with yourself, this doesn’t mean you have to produce masterpieces every day.
A daily creation be something as simple as a study or a sketch. Keep showing up! every. Single. Day. You’d be surprised what you could accomplish in a year through creating something every day.
BONUS - PATIENCE IS YOUR FRIEND:
Art is a long term commitment. It’s an all in effort.
It takes time and that requires patience. To quote Bill Gates: “People often overestimate what will happen in the next two years and underestimate what will happen in ten.”Where will your art be in two years? What about 10 years?
I hope you found this helpful. Leave a comment for the tip that resonated the most for you.
Best of luck and happy creating!