Hello, I'm Sarah Renae Clark
and if I could go back in time and give
myself some advice as a beginner artist, these are the seven things I'd say.
First, you're going to fail - often.
Well, that was a bit of a downer! But before you click away, failure is
actually a secret key to success that many people miss because it doesn't look fun.
Walt Disney was fired from his job
at the Kansas City Star because he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.
Oprah was told by one of her first TV
producers that she was unfit for television.
The first Harry Potter manuscript was
rejected by all twelve major publishing houses.
It was sent to. Jerry Seinfeld was booed
off stage when he first tried stand up comedy, and apparently Colonel Sanders was
rejected by over 1000 restaurants with his KFC chicken recipe.
These are just a few of many stories of people who pushed through failure.
So how did these people become the huge success stories we know today?
Despite these failures that would crush
the dreams of most people. They didn't give up.
Failure is never easy.
It can be disappointing, but it can also be a massive learning opportunity.
And it's not failure that will hold you back.
It's the fear of failure that holds us
back and how we react when it actually comes.
When we are afraid of failure, we take smaller risks,
we stay within our comfort zones, and we don't try new things.
The biggest shift in my own creativity was when I started to embrace failure.
I began to welcome failure as a part of the process.
I would start a project fully prepared
that everything could go wrong and do it anyway.
When you embrace failure, it gives you permission to try new things,
to have fun and experiment with different media, different ideas,
and different art styles that you might not feel brave enough to try otherwise.
I'm always experimenting and problem solving, and I wouldn't do any of this if
I let the fear of failure determine my decisions.
Experimenting comes with a risk.
Sometimes the end result is a total mess,
but often it's the way to discover something new and exciting.
Embracing your mistakes and treating
failure as a part of the creative process instead of running from it will give you
more confidence and help you to think outside the box.
It doesn't mean failing isn't
disappointing, but it's better to try and fail than to never have tried.
You never know just how close you are to reaching your goals.
My second piece advice be prepared for rejection.
Rejection and failure often come hand
in hand, especially when you take bigger risks.
When you fail, there's often someone ready to point it out.
Never let anyone tell you that you're not good enough, not smart enough,
or not creative enough to achieve your dreams and reach your goals.
Don't let haters get you down.
Just have fun with your art,
with social media, making it so easy to have an opinion.
These days, hate comments are everywhere.
If you start putting your work out
in the public eye, expect to attract some unwanted comments and unfair criticism.
But don't let that stop you.
Your art is an inspiration,
and for every one careless or rude comment, there are hundreds of people
who are encouraged by your art, inspired by your talent and your courage
to share it with the world, even when they don't comment.
Don't expect everyone to love what you do.
Even the best artists in the world get haters and critics.
It's good to be open to constructive
feedback that can help you to grow and improve your skills.
But it's important to know who to listen
to and where to accept this feedback and when to just ignore it.
Don't ever let negative comments take away your joy of creating,
and don't let anyone else determine your worth or your potential.
Art rules exist, but they can be broken.
Some of the comments that come online
can fit into the category we like to call the art police.
These are the people that believe art should be done a certain way within
certain rules, and there's no room to move beyond those.
I don't believe in being creative within a box.
I am a big believer in breaking the rules when it comes to art.
However, breaking the rules of art is not an excuse to be sloppy or lazy.
I think Picasso said this the best learn
the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.
Picasso definitely broke the rules of anatomy, and people didn't like it,
but his style has become iconic and has changed the history of art.
But don't use breaking the rules as an excuse not to learn them.
If you're drawing, a lot of people take the time to learn anatomy.
If you're doing graphic design, learn about composition and balance.
The more you learn about perspective, color theory, balance,
lighting techniques, anatomy, or whatever is relevant to your art style.
The more your skills will develop and the more you'll be able to break
the rules successfully while still creating art that looks amazing.
The art rules provide us with an important foundation to help us create.
But while you're still learning, don't stop creating in the meantime,
and don't be afraid to experiment and use things in new ways.
It's okay to pick up a tool and just create something and learn kinesthetically
without taking a class or going to art school first.
I am the worst culprit at holding
my pencil the wrong way and using tools incorrectly, and there are a lot of things
to learn about art, many of which take years to learn so we
can't all become experts before we start drawing.
Sometimes we just got to experiment for ourselves.
So don't let the art police stop you
from being creative, but learn what you can as you go.
Let the art rules help you improve your technique and understand the foundations
of art and culture so that you can have a better understanding of the box that you
are breaking out of with your own creativity and unique style.
But most of all know that there is no wrong way to be creative and just be you.
Surround Yourself With Creative People
While you might not have creative friends who can come visit and draw with you,
you can connect with a global network of creatives all the time on YouTube.
Watch other artists. You can learn so much
from watching other artists create, even if they aren't doing a teaching video
or they aren't doing the same art style that you're wanting to learn.
You might pick up some great little art tips, lighting techniques,
or even mindsets about art that motivate and encourage you to keep creating.
I know for me, the more I surround myself with creative people, even online,
the more I feel encouraged in my own creativity.
And YouTube is a great way to see a huge
range of other artists in every medium you can imagine.
