Drawing for fun and drawing as a business are two different things. For one thing, one of them requires a different set of skills that don’t involve drawing.
I’ve been drawing for the cafe for a very long time, but there’s always something to learn along the way. These 9 habits are just things I picked up from different subscriptions and articles I read every day that aim to bring out the best in you–and they’re not just for professionals, either.
They’re for anyone who wants to take their art seriously :O
I write them here as a reminder to myself of the things I know I’m doing wrong (kick all the bad habits!!) and to share them with anyone else facing the same struggles as an artist who wants to make a living off what they create.
It’s a tough job, but we owe it to ourselves and the craft we love o – o)9!
1. Sit down and work on your art every day.
Don’t wait for inspiration–chase it with a baseball bat. Or any other weapon of your choice. Your work might not be great, but every piece you make is another step up in your progress.
2. Work until your muse is exhausted.
Don’t call it a day just because your favorite show is up in 10 minutes. Keep working until you’ve grabbed your muse’s attention then work some more to make sure you didn’t miss any details.
3. Focus your time and energy on your chosen craft instead of diluting your creative power.
Honing your craft takes time. It’s better to spend years perfecting one craft than to spend those years trying everything only to be mediocre in them all.
4. Know how to market and sell your art.
Building your reputation online is as important as creating art if you intend to make money from it.
5. Treat your work like a business, and maintain a certain level of discipline.
If you want to make art a business, you have to be willing to work on all aspects of the business: creating, networking, marketing and consuming. Keep working on them all until you achieve true success–which may take years. Not gonna lie.
6. Get organized and keep disciplined in life so you can channel creative chaos in work.
Create a schedule, organize your workspace, and avoid distractions so that when it’s time to work, you can focus and optimize all those creative juices.
7. Avoid endless revisions and edits to any project.
This is where schedules work especially well. Remember #1 at the top of this list? Art is a continuous process and and every piece contributes to experience, which is invaluable to an artist. Treat each work not as a destination, but as a stepping stone on your journey to success.
8. Don’t let your learning get in the way of creating art.
Making sure you know every technique isn’t as important as learning the basics and discovering what you need to know as you go along. While it can be addicting to keep collecting tutorials, don’t forget to go ‘do’ instead of learning ‘how to do’!
9. Consume as much as you create.
Stephen King put it very bluntly: ” If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time–nor tools–to write.” The same applies to art. It’s not to compare and feel sorry for yourself, it’s to see the world from a new perspective, and ultimately push yourself and progress as a better artist.
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Sources:
http://www.artistictreatment.com/creative-habits-pro-artist/
http://skinnyartist.com/5-habits-of-happy-artists/
