What Kind of Artist Are You?
Over the last few years, I've taught or met thousands of artists at all levels of education and experience. Interestingly, I've come to recognise a few clear types. Of course we are all unique and have our own stories, but I also think we share similarities.
So check out my "artist types" and see which one applies to you.
The People Pleaser
This was me 5 years ago! The people pleaser just wants his or her work to be liked by others. She judges her efforts solely on how others respond - either by giving compliments or making purchases. A good reaction means she feels good - a negative or muted reaction means she feels bad. Rejection is extremely painful for the people-pleaser - but she experiences it a lot because she is not making her own authentic work. The people pleaser is also likely to put everyone else's needs ahead of her own and so may never actually get to the studio to paint. Being a people pleaser can be very painful for an artist (and I speak from personal experience!)
The Disciple
This artist has taken classes with someone who greatly influenced them. They have internalised someone else's teaching and approach and now try to make it work for themselves. (Often this happens in art school). But unless they have a clear idea of who they are and what they want to paint, the disciple can get stuck. This happens because the approach they are following is not the one that suits who they truly are (which they don't know yet!)
The Perpetual Student
Sometimes the disciple and the perpetual student are the same person, sometimes they are different. The perpetual student takes class after class hoping one of them will give him the answers. But each different teacher has a different approach, so the perpetual student is constantly juggling the different advice and ideas, often trying to balance competing approaches and usually failing.
The Critic
This one speaks for itself. The critic is extremely hard on herself. Nothing she does is right. She may also have internalised the critical voices of others - parents, spouse, teachers etc and hears them on playback. She doesn't allow ideas to develop because she can't entertain the necessary ugly stages of any painting. If something doesn't work out, she berates herself for a lack of talent. She often thinks of giving up.
The Perfectionist
Often this type crosses over with the critic. This is a person who expects only great things of himself. He will accept nothing less than perfect and he becomes extremely frustrated with his inability to produce perfect work. For him, art-making is a constant struggle to meet impossible standards and he may just give up altogether. If he does continue, he will never experience joy in the process of art-making.
The Producer
This artist has a strong work ethic and believes time and materials should not be wasted. An artist should produce art, he believes. Therefore, he rarely (if ever) plays with paint or experiments with new ideas. That would be a waste. This kind of artist often gravitates to producing commissions or making a certain kind of work work for galleries. Over time though, he can become disillusioned with the work he is making and find that he wants more.
The Grounded Artist
This person approaches her work with an open and curious mindset. She knows she doesn't have all the answers. She knows bad work is a necessary step on the way to good work. She doesn't get too carried away with the good or too brought down by the bad. She follows her own path and trusts her own instincts. She spends a lot of time simply playing and experimenting and often happens across exciting new ideas as a result. She judges her work based on one criteria ... does it satisfy her? Of course she has bad days and she doesn't always remember to be kind to herself, but she is able to quickly bring herself back to a centred sense of who she is and what she is about.
I believe we should all aspire to be like her ... this is the mindset that allows for joy in creating and also results in the most authentic and appealing artwork. It is a place of ease and it is available to anyone.
Does this sound too good to be true?
It might seem that way if you have not yet made it that far, but I have made it my life's mission to help artists reach this point and I have seen the transformations over and over again. Once we remove the blocks that are preventing us from enjoying our work, everything flows more seamlessly.
And the first stage of removing those blocks is recognising them. So which kind of artist do you feel you are?