There's something that’s been on my mind, and I want to talk about it on here real quick. I'm posting it publicly because it's something I think a lot of other artists can also probably relate to. I'm not always the best at putting things into words, but I'll try! I want to talk about artistic comparison, and how unhelpful it can be.
Why do we always compare our work to others? Why are we putting ourselves down over it? Feeling inspired by someone else's artistic ability is one thing, but when we use that against our own art we're basically just punishing ourselves when we didn't do anything wrong.
Everyone is on their own journey with their art, and it isn't fair to compare where we are personally with where someone else might be. It's easy to feel down about our own drawings when we see someone else's that's produced at a higher skill level, or even if it gets more public interaction. In doing so, we're putting ourselves down because we're focusing on how much further we have to go, instead of celebrating how far we've come!
I say it's time for a nice perspective shift. If you see someone else's art or art style that makes you feel down about yourself at first, think about this instead. What do you like about it? Is it a level you'd like to reach yourself? How does it inspire you? Think of the positives! Then, once that's done, look at what you're capable of at this moment, and feel glad about it!
None of us were born drawing. We all started somewhere, and I'm sure we all cringe when we look at old pieces of art from the past. The fact that we feel that internal cringe is proof we're improving too! Look at how far we've come in our own journeys! We created something! We made something! That's more than good enough for right here and right now. Besides, who knows! Maybe something we've made is something that someone else is looking up to!
Chin up, friend. We got this!
