Artist

I know many artist. The one I know most is myself. I've always had a speck of creativity in me. I love having hobbies. They're fun! However, there are plenty of downfalls to being an artist.

Your Thoughts About Your Work
Your work is your baby. You think about, you create it, it's yours. You start it and sometimes you finish it. But as an artist do you ever really consider your work finished masterpieces? Well the answer is probably no. At least from my perspective. Art is never finished and never perfect it's never where it should and for some reason it's the artist that is having these thoughts.

THE Undeniable Doubt
All artist have this undeniable doubt. It never fades no matter how old you get. If you're an artist, you're a perfectionist. The problem with your work is that you have no idea what's missing. Every artist believes that their work is crap, they all believe that they'll never improve beyond the point they're currently at. They all truly believe that there's nothing they can do about it. No matter how good they really are. No matter how many compliments they get from people in their field or third party observers, they'll never feel a satisfaction in their work.

The Truth and How It Can Be Handled
I know exactly how that feels. Now this isn't an advice column but if you really want to do something and numerous people say you're good at what you do, believe them. But that doesn't mean slack off and be a jerk to everyone who isn't as good as you are. It means share you knowledge, spread your technique, give a little back to those aspiring to be in your field. Teaching often helps the teacher better understand what they're teaching. With that being said maybe if you teach your techniques you can find what's missing in another's work. It's always easier to observe and critique someone else's work rather than your own.

Focus
My biggest problem with my hobbies and my art is that I know I can't become a master of them all. I can barely master one. (but that might be a personal problem) But I am proud of being able to do many things. People always get on my case about doing so much and not mastering them. But I always find things fun I want to be able to do anything. I think this is mostly because if I have kids someday I want to be able to help them with whatever they need. If I don't know then I'd be willing to learn with them. But mainly to be a master of anything is to do it everyday and focus on it when you do. You can't be a slacker and expect yourself to get better.



Okay I know I said this wasn't an advice column but to those who want it here is really is:
Stop and think critically about your work don't call it crap until you have other opinions on it. Ask others how you can improve and if they're your friends well don't ask them unless they're that person who is going to tell you the truth no matter what. Ask teachers, professors, anyone that you can find to constructively give you feedback then after all that heartache and frustration go back and analyze those comment and them put more of your heart into it. This is where you focus. It may not come out perfect but more practice helps.