Here’s some advice I often share with advanced art students — it’s about a common problem we artists face, of caring too much about what others think about our art…
I used to care a lot about what other people thought of my art. This made me miserable.
I would think was my work good enough? Is it technical enough? Was it accomplished enough? Or skilled enough? Did it matter to other people? Do they like it?
NONE of these sorts of questions can really be answered, because… you cannot control what other people will think or do with your art, writing, music… that’s their experience, not yours.
And who knows, maybe they got their tastes and ideas and preferences from other authorities – maybe they struggle with external loci of control too? When does this vicious cycle control you too? How do you get out of it?
It’s no surprise that sometimes we ruminate over others’ responses to our art. It’s a habitual way of thinking because after all, we need community and collaboration to survive. That need gets twisted in the wrong contexts. For example, schooling can emphasize what others think. Some of what they think is good, and truthful, and useful. Consider how when we’re students, we may be seeking good grades and feedback from the teacher. The teacher becomes the arbiter of what art gets a good grade and the student’s art is meant to satisfy the learning goals or rubrics or recipes of a particular class, or even of a whole art tradition, or in the worst-case scenario it only reflect’s the teacher’s personal tastes. Such external pressures can fuel good learning, but sometimes it can be an odd power-play. It risks holding back your artistry. It especially risks it if you’re an experimental artist, trying to make never-before seen inventions. Social media is similar: people chase ‘likes’ and ‘follower’ and ‘friends’ especially if they are in business online. And somehow it seems impressive, even magical if someone has tens of thousands of followers. This part of the world trains us to care what others think. And often we need to collaborate, team up, and care. suppose you’ve been hired to make an artwork for someone else – maybe the buyer-client has a say in whether the final product is acceptable to them, and maybe they won’t pay you until it is. That’s pressure too! But misplaced, such care can corral and mess up our creativity, because we cannot control what people think, do, or feel. Hell, I’m not even sure I can control what I feel or think… emotions and thoughts seem to arise all on their own. How do we get out of this mess?
Well, in my misery as a young artist, I thought about this problem a lot – this negativity borne out of these social and cultural pressures and needs. It was important to me for a long time to match others’ skills, and that pressure is part of why I’m skilled today. But at a certain point, it holds you back too. You’re skilled, but you’re making their art, their way. And a lot of people still hate the art. What gives?
I encourage you to consider a different option. Recognize that All you can really do is influence how you show up for your artistry.
And within that, you can control what your artwork gives to the world. You craft the starting point of the artful experience, it is what you give to others. It is complete and done and here it is. That’s it. It’s not ‘gee I hope you like this, I worked so hard on it’ it’s ‘I showed up. I made this. Here it is.’ You don’t even have to praise it or aggrandize yourself. It simply exists. You made it. Those are parts of the creative process and presentation that you can control. And that is one of the greatest secrets I can give you about living life in the arts. You showed up for your creativity. That’s what mattered. That’s what you can influence. When we start recognizing what we do and do not control, as artists, we start on the firm foundations of understanding that we made art, and that’s awesome. This is about what the art gives, and provides.
When we gain good control of how we show up for our artistry, it also helps us against inevitable rejections… and rejections (and praise too!) will happen the moment you’re putting your creativity out into the world. Haters gonna hate. Lovers gonna love. In the most extreme cases, some people will dislike your artistry simply because they cannot like any artistry, and any real creativity puts them on edge by default. Sometimes really amazing creativity proves that people didn’t have to do things the way they kept doing them, which antagonizes the dogmatic traditionalist. Again, that’s on them, not you. And sometimes people love what we do because they love all art, or really like us no matter what, or… the list goes one. They’d be happy with anything that you do. Again, that’s their experience, not yours. But even more people just won’t click with your creative arts. Maybe you make punk electronic music but they prefer hand-drummed hippie grooves? Maybe you paint geometric abstractions but they tend to like drippy action painting, or photorealism. We can’t control what other people prefer. (De gustibus non est disputandem…) Of course we can be sensitive to others’ needs too (in the case of the artist making an artwork on commission or in service of another artist’s vision – we can practice how we show up and be sensitive to what they are looking for…) but even then, all the artist can really do is control how she shows up for her creativity.
So instead of worrying if the art is good enough, or skilled enough, or interesting or alluring enough — I encourage you to stay grounded in what you can control, asking questions such as:
Are you ready and willing to make art?
