Artist Share Tips For Artist Just Starting Out

I know when you make the decision to go after your dreams of being an artist it can be confusing where to start. So I gathered up some really inspiring artists to share their tips for artists just starting out! Even if you’ve been an artist for a while now there’s still some great tips you can take from this.

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Kandyce king is known for her lovely abstract pieces. Heres what she shared:

• SHOW UP! Don’t wait for everything to be perfect, just begin. This was a hard one for me to get. I struggle with perfectionism. Don’t be fearful of the blank page. Look at every mark as an exploration. I used to think and feel that I could not create unless it was going to be a piece worthy to frame! How nuts is that? I used to believe I couldn’t create without the perfect space. These are only one of the many obstacles I overcame. “MAKE IT WORK…” -Tim Gunn 
• CREATE A SACRED SPACE! Whether it be in a closet, a dining room, a garage… claim a spot that’s your creative space. A space where you don’t have to clean up your mess every time you want to create. Make an inspiration board, wall, whatever you have room for. 
• INSPIRATION, FIND YOURS! Above, I mentioned creating an inspiration wall or board. However, there are lots of ways to find inspiration. Maybe you like to pull color palettes from magazines, but maybe that’s not your jam. Find what is! When I am stuck and really feeling uncreative, I go to the art museum, buy a bouquet of flowers, do something childlike (i.e. find a playground swing and SWING), get in nature, make a nature mandala… the list could go on. But, you have to find what lights you up. Bring that inspiration and harness it to make work that is authentic. 
• MAKE AUTHENTIC WORK! How does one do that? Oh, man this is a tough one. Authenticity DEMANDS honesty. Peel the layers back on what inspires you, why you create, what drives you. For me? I am created in the image of a Divine Maker and that means I am a maker too. My drive comes from my inspiration and love of the elements of art and design… Line, value, color, rhythm. I want to make the blank page come to life, leave my mark in the world. 
• “Supporting another’s success won’t dampen your own.” -Unknown CREATE COMMUNITY! Maybe you’ve found your tribe on IG, but you only know them in the virtual world? When I moved to Portland, OR, I was scared and unsure about how and what the art scene would be. However, I decided to be BOLD and ask Portland artists that I knew on IG to meet up for coffee, tea, a studio visit… I’m still meeting Portland artists and creating a network. I have created great friendships and have been plugged into the community here. So, my advice? Create community, not competition. There’s room for all of us to succeed, two brains are better than one. Sometimes as an artist, I can get so isolated! I need interaction with other artists. Not only to inspire me, but to keep me accountable to my work. Start an art group meet up once a month, discuss your new work, make goals, discuss inspiration… make friends. Work Smart. 
• SEIZE OPPORTUNITIES! Please, don’t be scared. Possess that courageous soul! You must. It may be scary at first, but never underestimate the power of tiny steps. These tiny steps will bring you more courage, I promise. Get involved with charity events, online contests, speaking engagements, gallery openings… anything you can get involved it, do it. This will not only help with creating community, it will allow you to create more opportunities for yourself. Have a system. 
• GET ORGANIZED! Wow, I wish I was… But, I am telling you as you start, so maybe it will be easier for you now than five years down the road. Grab the book “Art Inc.” by Lisa Congdon it’s a great read and helpful to artist who need advice for building a career. Start documenting your collectors. That means keeping track of name, contact, what they bought (include photos)… first time collectors hopefully will follow your career and be business for you in the future. Keep a catalog of your work (this is something I am preaching, but not practicing). 
• PRICING! Keep pricing consistent. If you begin selling in a gallery and online, your prices need to match. A collector doesn’t want to go to your website and see that he/she could’ve gotten your work 40% cheaper online than in the gallery. An equation that might be helpful to you: LENGTH X WIDTH X A GIVEN NUMBER (i.e. 11”x14”x .9 = $138.60) Play with the given number until it feels right to you. Remember, most galleries take 40% commission. Take that into consideration as you begin pricing your work. 
• COHESION IN BRANDING! This may take a while to develop, but make your work look as professional as you can. If you have time, learn the basics behind INDESIGN or any of the Adobe Creative Suites programs. If you don’t have the resources to learn or hire someone to help you with branding, see if there is a possibility for a trade of services. Think of all the different places your logo or brand will be … WEBSITE, BUSINESS CARD, COMMISSION INFO SHEET, AD MATERIALS, STATIONARY, STICKER, PACKAGING… 
• FIND A MENTOR, ASK QUESTIONS! There are many artists that have gone before us and figured a lot of this stuff out. I have found that most artists are willing to share and even excited to help you navigate.
  

