Are you proud of your art?

[falsedelusion]

Yup exactly. There's so many professional and semi-pro people on these boards and when they show [what I think are] commercial grade art and then they say "I'm still practicing, needs more work". What do you think this makes us amateurs feel? It makes me feel like absolute shit and not want to release anything anymore made by my own hand.

But if the professional/semipro people openly say "Hey, check out my stuff, it's the best!" People would just think they're arrogant, showing off, and/or are too full of themselves. I don't think there's a win-win situation here.

I personally think it's pretty motivating/inspirational to hear those pro people say they need to work on their skills more. From experience, it gives me a big drive to self critique and improve faster.
It depends on the person I guess.
I see flaws in every single drawing I've made, and I envy so many artists out there who can draw epic drawings so effortlessly (or so it seems to me). Oftentimes, I ask myself "why do I suck so much? why can't I draw better?". Maybe some people think this is depressing, but I don't feel depressed about it. After asking myself that and seeing their epic galleries, I would become even more determined to work harder. Same applies to my writing.
I want to achieve perfection in my work. [And I'm happy working toward that impossible goal]

Regardless of whether you personally feel proud of your art or not, I think the key point is to never give up.

[Auro-Cyanide]

That is what I'm talking about generally. To constantly be down on yourself and your work is just depressing.

Yup exactly. There's so many professional and semi-pro people on these boards and when they show [what I think are] commercial grade art and then they say "I'm still practicing, needs more work". What do you think this makes us amateurs feel? It makes me feel like absolute shit and not want to release anything anymore made by my own hand.

And then I decide to commission freelancers or the artists around me just so that I have something which looks almost at par and then it turns out I'm a lousy director after all which I could have realized without spending all that money to begin with.

That's not quite what I meant. The feelings of one person doesn't negate someone else's feelings. Just because there are people starving in Africa doesn't mean you can't be unhappy sometimes as well basically.

My point was that you can be proud and disatisfied at the same time. You can have people like your work still be disatisfied with it. You can have people dislike your work and still be proud of it. You don't have to be one or the other, you can be both quite easily. If you aren't proud of your work, then that's okay. That's how you feel. I more have issue that an artists can't be proud of their work because that somehow means they are up themselves and not willing to learn. You can be proud and humble at the same time and that balance will give you more happiness than being too much either way.

Being proud gives you hope that you can achieve. Being humble gives you goals to strive towards. Both are positive reactions. I think the problem is people often associate pride with negativity, but I much rather people be proud of the work they can create rather than the country they are born in. Being proud of something you actually did is okay and no-one should feel gulity about that.

Once you have been drawing for a while, you know your goals move. Artists that I used to admire long ago? I've surpassed them. That doesn't suddenly make their art worthless, and it doesn't mean I've suddenly have no-one to look up to. I encourage artists to always be striving to improve, but don't forget to enjoy the process along the way. It will make the never ending journey enjoyable.

[Klawzie]

I've been at both sides of this thing about, "You're so good, so you saying you're bad makes me question my own skills."

There are so many artists who are better than you are. So many. The saying is, "There's always someone better." (They may just be better at something different or in the eyes of someone else.)

That means you are better than someone else too. Don't give me that. You are. Most people, after all, do absolutely nothing to train their skills. Most people don't even train their eyes. I have been asked, by my own mother, "Did you draw that?" to pictures drawn by my friends, by artists far superior to me, by artists far below my skills, and even (when she wasn't looking properly at the screen) photographs. I do not draw realism. My mother was also someone who was so proud of me, but yet so oblivious, she took artwork that was three or four years old, slipped it all into a manila envelope, and approached either the local newspaper or a print shop of some sort to try to get me a job (without my knowledge). I was mortified to tears by the incident, but it made me realize just how much the average person is not trained to see what we see - as evidenced by the number of people I told the story to who were confused as to why I was so upset and said, "But you're really good..."

So, yes, when I was younger and less confident in myself, when a better artist would bemoan their own lack of talent (or simply wistfully wish they could have done better), I'd go into little spasms about how horrible my art is in comparison.

I "learned" from those artists that the "polite" thing to do is express dismay over your work. I became suspicious of anyone who expressed so much as a warm fondness over their finished product ("gosh, how full of themselves when much better artists hate their work!").

But then I ran across a lot of artists who pushed it too far. They didn't just wring their hands over wishing they could do better - they actively berated their own work, or called themselves all sorts of untalented hack (and said in a way that was not obviously a joke), or would even tell people they were stupid if they thought it was any good. Such a morbid self-loathing was just not healthy and I didn't like the way it made me feel to watch these artists go into histrionic throes of depression over their "hackitude". And I came to realize that while some of them might have genuinely felt that way, others were just parroting what they've seen their idols do, and others were doing it out of pure, unadulterated attention-grabbing. They lived for being petted and told how awesome they were. I hated that most of all.

