How to Gain Confidence in Your Art
Do any of these things apply to you?
you struggle to talk about your art to others
you get easily hurt when someone criticises your work.
you seek praise from others and feel disappointed when it doesn't come.
you constantly question what you're doing and how you're doing it
when you spend time on Instagram or Pinterest it makes you feel inadequate
if someone does praise your work, you feel like an imposter
If any of these rang true for you, the issue is not you or your work. It's not that you don't have talent or that you shouldn't be doing this. It's just that you lack confidence in yourself.
A few years ago, I would have answered yes to all those bullet points. I struggled to talk about my work, I got easily hurt by criticism, I constantly sought praise, I questioned everything I did, I felt inadequate when I looked at Instagram, and I frequently felt like an imposter.
Now NONE of those things apply.
The difference is that I now have confidence - but not arrogance. I think people sometimes confuse the two. I do not know if my work is 'good' by any external standards - I don't concern myself with that. Instead I have my own compass and that is how I judge everything. The confidence comes from genuinely not caring what anyone else thinks because I am on my own journey.
At the moment, I'm interested in making work that expresses the essence of who I am - not the person people see on the outside but who I know I am inside. This is a subject matter that might not interest anyone else. I am making work that might not appeal to anyone else. I have no way of knowing those things.
But I do know what I am aiming for and I do know when something hits the mark - or at least gets close.
This is a personal quest. It's my journey and mine alone and I have to guide myself through it. I have to ask questions and then try to answer them. I have to stay alert for the moments that something authentic happens (and be honest with myself when something inauthentic happens). No one else can tell me when I have expressed how I feel. And this means no-one else's judgments have any value or validity.
This is really important to understand so I am going to say it again ... no-one else's judgments have ANY value or validity.
They may not like the way a painting looks or the way it makes them feel. That judgment is valid for them - and they definitely shouldn't buy my work! - but it means nothing to me.
They may judge the composition to be unbalanced or the colour combinations to be unappealing. Again, this is perfectly valid for them and utterly irrelevant to me.
What matters to me is my quest. My ongoing, ever-expanding quest to express myself. After lots of counselling and personal development work, I understand where this desire comes from and I'm sure I'll write about that some other time. For now I will just say that it is very personal and rooted in my own life.
So you might say 'wow I love that painting' or 'yikes I hate that painting' or 'blimey, I am utterly indifferent to that painting' and NONE of it impacts on my quest. It can't, because your response to my painting is yours... it comes from your life experience and your personality traits and your education and your aesthetic preferences.
It is your business. It is none of mine.
And by the way, this applies to all of us. You may be painting still lifes or portraits or politically motivated art or any number of other things, but whatever you are painting it is personal to you - it is YOUR quest. It is YOUR business.
Once you realise this, you are free to just get on with creating without all the self-doubt and baggage of trying to impress anyone else.
And this is where it gets really cool ... as you do this, you start to make work you really love. The pressure is gone and now it's just you and your quest ... and the more work you make that you love, the more confidence you gain. You see that you CAN do this - you CAN go on this quest.
And then other people start to notice. Not everyone - often not the people you were originally trying to impress - but some other people. These strangers see your work and they instantly connect with it because it is authentic and because it speaks to something inside them.
Now this feeds your confidence - this is approval that doesn't make you feel like an imposter because these people are responding to your authentic, personal art work. And it's easy for you to talk about your work because you know where it came from and why you made it. And each time you describe your art to someone or make a sale, your confidence grows just a little bit more.
I have seen this magic cycle happen over and over again. I was reminded of it again this week when I interviewed two of my former students for next week's Art Juice podcast. I am so proud of all they have achieved but I am most proud of the confident way they each speak about their art work. I remember how nervous they were when I first met them and I am thrilled to see how courageous and full of pride they are now.
Look out for that episode on Tuesday and don't forget to add your name to the list for my free course. I know that some of you STILL haven't signed up which is nuts considering it costs nothing :)
Drop your name HERE to join us on May 20th and let's get you moving towards this same sense of unswerving inner confidence.