The Best Art Career Advice I ever Received
Drawing Class at Pratt Institite
During my second foundation semester at Pratt Institute, I had a terrific drawing teacher. On my last day of class, during my review, he gave me a piece of advice that has stuck with me ever since.
He was a middle-aged man, whose fingers had been badly damaged from years of working (without enough precaution) in oil paints, so now he had to stick to working in charcoal.
When you build your career working in one medium it's hard to suddenly abandon it. He was passionate about teaching and good at it. He was also very straightforward with his students. He told us when the work was good, but he wasn't shy to let us know when we were slacking. He pushed us to do better, to be better, to learn. I loved his classes!
On the last day of class said to me: “It is your responsibility as an artist to care about your work. It is a responsibility you have to your work, that you MUST care about it and seek to improve it - because no one else is going to care about it as much as you. No one else is personally as engaged in it as you are, so if you give up, the fault is entirely on you. No one is going to stop you one way or another, it is all on you. It is YOUR responsibility.”
When I struggle with pieces often remind myself of these words. It can be a frustrating path to improve your artistic skill set. Sometimes the pencil just does not make the marks you imagine and at times you may look at your work and feel it is all hopeless and never improving, but if you want to get better the only way is practicing with intention. There is no shortcut.
This doesn't just apply to growing as an artist. It applies to any skill set, passion, or career we may pursue. Anything we are passionate about that feeds our soul. You owe it to your creative voice to keep going and improve.
It is your responsibility and as Vonnegut said: Do it to make your soul grow.
