For the artist spotlight, I have been asking artists if they would share some advice or tips for other artists. There are some tips which keep getting mentioned time after time: keep creating art no matter what and promote your art as much as you have time for. I think its so important for us to hear this from artists of different backgrounds and experiences. This advice applies to us no matter where we are in the world – and its something we need to hear often.
Below are 10 featured artists, all of whom share some valuable tips for other artists.
- Ev McTaggart
Canada
Style: Abstract art
Medium: Mixed media, acrylic
Advice and Tips: “If you are happy with what you are doing as an artist, don't worry about whether everyone likes it. There will be plenty of people who think as you do; you just have to hone in on those people.Practice, practice, practice. If you are not classically trained, train yourself. Learn everything you can about your craft.
Try to find a mentor, someone who will coax, threaten, encourage and brag about you.
Promote. Too many artists seem to feel that selling should take a back seat to creating. Well, honey, if you don't sell, you don't eat. I'm a former marketing person and I can tell you, if you don't promote yourself, who will? It's not something I think about when I'm creating. The muse comes first, but as soon as that painting is finished, bam! It gets promoted.”
- Varsha Vijayan
India
Style: Illustration
Mediums: Digital and Traditional
Tips: “Be inspired all the time. Inspiration triggers creativity.”
- Sandra Ragan
USA
Style: Realism, Impressionism
Mediums: Acrylic, Oil, Pastel, Watercolor, Colored pencil, fabric paint, graphite
Tips: “Follow your heart, never stop, no matter what, do what you love! Life is too short, be who you are. Never stop learning.”
- Daniil Belov
Moscow
Style: Realism, impressionism
Medium: Oil
Advice and Tips: “I am convinced that the desire and work can compensate the lack of talent. One should try and one will gain the result. And if there is a talent, all the more, one should make use of it.
Also it seems important for me to not to judge anyone by my own taste and not to think that if I do not like something that it is bad. Probably I just do not understand this or do not know about this. It is better to try to understand it.”
- Anna JH
England
Style: Painterly Abstraction
Medium: household/ acrylic/ oil paint, plaster, pva glue, sand, paper, glass
- Sue McElligott
USA
Style: abstract expressionism
Medium: Acrylic/Mixed Media
Advice: “I consider myself an emerging artist myself so I guess I would just tell someone coming out to’ just do it.’ Don’t let fear get in your way. It’s scary because your art, whatever it is you do, is like a diary of yourself, so you are very protective of it. I had to decide to let go and share my work to family and friends, and then finally, to the world via social media as we know it. It was hard. I was a wreck at first. But now I love to show my work. I had to get over the ‘what if they don’t like it?’ phase, because not everyone is going to like everything and that’s OK.”
- Randi Grace Nilsberg
Norway
Style: Various
Medium: Photography and digital art
Tips: “You can become whatever you want if you want it enough. Make sure you have a specific goal and stay focused on reaching it! Don’t let life or people tell you that you can’t!”
- Bjorn Davidson
USA
Style: modern, outsider
Medium: acrylic and collage
Tips: “Embrace the process, have faith that maybe art IS right for you. Above all do work, make work, share work, bury the critics underneath even more work.”
- Eileen Felix
USA
Style: Bright, Impressionism, romanticism, abstract
Medium: Acrylic, newspaper, plywood
Tips: “Keep creating. The best thing you can do is believe in the energy you feel and express yourself.”
- Bobbi Bryce-Miller
USA
Style: Abstract, Contemporary
Medium: Painting, Ink drawing, Photography, Fused Glass
Tips: “Though I am an emerging artist the one bit of advice I have is to not be afraid to put your work out there. I am just now making that leap, and wish I would have long ago.”
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