There’s so much to learn when you’re slinging paint and pencil, so here’s the eleventh installment in my monthly segment, Muddy Colors: Art Tip of the Month with Jeff Miracola. Each of my short videos will share a handy tip to help you create magnificent art.
My art tip this month is: Challenging Yourself
Challenging yourself artistically is the only way you’re going to grow as an artist. Since it’s October, the Inktober challenge is a great way to push yourself this month if you enjoy ink drawing or just want to get better at it. But there are other ways to challenge yourself. It’s important to identify something you may be struggling with artistically and focus on improving that.
I’ll be pushing myself by participating in the Inktober challenge created by artist Jake Parker. Learn more about it at www.inktober.com
hey jeff! Love your tip of the month series! Its always nice to hear your encouraging words.
I have to say a few years ago when I I first heard of inktober I actually really hated it. Everytime I saw people do it, it always felt like it was almost like an initiation, if you weren’t good enough then you couldn’t do inktober. And my experience one year kind of strengthened that belief because one year I posted, no one saw any of it lol. But last year I deiced that I was going to do it but not post any of it, just focus on making me a better artist. I told myself I’d do the same drawing as many times as necessary until the lines were what I wanted and planed on doing 20 of the same drawing but only keep 1. My mindset was that if I was failing than I was on the right path (even if I didn’t believe it at the time.) Surprisingly it took me less tries after just a few days to get results I wanted. At the end of the month I noticed that even though the drawings were still not to the caliber that I wanted, The failures I made weren’t so soul crushing and I learned from each one. I now have a garbage can by me that I feel if it ins’t growing, than I am not growing either. It gave me so much more confidence and I have been a MUCH better artist because of it. I am super thankful for inktober.
I wish I had this videos advice 2 years ago, and if I could pass on anything from my experience, If your like me and seeing your work compared to the greats online that the internet will inevitably do, even if you don’t post, Always challenge yourself, failing is part of the process and don’t make the mistake I did and make art a self hating endeavor. Slow down, listen to your errors, and have fun with the process, what ever that may be.
That’s so wonderful to read. I’m thrilled you were able to develop a better attitude about Inktober and pushing yourself in general. I’ve always believed strongly that talent gets you only so far. The artists that eventually “make it” are the ones that just never gave up. They are the ones that do the hard work day after day of making small gains in their process. I absolutely know this is the case with me. There were plenty of artists in high school and college MUCH better than I. But I have staying power 🙂 You know, I’m the tortoise LOL. So I’m happy that you stuck to it and are making gains.