I am sure you will have seen artists sharing before and after examples of their work, how it has progressed over time and the development of their skills. Below are a few of my own examples. The goal here is to hopefully inspires others, shows that skills can be developed and you can reach your artistic goals!
The drawings of the two cats and the black and white dog where done in 2016. The leopard and the second dog were done between 2022 and now.
You can see even my photography skills left much to be desired haha! I used to use filters on my art when I first started posting to social media! But, I was doing the best I could at the time! And that is all any of us can do right?
But, how do you actually go about developing your skill? What about the journey from one skill level to next? What is actually involved and what does that journey look like?
This is what I want to dive a little deeper into and share 3 main steps that go into developing your skills and becoming a better artist.
Step 1.
This is by far the biggest factor when it comes to developing your work and that is; making your art a priority.
If you want to improve your artistic ability, you need to put in the time. There is no other way. The results you see above, are from thousands (yes you read that correctly) of hours of drawing over the course of my life. Mostly over the past 6 years. It won't happen overnight, but the more time you invest into you skill, the more you will be amazed at the progress you can make!
Step 2.
Take the time to really look at your work.
Look at what you did well, what you are proud of, what makes you fall in love with the art you created. Celebrate those aspects of your work! You can even write them down if that helps, that way you have something to look back on anytime you feel down or like you aren't making progress. It is so important to celebrate your art because if you only focus on the areas that can be developed, you will likely get disheartened. It is all about perspective.
But of course, for your art to develop, you do need to pay attention to the areas that you could work on too.
However, be gentle with yourself here and pay attention to your self talk. For example, instead of saying " this is rubbish" or 'I cant do it" or "I will never be as good as.." try to reframe it into something that serves you; "I am doing the best I can but I know with time and practice I can get better" or "It's not how I want it to look right now but I know I can improve and learn from my work."
Step 3.
Learn from others who are where you want to be. This could be tutorials, watching YouTube videos, asking questions to other artists, there are so many amazing resources out there to learn from. Utilize those resources, that is what they are there for after all! :)
I hope this was helpful!
If you are an artist and finding it difficult to feel confident about your art or lacking self belief when it comes to your creative journey, I would love to help you!
You can schedule a free consultation on my coaching page and we can sit down to chat about any challenges you are having, what your goals are and what your vision is for your art!
Rachel x