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Taylor Pendleton is known for creating bright beautiful pieces. Here are my tips:

• Get your art in front of as many people as you can! The more places people can find you the more opportunities will open up. Utilize social media. Focus on building a following on a few sites at first to avoid getting overwhelmed and expand to more sites when your ready. Try Facebook/ Google + groups. Use Pinterest. Network with other artists. Go to craft fairs. Submit your art into galleries. Contact local businesses and see if they would let you hang your art up. Donate a piece of art to charity. Submit your art on different art blogs, magazines, art supply companies, art featuring pages, or by entering art competitions not only can this get you recognition from a large audience but you could even win art supplies/ money! Look for local opportunities by joining a Facebook group for artists in your community. 
• Keep going even when you are rejected, or told negative opinions about your art. Art is subjective, it might be someone’s favorite piece in the whole world and someone else might hate it. There’s an audience for every style of art you just have to find it! Don’t let rejection keep you from trying. You miss every shot you don’t take, so take the chance! Let the people who reject you fuel you to create better art, find new opportunities, and help you grow as an artist. 
• Get involved in your local art scene! Participate in art events, craft fairs,  Network with the local arts community, look for local businesses who might let you hang your art up, teach a class, submit your art into galleries or donate a piece of art to a local charity.
• Try to create/ market your art every day! Consistency is key. Practice/ experiment with different medias, techniques, and styles. Try marketing on multiple social media sites, look for other places to advertise, and try different tactics. Always continue to learn and try new things. 
• Figure out what your goals are and make a plan on how you’re going to get there. If you want to be a full-time artist you’re going to have to treat your art like a business. It’s going to take a lot of time and Commitment. You will need to focus on marketing your art online/ offline, building a following, creating amazing content, continuing to improve your skill, and finding new ways to market and create income.  
• Have patience. It takes time to figure out your own unique style. A lot of experimenting and practicing will teach you so much. Never stop pushing your self to learn more. Building a following, branding yourself, marketing, and selling your art will take time but if your persistent and work hard at it, it will pay off! 
• Look into all the ways you can make money with your art! You can sell prints of your art, teach classes, create an e-course, sell your designs on products on a site like society 6, art licensing, and so much more! 
• Don’t get caught up comparing your art to other artist’s work. Everyone is at a different place in there journey. Focus on comparing your art to your old pieces to see how far you’ve come. Believe in yourself, Trust the process, and don’t give up all the hard work will be well worth it! Passion, dedication, and hard work are the key to succeeding. 

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Julia Cara is known for her gorgeous resin art. Heres what she shared:

• 1. Practice practice and practice. Keep on doing what you’re doing, try different materials and techniques until you find something you know works best for you.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment. Just like my first tip I highly suggest you just let go your fears and just experiment until you find your artist style. Everyone creates differently so make it your own, look for inspiration and keep on experimenting. You won’t know until you try and you may surprise yourself and fall in love with a new technique or medium you never tried before.
•  It may take a while till you start selling your art. Be mindful that it will take time to be noticed. Just be patient, keep creating and take any opportunities that come your way. Selling only a couple of your works is still a huge achievement. Don’t expect to sell a lot straight away, expand your techniques and don’t give up.
•  post, post, and post. Keep putting up photos and videos on your social media to be noticed. The more you post the more your art will be recognized by people which leads to selling your art and start commissions. Keep on creating and keep posting.
•  Have fun along the way. You chose this art journey because its either your passion, career or you just enjoy the therapy Art gives you. So keep on having fun and enjoy every minute of it. Happy creating. 

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Renne art is known for her pretty alcohol ink art. Heres what she shared:

• Make a space dedicated to creating.  When I first started painting again I was using the main living areas in our home, which meant it was an effort to set up and I would have to pack away after each painting session.  I now have my own space in our garage where I can come and go as I please and leave my work in progress out. This has really helped my creative flow as I can revisit my art pieces even if I just have 10min.  
• Be experimental with techniques. I have made some of my best work (in my opinion) when I just pick a palette of color and splatter, flow, blow, flick and spread the mixed media (i work with flow acrylic and alcohol ink) around on a canvas or yupo paper.  Also, experiment variety of sizes and styles of brushes and tools.  I particularly like trowels and foam brushes. 
• Try not to be disheartened by ‘fails’.I have found most of the time if I have a ‘failed’ piece it is because I am not in a headspace that is conducive to creating and so everything I produce is a ‘fail’ in my opinion.  If this is the case I have found it is best to take a break and come back to it later.  As my husband always tells me, no piece is a fail because each piece contributes to learning techniques for creating beautiful pieces. 
• Look for color inspo everywhere. In nature like gardens, the sky, trees, rocky terrain, ocean, animals. In home decor, on artist Instagram pages, clothing, etc. I seek out color palettes I love and then throw the paint around until I am happy with the composition 
•  Gift/ Donate Art. I love to gift my art to family and friends for special occasions, such as birthdays. It gives me a great feeling. The people receiving my gifts have said how happy they are with them and it puts your work out there for more people to see.  I also always accept invitations to donate a piece of art for events.  

