#about making art

[doomhole]

So... I get the reasons why artists are so vehement about being seen as skilled rather than talented.

Art IS a skill.

You can't become a highly proficient artist without practice in the same way that you can't get those rock-hard washboard abs without exercise.

But here's the thing about that.

Practice is to art improvement as exercise is to weight loss.

As in:

It seems sensible to most that there would be a correlation between having an athletic lifestyle and having a lean body. Our media actively reinforces that seemingly-sensible assumption, too. And yet... serious scientific research keeps showing that exercise does not actually lead to weight loss in the vast majority of cases and populations.

Not to mention that we all know people who are stick thin and never get off the couch. They won't be sporting that trained physique for sure... but they're not fat either. And some of us may know or even be people who are actually incredibly fit and well-exercised... while being and remaining fat by any metric.

Getting exercise is healthy! It comes with countless measurable physical and mental benefits, both immediate and long-term, and is altogether really worth it. Even doing a little is good for you.

But the odds that exercise will make you skinny? Well. They are bad. Really bad, actually.

Did I mention exercise is great for you regardless of your weight and body type?

….

This is what actively trying to build art skills through practice is like too.

Getting good at art through practice is about as likely as getting thin through exercise. In other words: it's definitely not impossible, but results can and very much will vary.

Art skill is not some innate magical gift the artist had to do nothing for, and that should be said. Practicing art is hard work. But an artist isn't good at art *because they practiced*. They are good at art because they practiced AND happened to be someone for whom practice actually worked in the desired way. Which is significantly more rare.

Messages like "Everyone can be good at art! (If they practice enough/in the right way)" are as disingenuous and toxic as "Everyone can be skinny! (If they exercise enough/in the right way)". It's just not true. We all know it's not true.

But more importantly,

Being good at art is about as much the point of art practice as being skinny is the point of exercise.

It's normal to want to be good. Like thinness, skill mastery is centered and celebrated in a variety of ways in our society. Of course it's desirable. But it is at the very most a lucky bonus drop on top of everything else art practice gives you.

Much like exercising, practicing a creative skill has a ton of benefits. It helps with emotional regulation, lowers blood pressure, improves spatial awareness, motor skills, memory, and focus, and is linked to greater life satisfaction and reduced depression symptoms. It is great for you, mind and body. And none of those things are even *related* to actually being good at it.

So I just want to say...

It's OK if you are bad at art, and practice doesn't help.

It doesn't mean you're doing art the wrong way (especially if you find your current practice enjoyable and/or easily maintainable as it is).

It doesn't mean you're lesser than others whose art does improve with practice.

It doesn't mean you lack dedication/grit/spine/discipline/whatever.

It doesn't mean there's no point in making art.

The point of making art is that creative expression is a human need. So... make art as an act of self-care rather than a mission of self-improvement. You are already good enough. You are already deserving.

[thiscatisbisexual]

Thinks about my giant centaur gods and their attempts at creating a living world.

[ghostieking]

it is funny, because I have this endless urge to create something, but I simply can't bring myself to physically and mentally do it... it's like I'm always too tired to paint or to draw what I have inside of me, but it needs to come out and I just don't have the strength to give birth to it? it's a painful and unnecessary thing, really

[mayhemchicken-artblog]

in the hour or so it took me to draw this op turned reblogs off

EDIT: reblogs are STAYING OFF. op was right and correct and i have never regretted making a post as much as this one. if you want to reblog my art you can reblog something else from my blog. or commission me, lord knows i deserve financial compensation for the nightmare this post has put me through

[lucidloving]

@roach-works // Melissa Broder, "Problem Area" // Mary Oliver, "The Return" // @annavonsyfert // Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer // Haruki Murakami, Dance Dance Dance // David Levithan, How They Met and Other Stories // Tennessee Williams, Notebooks

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[trinketbug]

"furry inflation" (2024)

[dovesick]

endless night

[linktoo-doodles]

resurrection is sort of romantic, isnt it

[koddlet]

personal rules for winter ❄

[theharlotofferelden]

Genuinely loved the experience of being at camp for the first time and seeing all the companions with their tits out like they're all gonna go clubbin or some shit

Then there’s Gale

Who's just. So utterly swagless that his clothes smell like dusty old books. My man doesn't give a fuck about the drip he's getting his ass ready for bed

[hell0mega]

people are drawing Steamboat Willie Mickey doing all this crazy shit and whatnot, but you could always do that. you can do that now, with current Mickey, just fine. it's fanart and it's legally protected. hell you could take Disney-drawn Mickey and put a caption about unions or whatever on it and it would still be protected under free speech and sometimes even parody law.

what is special about public domain is that you can SELL him. you could take a screenshot and sell it on a tshirt. you can use him to advertise your plumbing business. people have already uploaded and monetized the original film.

you could always have Mickey say what you want, but now you can profit off it.

[catskullery]

[sabertoothwalrus]

wait a second wait a second wait a second wait a second wait a s

[kittycowboy]

I am actually so serious I think it really messes with a childs creativity and joy to tell them to never make a mary sue OC. Like that unbridaled form of joy where you make a self insert OC who super cool and everyone loves them and they have every superpower in the world SHOULD be something a kid makes, it nourishes their ability to create things for fun and not be stifled by "oh but what if my character is too overpowered and cringey...". whatever

[kelddaa]

I was plagued by a vision