THIS IS FOR ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO ARE IN YOUR EARLY TEENS, OR EVEN YOUNGER, AND CLAIM THAT YOU'RE "BAD" AT ART.
*sends a glance towards a few particular people*
Heyo, so listen up. Twin here with your daily Public Service Announcement, which essentially is saying this.
There's a lot of young people on this FAA. More than I would've expected actually, given the age of people on the forum. I don't meet too many people in their preteens off of here and on the general Internets - I for one know that I wasn't doing too much online around that time. But you know, as much as you don't want to hear it from me, you guys are still, well, young. I know I was at your age.
I don't mean to make anyone uncomfortable here, but I just say this because I notice that I'm older than a lot of you, often by several years, which isn't something I'm used to. That's not a problem - what is a problem, though, and what I've been seeing some of you guys do, is how some of you in particular just really beat yourself up about your art.
I'm not going to call out names but I'm sure you know who you are.
I guess I'm just saying this as a reminder that you're still young. You might not think it, but you are. And really, you have to realize this and accept it. You all have a long way to go in terms of your artistic journey, and that's totally okay. I can absolutely guarantee you that Da Vinci didn't paint the Mona Lisa at 11, and Michelangelo didn't do any amazing Renaissance work at the age of 12. From what I've seen, you don't reach the upper echelon of your natural ability until you're in your twenties. Now granted, how much you practice factors hugely, but you guys, I can tell, practice a lot. If you keep it up then I know for a fact that you'll turn into amazing artists.
In the meantime, though, it's totally unfair to you to compare yourself to someone who's several years older. Saying, "well, I'm bad because x draws better than me" isn't a fair comparison if x is 25 and you're 11. For example, I know for a fact that several of the best artists on here (Nadra, Firestar, etc) are all in their twenties.
You're not even half their age. You can't make that comparison.
If you still don't believe me after all this, then I suppose I'll have to show you proof.
This is a picture I've uploaded recently that some of you might have seen and kind of shows where I'm at, art-wise.
And this is my first ever fan-art piece.
I did that second one at 13. There's not even three years difference here but you can see huge improvement (even though, if I'm being honest, I spent at least two of those years drawing hardly at all because of the fanfics I was working on). Even in terms of writing - a hobby which many people older than I am, both online and IRL, have told me I'm 'gifted' or 'talented' at - there's huge improvement. I almost can't even take my art or my writing from the age of 12 and 13 seriously, there's been that much change.
Using a tablet and a different art program (ie, not "MS Pain", which I used to think was the only way to do digital art) also helped a lot as well.
In short, I know I still have a long way to go, and personally I don't even think I'm that good yet. But who knows? If I draw a lot, as I intend to do, what's to say that my art won't still grow and change... and that, when I'm 19, the work that I'm doing will be even better than now?
I think the reason that this bugs me so much and why this is so important to me is because I would simply hate for any of you to become discouraged and give up on art because you think your work is bad or you 'weren't any good anyway'. There's not enough artists in the world and frankly, it would be an absolute shame to lose any one of you. To be honest, a lot of you are better than I was at your respective ages. So c'mon, guys. Could you be a little easier on yourselves, please? Is that too much to ask?
This is Twin finishing her Public Service Announcement. Pick your pencil or stylus or mouse or whatever you use back up, carry on, keep drawing, and have a great day.
~Over and out. |
