Stomping On Your Fear Of Failure

I once read a quote that said something along the lines of…

“An artist can’t really fail, because to be an artist is a success in itself”.

So in other words, the decision to be an artist is quite a brave one. It’s quite a bold move. It deserves admiration.

Some believe it’s not really their choice to be an artist anyway… it’s  an obsession that can’t be controlled.

In regards to failure…

It’s my belief; that you can only really fail if you stop doing what you do.

Energy V’s Profit

Let’s move our thoughts from the common goal that many artists wish to achieve for a moment, and that is to produce salable art.

I think the ultimate reason why an artist may quit is because they did not succeed in reaching a certain level of energy in their art – and not because they can’t sell their work.

I have tested this theory consciously. I discovered that my greatest frustration as an artist was in the struggle to develop a good level of energy when producing a piece of art. It was sometimes a battle because the piece wasn’t going in the direction that I wanted it to. It didn’t inspire me; therefore it had no real level of energy.

I think this is the biggest personal fight an artist has to contend with.

I also discovered something else; I was looking at my art, as I was producing it, through someone else’s eyes. Right there is the biggest cause of failure – trying to produce art in accordance to someone else’s expectations.

Working through some other persons expectations and not your own could well be likened to working with a fear of failure.

Note: Some commission work is based on the buyers input. But if it becomes the buyers project, then you have a real challenge. Avoid getting stuck in any project that does not inspire you. To produce something that doesn’t really have your heart in it, kind of goes against the whole philosophy of being an artist.

Don’t Fear Failure

So how do you remove this fear of failure?

It’s kind of simple really: Relentlessly work at maintaining your natural expression without expectation of applause, money or fame.

The problem for a lot of us artists is that we tend to complicate things. We live in a society that has raised us to believe; that if we don’t see an instant return on our efforts then we obviously aren’t doing it correctly or were simply not cut out for our chosen duty.

The thing is… you can’t really fail as an artist if what you are producing on the canvas matches the message in your heart. You can only really be measured by your commitment, not by how many trophies or ribbons you have.

Share this Post[?]