Be prepared to do a whole lot more than art.
If you want to do this as a hobby, the art is all you need to worry about. Do it as much or as little as you want.
But if you want to do this full time, you’ll need to get comfortable with talking about, sharing, and promoting your work even MORE than doing the work itself.
I draw somewhere between 15-25 hours per week. But I’m marketing myself 25-30 hours per week (at least).
That means that every hour I’m not actually drawing, I’m creating videos, sharing posts, writing content, fulfilling orders, responding to comments and messages, and managing materials and supplies.
It’s hard at first. It feels weird to show people your work and talk about why you love it so much, what your goals are, etc.
Which is why I suggest getting used to it early. Create and post work daily. If you’re not comfortable sharing your work with 10 followers, you won’t be comfortable sharing it with 10,000 followers. If you’re uncomfortable with criticism from 2 people, you’ll get crushed when it’s hundreds.
No one will care about your work more than YOU care about your work. You must be infectious with the love of your craft so that others respond to that.
Being timid and hesitant will NOT serve you. Confidence comes from action. Action does NOT come from confidence. In other words, do the thing first, and after you’ve done it your confidence will grow. Do that enough times and you’ll become unstoppable.
I’ve had hundreds, maybe thousands of people ask me how to get good at drawing. There are only a handful that have taken my advice, and watching them grow has been amazing. (You know who you are)
Dreams demand faith and determination. Period.
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