It made me take a step back and think.

I came to the realization that it's perfectly natural and healthy to want to do things better. That is a good goal. Self-improvement is always something to strive for.

Seeing your own flaws is a step towards correcting them. An artist who wants to improve should always look critically at their work and figure out what they don't like about it. But - the thing is, they should also look at their work and figure out what they did like. Even if it's something small and ridiculous. "I like the way that random marker streak made the shirt look like it was more real. I'll have to try that intentionally next time." or "I like the way I drew the part of his lips. That's hot. Even if his eye is too far away from his nose and sliding off his face. I am such a derp."

I was much happier as an artist when I started taking pride in the things I did well. It was freeing to acknowledge I could do things right - even if some of the things I "did right" were accidents. Happy accidents lead to intentional strengths if you can acknowledge that they happened and were good and that you'd like to do that again and figure out why it worked and how to do it.

I'm not quite sure how many people here are agreeing with each other and don't realize it and how many people are actually disagreeing. I think some people are still stuck in the idea of, "It's impolite to acknowledge that you did something well and you're happy with it." mentality. Or are confused over the idea that you can be proud of your work while still acknowledging it has flaws and wanting to improve.

The idea of, "If you are happy with where you are, you're not going to want to improve." is both right and wrong, because it takes out the human variable. I am happy with where I am (I worked very hard to get to where I am). I am not satisfied to stay there because I see the flaws in my work and my weaknesses and want to get better. But I don't actively push myself much anymore because I'm focusing the majority of my efforts elsewhere right now. Those are three distinct states. I'm not very happy when people try to squish them into one state where because I am happy with my work, I am arrogant, don't see my flaws/weaknesses, and will stagnate for all time.

I've seen artists who stagnate. I do know it happens. And I even see them parroting the same words of admonishment: never be happy with your work or you'll stay where you are! And it's obviously ridiculous when you see that coming from someone whose work has changed no more in ten years than no longer using lens flares.

I'm not fussing at anyone in particular here. Please no one take this personally because I'm not directing it at any one person's comment. In many cases, I'm not even addressing what people specifically said here in this forum, but what I've seen in other art communities. It just bothers me to see the myth perpetuated. Especially since it subtly tries to make those people who have confidence in their work feel bad. Worse, I feel like for some artists who are "not happy" with their work, it enables them to stagnate because some of them seem to think by saying they're "not happy" they're doing better than someone of the same level of skill who says that they are. And I know that some of these artists see no real point in pushing themselves because they'll "never be happy, so what's the point?"

And that's sad.


[Note: Auro-Cyanide said it a bit better above while I was typing my post up. But I'll send my own post anyway since I spent so long trying to express similar thoughts.]

[Obscura]

Personally, I just try to get things into a "passable" state because my eye for my own art is pretty terrible. I've said this before but I generally think everything I draw is just fine and dandy at the time I draw it. My opinion usually changes within a few days or so, so any feelings I have about my art at the time of execution, I generally distrust.

However, I'm under the impression that most skilled artists have a fairly negative or critical assessment of their own works. Why? Not because they're posing (though undoubtedly some like to fake humility) but because their standards tend to be much higher than the average observer's. It's not that the average observer is wrong in thinking something looks divine; it's just that a lot of artists are often viewing the works of even better artists. If somebody only feels constant pride about their own work, it says to me they are either at the top of their game (a possibility) or the basis on which they draw their comparison is narrow.

[Reikun]

It also undervalues the people who appreciate your work.

This is actually something I can identify with (.__.);;; When I was younger, there was an artist I looked up because I loved the way they drew poses/character interaction (which is something I still struggle with). Long story short, I stumbled upon their blog where they had a statement about how their old stuff (the stuff I admired) gave them fake popularity. IDK :/ In the end it's like someone telling you you have bad taste or the stuff you like is crap. And coming from someone you admire about the art you admired kind of makes you believe it's true. I'm not bothered by it anymore, but when I initially ran into that statement I can't deny I felt a pang in my kokoro

Aaannyway, back on topic:
I'm kind of in the same boat as TheGuraGuraMan and WolfHunner. I'm proud when I can see improvement in my work, but I'm not yet proud of my art. I used to default to "NO IT SUCKS" as a response if someone complimented my work. Now I'm more likely to say, "Thank you but I still have a long way to go" or something like that. I'm glad my attitude towards my art has improved at the very least. I think the best thing is to learn to be critical of your own art without being self-deprecating.

[khnachi]

well some of my art really makes me happy, like how I put effort to it or how it turned out the way I planned, although I have times when I just felt like screaming "gah!this sucks!", not saying that I'm not proud of it, I just felt like I can do better. Which is why I always practice, PRACTICE won't always make things perfect but it will help you improve.

[LateWhiteRabbit]

snip

Really well said.