I have some favorite artists that I tune into regularly.
In fact, I often watch or listen to them while I'm working on my own drawings.
I mentioned some of my favorites a few months ago in this video,
but more recently I've been watching Jazza, ADC Art Attack, Chloe Rose Art,
Moriah Elizabeth, Tami Danzo, and Nerdy Crafter the most.
I'll pop a link to their channels below so you can check them out too.
They are all a lot of fun and you can tell them I sent you.
In fact, I've got a special club coming up with ADC Art Attack in a few weeks time.
I'm very excited and I know a few of you will be too.
So subscribe, turn on your notifications and keep an eye out for that video.
My next piece of advice is an important one to keep in mind as you are watching
these amazing creators and that's - don't compare yourself to others.
I mean, I know we all know this, but we still do it right.
We compare our art to someone who is clearly a professional and we say,
I wish I could draw like that or I'm not as good as that and we feel discouraged.
In fact, I talked all about this
in my video about the comments I hate getting - but why do we do this?
Usually the people we compare ourselves
to have been building their skills for years.
Often they are professionals or they draw every day and they have built up their
skills through lots of practice and training.
With the same amount of practice, determination and training,
it's quite possible that you could create amazing art as well.
So instead of comparing and feeling discouraged, get excited at the potential
of what your tools can create if you keep learning and developing your skills.
I look at pencil artists far beyond my current skill level, and I think, wow,
imagine if I can build my skills to a level like that.
That would be so exciting.
It becomes a goal rather than a discouragement.
But from there, patience is the key.
You're not going to become an expert
overnight, and it takes time to create beautiful art.
In fact, I think one of my biggest
mistakes as a new artist was always rushing my art to finish a piece.
Even now, my best pencil pieces have taken 10 to 15 hours.
But the art that I aspire to create
from the people I see online takes them 150 hours.
That's a big jump, even from where I'm at,
so that's going to take a lot more patience, and I'm not sure I'm there yet.
But one day I will be.
Take your time.
Don't rush your art and don't rush your learning.
Aim for progress, not perfection.
Skills don't develop overnight.
You will get a little better every time
you create, so just keep creating, which is the perfect segue to my next
piece of advice right after this short break.
Draw every day.
You've heard that said, right?
It's good advice.
Drawing every day will improve your skills better than any number of courses or
books, but it's not a realistic goal for me.
And maybe you're in the same boat.
It's easy to look at artists and assume
their skill comes purely from natural talent.
But most artists spend a lot of time drawing and developing their skills over
years through regular practice and constant sketches.
If you can draw or create in some way every day.
You'll see the benefits in how quickly your art improves.
But if you can't try to create some kind of regular creative routine for yourself,
the more you create, the more your skills will improve.
It's that simple. And just like exercise, regularly
using your creative muscles will improve
your art far quicker than an occasional art project.
My art has improved more in the last
twelve months than it has in the last 20 years.
Why? Because for the first time in my life,
I'm spending about 10 hours a week creating something.
Funny enough that's because I'm doing this
YouTube channel, so all of that creativity is pretty much on camera for you guys.
But even then, you can see how much my art
has improved in just one year from being creative more regularly.
Think about where your art is now
and imagine where you could be if you started creating every week or every day.
You might surprise yourself.
I definitely did.
My final tip is to buy the right supplies.
Quality supplies.
You don't need the most expensive
supplies, but quality supplies help more than you'd think.
Trying to create art with cheap supplies
can be frustrating, and frustration leads to giving up.
It's like trying to cut with a blunt knife.
It's not impossible, but a sharp knife will give you better
results with far less effort and allow you to focus on building the skills
that matter instead of spending all your time working against your tools.
Quality doesn't always mean the most expensive though.
There are plenty of mid range options in art supplies that will give you
a decent quality tool without breaking a budget.
My channel is full of videos
with recommendations for pencils, paper and other tools with more to come as
I find more affordable and quality products.
So you could maybe subscribe? Paper for example makes a huge difference
and it's something I wish I had upgraded much earlier in my own art journey.
In fact, for many years I told people
that paper didn't really matter - but it does. Since using better quality
paper all of my pencils perform so much better even the budget brands and I've
been able to improve my skills much more quickly.
If you'd like some recommendations
on paper I have a whole video where I compare some different art papers
for working with pencils and markers so you can learn what to look for.
If you can't afford the best tools right away, don't let this stop you.
Use what you have, you can create
with anything as I showed you in my recent Crayola challenge and there are a lot
of great affordable alternatives to expensive brands that provide a way
for beginner artists to get started without having to start with supplies
that are totally rubbish. But when you're ready to get serious, start saving up
for at least one quality set of whatever medium you're working with.
It can become a great goal to work towards
and can really lift your enjoyment when you have the best tools for the job.
So that's my seven tips that I would tell myself as a new artist.
What else would you add to the list?
I have one.
Oh, Hi.
What are you?
I'm your younger artist.
I heard you wanted to talk to me.
You're a bit late.
I'm done that's. Okay.
I'll watch the replay.
It's not really the point.
I have a tip though.
Yeah, this should be good Don't keep your artist water next to your drinking water.
Yeah, okay,
I guess that's an important one.