Creative confidence

Why is confidence so important for artists? 

Confidence will unlock authenticity and get you started on that new collection. It also allows you to articulate what you’re doing and why. And ultimately leads to exhibitions, gallery representation and shaping your art career how you want. 

What is confidence?

A lot of people think you’re either born with confidence or not. Quite often I hear people say I’m just not confident, not even allowing themselves to think it’s a possibility. I’m here to tell you anyone can become a confident artist no matter your background, age, whether you’ve been to university or any other reason that stands between you and allowing yourself to shine as a creative. 

Courage comes before confidence. Confidence is being scared and doing it anyway.

To build confidence you need to take risks, and build resilience. In taking risks you realise it’s never as bad as your inner critic tries to make you think it is. This gets easier over time, the more you practise leaning into new things, the less resistance you’ll have to acting with courage. 

Being creative is the ultimate act of confidence, as you never know what’s going to come out on the canvas until you try. It’s normal that creativity feels scary, and every artist deals with this every time they embark on a new project. It might crop up in the form of fear of blank canvas, or trying a new medium. 

Tips

Do things one step at a time, don’t overwhelm yourself with a huge goal, break it down into smaller steps. Set yourself smaller goals, and take it steady, recognising your courage as you go. 

Let's go:

Getting started is the hardest bit so set yourself up for success. Create a welcoming space to do art, kitchen table or space in the attic. Having your tools ready (pens, paints, sketchbook) , some inspiration on hand that’s there when you’re ready really helps reduce resistance to begin. 

Positive self-talk: 

Being an artist takes incredible self belief. Meditating and observing thoughts so you can question whether they are true is a helpful exercise. Affirmations create new mental habits and thoughts around what you tell yourself is possible. I keep a list of achievements, so on the days my inner critic pops up I can remind myself of what I’ve achieved in the past. These don’t need to be grand successes, it can be as simple as a compliment you want to remember to boost your self belief. 

Community: 

Finding your (arty) people is an incredible support system. The rules of the art world are completely different, well meaning family and friends may not grasp nuances of being an artist, and leave you with self doubt. There is also an overwhelming amount of information out there on how to reach success, but having a community to ask and engage with helps decipher what path is right for you to follow.

Tap into authenticity: 

I believe authenticity brings confidence, when you’re following your unique path you become more of yourself, which is the ultimate confidence booster. The power of a sketchbook enables you to get ideas down. Within a sketchbook it doesn’t have to be anything ‘presentable’ , it’s a place to linger on the page, get ideas down. Allow yourself to explore the themes you’re interested in. Artist dates are also a great way to explore a subject of interest, this might be a visit to a zoo, charity shop or listening to your favourite music. It’s an experience that relates to your line of enquiry as an artist.

Practice:

Remember being good takes practice, being an artist is not talent you're born with. Keep practising. You will make loads of rubbish art before anything good. Just remember this when you do your next awful piece of art. By the way this also happens to us experienced artists, and is part of the process of creativity - failure. 

Learn:

A shortcut to progress is to learn from others with experience, especially now with a wealth of information online. Whether it’s technical tuition on how to use acrylic or how to approach galleries, you’ll find guidance that will fast track your progression. Guidance could be an in person course, YouTube videos, a paid online course, but think about what method of learning works best for you. And think about what step you need to take next, not what you’ll need in five years time. 

Curate:

Is what you’re reading and seeing helping or hindering? I’m talking about your social media feed. Does it trigger envy, comparison and negativity? Or does it nourish you with self belief and inspiration? You need to curate your social media to encourage you and inspire belief. This means filtering out anything that triggers you, and finding the people that can help you on your journey. 

Not ready? 

Do it anyway. Sorry it’s the only way to learn and develop! We all have our first podcast, drawing, painting. You have to keep working on it to push past that initial fear. You’ll look back and cringe, but that means you’ve improved and learned, and ultimately more confident in yourself. 

The online community that inspires confidence:

Art Hub is the perfect online art community membership to build your creative confidence. 

We are so passionate about welcoming you into an art community that's friendly and fun! Together we will..

• Inspire you with artists and art genres in a digestible format (articles and blogs)
• Build confidence with art techniques (video tutorials and live workshops)
• Connect with other artists (through online forums)
• Learn how to be more authentic to uncover your unique style of art
• Express joy together with art challenges and live workshops
• Support each other through difficulties and celebrate successes

We are currently open to Founder Members for a 14-day free trial, and then a special discount of 20% just £16 a month. The first 100 members that join get this offer for the lifetime of their membership.

Get your free trial here:

https://arthubcommunity.com/invitation?code=JG5747