Part of this comes down to personal philosophy. Some people are going to be really inspired by the fact better artists are bemoaning their own work and that's going to push them to continue to improve, while others see the same behavior and it depresses them so much they become discouraged. I look at it like, "This famous artist feels the same way I do when I draw." It reinforces the fact they are simply human to me and encourages me to practice more.

However, I'm under the impression that most skilled artists have a fairly negative or critical assessment of their own works. Why? Not because they're posing (though undoubtedly some like to fake humility) but because their standards tend to be much higher than the average observer's. It's not that the average observer is wrong in thinking something looks divine; it's just that a lot of artists are often viewing the works of even better artists. If somebody only feels constant pride about their own work, it says to me they are either at the top of their game (a possibility) or the basis on which they draw their comparison is narrow.

This is it, exactly. All artists, regardless of skill level, are just like you and me and amateur artists. They love art. They look at art. And they find art to admire. And a lot of times, that art is better than what they can do. And as you improve in art skill, you start working in mixed company with other artists of higher skill. You might think a certain artist is incredible and a master, but he works in a studio with other super talented artists who draw circles around him at lunch and in production meetings. So his metrics for "great" are completely different than yours. (And this example is a true story from an artist I met.) Think about this - over half the drawings he sees everyday are BETTER than his. Or the artists drew them 3 times faster than he can. He is at the bottom of his totem pole on his rung of the ladder. (To confusingly mix metaphors.) So he is being 100% sincere when he says he feels like he needs to do better and practice more, and his artwork isn't where he wants it to be.

How many artistic people experience this? You are the best artist in say, your high school class. Then you get to college, and ... crap. You aren't the best anymore. Look at all these awesome artists! So you keep trying to improve. I've felt it. My work was routinely singled out during my art school classes as being some of the best in my group. My portfolio landed me a job at a studio 5 minutes after graduation. And then ... crap. I was a mediocre artist compared to the others at the studio! The goal posts you place for yourself move.

That was kind of the point of my Michelangelo story. He was already considered one of the best in the world, but despite painting for the most powerful guy in the world, he didn't feel he was good enough. So his goal posts were now set on the level of art the pope commissioned for his personal chambers. That's how artists improve. They find someone better and try to pull themselves up to that level. And they never stop finding someone better.

[Fox Lee]

Just like Deji... sure, I'm proud! Even though I realise I might not be in a month, or a year, or two years ^^; But I can love it right now, and for me that's fine :3

[Pencey]

Honestly I think my work is pretty bad. Seeing a lot of people who make GREAT art and go "ugh it sucks so bad i hate it" kinda does that to me. Hell, seeing people make great art in general just ruins my confidence sometimes, especially when they're so full of it.

I practice a lot though and I hope that one day i'll be sincerely proud of my own stuff.

[lemonscent]

I... totally wish I were proud of my art. But my art is sadly way lacking, and although I practice and practice, I swear I haven't improved at all for the past ~2 years.

[dramspringfeald]

Meh

[nyaatrap]

I'm working with an artist younger than me but better than me now. But in fact, I never loose any confident on me nor feel jealous to her. Watching her drawing just gives more urge to draw better to me. Instead of feeling depressed, I'm rather got excited.
Honestly, I don't mind any proud thing. What important to me is how drawing gives me fun to live my life.

[Armee]

Hmmm...When it come to art, something that we have to use a lot of time and energy to be good at it, people said, it is five percent of talent and ninty five percent of hardwork, so if you means do I sastified with what I created, then no, I'm not, I know I can do better than I am now if I practice more in the future. But if you ask if I like what I made, then yes, I like my art. I know I'm better than a bunch of people out there but that doesn't make me proud of my art because I need to improve more, my art is under many others art.

[Twisted-Eva]

Ahhh... I don't know. I'm not terrible, but I'm not up there yet where I get mass recognition or something. Maybe it counts that somehow few people can recognize my drawings. But anyways, I'm currently experimenting with digital painting and then I look at my DeviantArt account to see when was the last time I tried to digitally paint by hand and not using gradients. And then when I looked at the last one which was 3 years ago, what concerned me more was the fact I was suffering from major anatomy distortions such as "long-nose-long-face" syndrome more than bland colors. And then I get embarrassed thinking, "OMG, I actually displayed these things at my high school's art exhibit". No wonder why my art teacher said my art wouldn't "distinguish itself from hundreds of other amateur anime-style art".

So... in three years, I THINK I improved a bit more than last time. But my anatomy still needs work

[piano]

I'm fine with my art, but like everything else, there is room for improvement! However, I never get discouraged when I see amazing artwork. I think "Wow! One day I want my art to be as good as that!" And if you go back to look at that artist's old art, you see that they once were at the same place you are now!

The key is practice, practice, practice. Work hard and you will see results.