Being afraid of Art

Drawing classes used to scare me. Just the thought of other people looking at my work and not having them like it made me nervous. Even the thought of having to talk about my work or even participate in a critique to share my opinion of someone else's art made me anxious. And what do I do? I decide to get a degree in art. I decided to do the things that scared me. I don't like to be forced to participate or to talk. If I have something to say, I'll say it, but having a grade depend on me verbally voicing my opinion made me anxious. I was scared to take my first art class in high school. I was scared that I wasn't good enough. I was afraid that I would fail. I was afraid that everyone else was better than me, but the beautiful thing that I have learned over the years is that I don't need to be afraid of making art. I don't need to be afraid that someone won't like what I create. I don't need to be scared to try. I don't need to be scared to do something that makes me happy.

As I continued to do art through high school and later on in college, a switch was flipped. I began to understand lighting and value. I began to see things differently. I noticed the details that were more often than not ignored by others. I noticed how beautiful the details could be. I began to see the world with different eyes, noticing things that very few people saw and wanting to capture those details and show others what they were missing out on. Once I started actually seeing the world around me, the hard part came. How was I to capture the beauty and make others see what I wanted them to see? How could I overcome the fear of being judged for what I saw as beautiful? Would I become good enough to become confident in my skills and my opinions? 

I slowly became more confident the more that I drew and the more that I created art, but the nagging feeling of not being good enough to succeed remained. The drive to do my best kept me going. I was pushed to become better. I was challenged by my peers and teachers/professors. I grew to enjoy critiques and voiced my opinion when I felt necessary. I still want my art to speak for itself, but I am more than willing to discuss my thoughts to clarify and to expand on my work (although I still don't like being forced to speak...or be forced to do anything at all really.)

The biggest thing that helped me overcome my fear of art was how my attitude changed. In the beginning I was comparing my art to the work of those around me. Everyone's work was better than mine. "This person did this better than I did" or "That person is just all around a better artist than I am" I wasn't comparing my work to the progress that I had made. Once I began to compare my work to my own, I was able to see how far I have come and how much I have improved through the years. I have come a long ways in my art skills and my way of thinking.

I love looking at other people's art, those who claim that they 'can't/don't draw', and more often than not (if they know that I draw or have seen my work), they always degrade their own work. But they are comparing their work to mine, not their own. They don't see the beauty of their work, they only see what I have done. They don't see what I am able to see. They don't see their progress or their potential. They are like me; afraid of not being good enough and looked down upon, so they down-play what they have accomplished. I am definitely guilty of doing this as well, but why do we do it? We shouldn't compare our weaknesses to other's strengths. It only makes us see what we cannot do instead of what we have done. We should be proud of our accomplishments. We should strive to see our potential, seek to improve on our weaknesses, and always remember that there will always be someone who is deemed better than us, but we shouldn't let that stop us from wanting to progress whether it be in life or in the art world. We are all great in our own way and the fear of being critiqued shouldn't stop us from creating  and succeeding. We shouldn't be afraid of art.