How do you gain confidence as an artist?

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   duffsmomposted 14 years ago

   How do you gain confidence as an artist?
   
   Is the confidence it takes to be an artist and be sure of your work inherent or can it be learned?  I struggle with this in art mediums but not writing.

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2. 0

   Dandraposted 14 years ago

   Learning to love yourself - and by extension your artistic expression - can be learnt on a day-by-day basis. Read 'The Power of Now' by Eckardt Tolle.

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3. 58

   feline27posted 14 years ago

   I believe it is learned. You need to learn to be confident in your art, in your technique and in yourself. There will always be people who like and dislike what you are doing. The most important thing is that you love it.
   I recommend 'The Creative Habit' by Twyla Harp to help you grow as an artist on a daily basis.

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   Kavita Martinposted 14 years ago

   first you have to know  as a artist what is strength find it feel it you will a confidence as a artist....

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   Jonna Jayposted 14 years ago

   You can gain confidence by just doing it.  Don't be hard on yourself if you don't like the results, just keep at it, and have a mentor critique your work periodically.

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   Azure11posted 14 years ago

   For me it is/was a gradual process. A lot is about get verification from other people that they like what I do, some is by selling art and the more sales I make I convince myself that I am doing at least something right and once all this builds up and people also want me to teach them what I know, and I realise I do know things that others may not, then the confidence builds and when I like something I do I don't mind if other people don't like it!

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   Edliraposted 14 years ago

   I think it is a little bit of both. Being confident as an artist is very similar to being confident in other directions. A bit of doubt is beneficial since it promotes improvement, but you should learn to not let it get over you. Enjoy what you do and as long as you put all your love and effort in it, you should have no resason not to feel confident. Art is tricky. When it comes to evaluation it is about tastes. So you can't let your confidence depend on what others think of your art.

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   Wayne Brownposted 14 years ago

   I think you can gain considerable confidence as an artist by trusting your audience. That will be true in any genre. Most of my work as a writer has been driven by that factor. I quickly found that my audience was a better judge of my work that I was soon after I began to write here on HubPages. At that point, I did not have a lot of confidence in my ability and each push of the publish button was a shaky one. The feedback that I received on many hubs that I did not think were that terrific convinced me to look at things differently. I quit nit-picking my work, started looking more at the message and the mechanics of the story. it has worked wonders for me and my confidence has grown with my writing ability. WB

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   HattieMattieMaeposted 14 years ago

   Putting it into action day by day creating it to perfection.

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10. 60

    windresistantposted 14 years ago

    Always improving is really important for me, and every artist I know. I don't think I've ever finished anything where I thought, "There's no way this could be better!" and yet, I learn something from every piece I create, so I have accomplished something.
    
    Being educated in how to critique oneself is really handy for the confidence thing, because really, what is bad art? How do you know if what you are doing is good? Having an education in art is really helpful when you begin to question these aspects, and for the non-professionals, I would recommend just joining a group of artists that do have this knowledge, or taking a class or two.
    
    Aside from that, I think many people have a very simple insecurity in expressing themselves so freely on paper, as though if someone looks at your art, they are looking at your soul. And what if they do not like what they see? Well, do you like what you see? Just another reason to always improve.

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    The Undiscoveredposted 14 years ago

    Confidence can be a double edged sword! The joy of any kind of Art is that it is a moveable feast, somethings may work others not. Watching, reading and absorbing others work will inspire and teach you what your path is. Confidence in the fact that you are an Artist, I find is the greatest gift. Believe you are an artist and that removes the pressure from your work!

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