your art doesn't suck

One of the things that drives me insane is when people say they’re “bad” at art. There is no bad art. Bad art is the oxymoron of oxymorons, and hardly anyone seems to realize it. First of all, define art. So many things could be defined as art. My pink hair is art. Makeup is art. Acting is art. Writing is art. Music is art. Drawing, painting, sculpting, etc. are art too, but those are the more obvious examples, as people tend to associate “art” with traditional forms of visual art. So, what counts as art, and what makes that art better than any other art? There are things that look good and things that don’t look good, but the way to make art good is to put your heART into it. The best art expresses an emotion, at least in my opinion. One of the best ways to 1) make your art look/sound/feel like you want it to and 2) put your heart into it is to PRACTICE. That sounds super cliché, but there’s a reason people say “practice makes perfect." Practice won’t make perfect, because perfect doesn’t really exist (again, especially in art because the definitions of both “art” and “perfect” are really open for interpretation); however, practice can at least make better.

I used to be complimented on my drawing abilities almost constantly. The fact that I could draw became my defining quality. At my old school, we used to do these activities where we would write compliments to everyone on a big poster. You could write whatever you wanted, as long as it was a nice little note or a compliment. I have multiple pieces of big construction paper on which a fourth of the comments are praising my artistic talents. It became the default when people didn’t know what to say. If someone didn’t like me very much, or didn’t know me, they would use that as their compliment. Sure, my friends told me I was great at art as a genuine compliment, and I didn’t disregard that. However, it became such a normal thing that I became almost sick of people telling me that I was talented. “I know,” I said, “but is that all?" (whether in- or outside of my head, I’m not sure). If you haven’t received exessive complimenting on a certain trait, that probably sounds really snobbish or self-absorbed. Really, though, I’m just telling it how it is. It’s interesting, as I was having a conversation with my friend who encounters almost the same situation daily. She has a very successful art account on Instagram and sells her work. People compliment her all the time, and after awhile she and I both found that it almost lost its meaning. From certain people, it’s truly genuine, and that means a lot. However, when you hear something so often, it starts to feel a little bit like, “Okay, I get it, what else is new?” It’s not that she, nor I for that matter, don’t appreciate it and feel really good when people comment on our talent. It’s more that it feels like it has become an almost obligatory statement. It’s not that it’s not true, it’s simply become the norm, in a way.

These days, due to the fact that I don’t draw as much as I used to as a direct result of my least favorite occurrence in the universe (commonly referred to as ‘homework’), my mad skills are not commented upon quite as much. Few of my friends know how large a part of me drawing is/was. This is super weird for me, even after almost two years out of the environment in which I was art-famous. I don’t mind it; honestly it’s kind of refreshing not to be constantly identified as “that one girl who’s good at drawing.”

Good art??? (original characters)

All in all, the whole thing about “good art” and “good artists” is kind of bs. What makes someone good at art are their ideas, not their talent. Anyone can get good at something with practice. Sure, some have more raw talent than others, and some are born into it. However, “that’s interesting” is a better compliment than “that’s pretty." Things that are interesting and pretty at the same time get bonus points (although there are some cases in which intentional non-beauty is a really cool choice). Point being, everyone has the potential to be ‘good' at art.

Good ideas=good art.

Au revoir,

Names are a box