I keep putting off writing this for whatever reason. So I’m going to take a leap and reach wayyyy out. I have a biggie.
I want to talk about what I think is the most important thing you can do as an artist.
And in typical Allison fashion, there will be tangents and there will be a resolution at the end (after I drag you around to all of my other points.)
Should I just go ahead and type IMHO?
I’m doing it.
IMHO (In my humble opinion for the newbies), the most important thing you need to do as an artist is find your style.
That is THE most important thing and hardest thing you can do. It should be the first step, IMHO. But a lot of budding artists kind of glaze over this part because they just want to get to the selling part of the journey. I can speak to this because I went through this process several times. I was tricking myself into thinking I had my style down but in reality I was painting what I was painting because I excelled at it or subconsciously absorbing the accounts I was following or dumbing down my work because I knew it would sell if it was safe.
Say that 3X fast.
I was afraid to paint what I actually wanted because I thought it was too ‘out there.’ It wasn’t portraits, it wasn’t realism, it wasn’t neutrals…
I just needed to provide an income so I could leave my full-time job and pursue my art finally. I wanted to be free from my full-time job more than anything! I wanted to be out of it so badly I let other people’s opinions of what I should paint takeover because I knew it would pay up. I painted beautifully, could paint anything, knew color like the back of my hand… it all felt so easy. But it also felt so awful.
So for a few months there in the beginning I was kind of a sell out… which is gross.
The point: There are NO shortcuts when it comes to being an artist.
My friend Blayne posted something on Instagram recently and it really resonates with this message of originality and the time required to find originality…
“I’ve been such a champion of “doing the work,” but last year I also learned you have to “do the time.” Having a career as an artist is not something you wake up one day and do... it’s a constant rededication to the love of doing the work and letting the doing of the work be both the path and the reward. ”
This is the part where I want to shake each and every one of you who are triggered by this post and say stop! We can fix this! There is still time!
The courage and patience it takes to put in the time is not easy. But it is entirely possible. Nothing worth having is easy, right?
For me, personally, every day in the studio from the time I was 18 to now is like therapy. And not always the good sessions. Somedays it feels like the sessions where you have to go way, way back and tap into the shit you suppressed for your entire adolescence. And then paint that memory while you’re naked on stage. For a grade or for a gallery. Yikes. So where do we go from here? I know some of you are panicking reading this. Or maybe you’re pissed I’m being so candid. You feel targeted. That’s your ego feeling threatened, by the way. So if it makes you feel any better, when I graduated with my art degree I had no clue what to do or where to go. And I had only begun to scratch the surface of my style.
Quick Math Lesson:
12 years ago and I hadn’t found my style.
And that’s after seriously drawing and painting at minimum half of the year 4 years prior leading up to college.
Minus 2 years ago where I started to hit my groove.
12 + 4 - 2 = 14 years
Hello. That is 14 years of art schooling and painting and dabbling and I still hadn’t found my style. So don’t be so hard on yourself. See, these things take time! And in case you’re saying, “well I didn’t go to art school Allison so I can’t be like you,” you’re wrong. Let me let you in on a little secret.
There are no guide books in art school. You paint for 4 years (or in my case, 5 years), get your degree and hopefully have the intelligence or self-assuredness (I did not have the latter) to know where you are going next. I started where all of you did, just in a different way.
We all start from ground zero. It’s the next steps that make you a true artist who is in it for the long haul or… the other kind of people.
I call them ‘line-cutters.’ Another big no-no in my book.
What we want is for you to migrate through the seasons of creating with true love and vulnerability. We want you to find your style through trial and error, painting more than ever before. Try everything! And then try it again. You don’t have to post it and you don’t have to claim it. It’s all growth.
And here’s a tip… you won’t find your style until you’ve painted at least 100 paintings. I think Blayne told me that, too.
Eventually it will come naturally. Your strokes will show themselves. You’ll start seeing your style.
No matter what it is you WANT to paint (that’s a different can of worms) your strokes are yours. The way you tear paper is yours. The way you pair fabrics together is yours. That drum beat in the back of every song is yours. That wonky high note is yours. Your gift is yours.
So how will you get to the original idea and style if you don’t keep trying? If you don’t put in the time?
Do you want this forever or just for right now?
Do you really want to be painting another artist’s idea just because you are good at it? Just because you physically can?
Again, I ask this because I’ve asked myself these same things.
I’ve been there. It’s no fun. There are not shortcuts.
To me, being an artist is asking yourself these really tough questions and then still wanting to paint and create in spite of the tough questions.
Maybe I could’ve just said that at the beginning and been done with it… but the middle parts were pretty thought-provoking too, right? Every journey is different. That’s what makes art so magical! So take the time and find your style. Get off of your phone. Delete the other artist accounts you follow and focus in on what YOU should make. Go get inspired. Step out into nature. Get to work. And then we can talk about where to go from there.
My course (info below) is coming up in a few weeks and it is the roadmap to find success through your art and mindset. So join me!
It won’t be as intense as this post but it will be filled with everything I’ve learned the hard way (and eventually the easy way) from working with galleries, selling independently, building a business with your art and setting up systems to provide a consistent income, creatively.
It’s going to be eye-opening, exciting, empowering and totally reset your 2020.
I think that’s something we all can agree is a very good thing.
Xx, Allison
PS: I would like to add that no matter what you fall in love with and can’t stop painting, make it yours. If it’s portraits, be the best damn portrait artist you can be. If it’s race cars, DO IT BIG! It’s not the type of art that makes you more or less than… it’s doing it with you in each and every piece that’s important. So please don’t feel like if you aren’t painting bold abstracts like me that you’re doing something wrong. In fact, after this post, I think we can say that you are doing something right! Try out all of the styles of painting and all of the mediums. Find what tells your story best and GO FOR IT!