What might you do to be more attentive to your art-making?
Can you create regardless of your initial mood, and just get moving?
Are you focused on the creativity as a path of joy and delight?
If it’s also a path of hard work and practice, do you engage the work with a sense of playfulness and curiosity and learning?
How frequently will you create: today, or tomorrow, or this week?
What if the creativity can be more fun and easier?
What if I make what I want to see in the world?
What if I follow the images, visuals, colors, sounds and experiences that thrill me?
What will I share today, and how?
Do I show up in the studio today and get to work?
Is this work a source of joy?
All of these questions are about setting the stage for your work, your creativity, your performance, your unique experiences and expressions.
None of this is an excuse to do bad work. There is such a thing as bad art. And naivete, and unskilled work. Weirdly, some of it rises to the top of art markets anyway. Sometimes bad art sells quite well. This suggests all over again that we just don’t need to worry about what others think! What markets do is out of our immediate control. But we can control showing up for our artistry.
Your art won’t be for everybody. But I bet if it thrills you then some other people will also be interested and excited too. It might mean the world to someone else. This is the flip side of caring what others’ think. Matching your joy with others’ joy is an opportunity to give some goodness to the world. We don’t assume or demand that they want or need or will like or love the creativity. But we can control that we are providing it from a basis of joy, intrigue, aesthetics, considerate composing, and much more.
What is the role of joy in your work? Real joy. Not flippant happiness. Not mere good times. Not just fun, but depths of joy?
I heard the author Ray Bradbury speak in the mid-90’s to a bunch of us college students (I was in grad school at the time). And he gave the same basic speech as this one: (From video of his speech from 2001 — https://youtu.be/_W-r7ABrMYULinks to an external site.) in which he said:
“I want your loves to be multiple. I don’t want you to be a snob about anything. Anything you love, you do it. It’s got to be with a great sense of fun. Writing is not a serious business. It’s a joy and a celebration. You should be having fun with it. Ignore the authors who say “Oh, my God, what word? Oh, Jesus Christ…”, you know. Now, to hell with that. It’s not work. If it’s work, stop and do something else.
“Now, what I’m thinking of is, people always saying “Well, what do we do about a sudden blockage in your writing? What if you have a blockage and you don’t know what to do about it?” Well, it’s obvious you’re doing the wrong thing, don’t you? In the middle of writing something you go blank and your mind says: “No, that’s it.” Ok. You’re being warned, aren’t you? Your subconscious is saying “I don’t like you anymore. You’re writing about things I don’t give a damn for.” You’re being political, or you’re being socially aware. You’re writing things that will benefit the world. To hell with that! I don’t write things to benefit the world. If it happens that they do, swell. I didn’t set out to do that. I set out to have a hell of a lot of fun.
“I’ve never worked a day in my life. I’ve never worked a day in my life. The joy of writing has propelled me from day to day and year to year. I want you to envy me, my joy. Get out of here tonight and say: “Am I being joyful?” And if you’ve got a writer’s block, you can cure it this evening by stopping whatever you’re writing and doing something else. You picked the wrong subject.”
What a bold, even irritating disregard and willingness to upset audiences!!! In some ways his statement is kinda obnoxious! But it’s also TRUE that if you find the joy while making art, then at least the creativity is something you can do that is a joy full of its own rewards.
The incredible contemporary musician, trumpeter-synthesist composer Sarah Belle Reid says it this way:
“Here’s the truth:
You can’t control how people respond to your work.
But you can control how YOU show up for it.
“Make what lights you up.
Follow the sounds that thrill you.
Create what YOU want to hear in the world.
“It won’t be for everyone… but for the right people, it might mean the world.
“The more you bring YOURSELF into your music and art (all the weird, quirky, noisy, melodic, goofy parts of you), the better it will be.
Every time.”
Your creativity, viewpoint, and life experience are unique parts of your life – bringing that joy into being through the art is one of the tried-and-true paths of originality and inspiration in contemporary arts today.
What ‘lights you up’? What gets you artistically excited, intrigued, puzzled, and thrilled? How? Why? What colors, textures, and forms surprise and interest you, and can you make more of them? What if you put more of that thrill into your artistry today? When has art-making felt like a release or surge of joy? What can you do to help your practice include more joy, and with more ease?
Gregory Scheckler 