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Samira Awad is known for her awesome resin art. Heres what she shared:

• First, if you are a person who is just experimenting with different types of arts, like for example the one I do, Resin Art. You must know that things don’t always turn the way you want, which basically means that not all the techniques that you see on a professional artist are going to work out for you at the first try. If you don´t succeed at the first time, you must keep trying, that´s what all of this is about. Because if you limit yourself, you are not going to succeed.
•  Take critiques to improve yourself! Don´t put the head down just because people tell you what they don’t like or what you are doing wrong. As an artist, we must accept critiques the best positive way ever, otherwise, we lose our enthusiasm to keep creating.
• Watch a lot of tutorials on YouTube!  If you want to learn a specific type of art and you want to learn It through YouTube, you must know that is not acceptable to be informed with only one tutorial or channel, which means that if you want to learn all the aspects of a certain type of art, you MUST dig into the internet and watch as many tutorials as you can! Because the techniques that may work for some people probably won´t work the same way for you
• I have to say that copying to artists is just a bad idea. However, I believe that if you are just starting in this world, is good to practice by doing the same things as others do, as long as you give credit and of course always trying to put your own personal touch into your pieces. Believe it or not, people don´t like things that they see every day, people want more creativity, and if you don´t try to expand yourself, you are not going to succeed.
• Start with the least expensive materials!! If you go straight into the expensive ones, you are going to find that you wasted your money, because you weren´t that prepared to start using professional mediums. That happened to me, and I´m pretty sure that happens to a lot of other people, that´s why you must prevent it.
• If there is a material you like, but it´s not used by a professional artist, don´t get disappointed! Not because a recognized artist doesn’t use that product means that it won’t perform good. As I mentioned before, not all things that work for some people will work for you.
• Start recording the process of your masterpieces on social media. Believe it or not, this helps a lot, not only with the growing of your account, but also with receiving comments that can help you through the process, like for example, some people giving you some advices on things that you are probably doing wrong. Also, you are going to see the support of people commenting on positive messages, which will give you more enthusiasm to keep creating.
• finally, be yourself and have fun while doing art, don’t just do it because of money. Remember that you and your creativity will make you successful!

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Stacy Solodkin is known for her stunning alcohol ink art. Heres what she shared:

• If im being honest I always feel like a novice…and I like it that way…I feel like there is always more to learn and I never get complacent. That said I do long for the time when I feel I have actually mastered something. So I guess that’s my first tip…just to say that it’s super cool to be beginning something…to feel new at it…because that means you have a fresh perspective. I have so many people asking me how I do certain things…I know I asked in the beginning too….and my best tip for that is that it’s oh so much better to just discover YOUR voice in the moment. To figure out your thing…which can only come from you. I needed to hear what I just said LOL!
• Try to center yourself or ground yourself before you start. Walk on the grass barefoot or close your eyes and set an intention. It helps! I promise!
• Try to paint every day…I know it’s hard…we all have so many other things going on but if you paint every day it will change you and it will change your art and you will find your voice in your art so much faster. I put my art on the back burner so much throughout my life. It is only now that I am allowing myself to do it every day…sometimes FORCING myself to do it every day and it is making such a huge difference!!!!
• Read BIG MAGIC  and ART & FEAR. Both of those books will blow your mind!!!!

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Norhunny Buns Agha is known for her eye catching fluid art. Heres what she shared:

• Research/watch tutorials, and learn Don’t be afraid to reach out to other artist and ask questions. We are a community and should always be willing to help each other
• Read reviews about products before you buy them There is an array of art supplies out there, with some cheaper than others. I highly suggest looking into the supply you’re interested in to ensure it will be worth your money before investing
• Experiment, practice and experiment some more Learning a new skill takes time Don’t be angry with yourself if something doesn’t turn out the way you want; learn from it and continue to grow The more time you put into it, the better you’ll get
• If you want to take your art onto social media, be consistent o People like to see consistency o By being consistent on social media, you will be able to look back and see your own personal growth
•  Be proud of your work no matter what!o You may find yourself comparing your work with others, but I strongly suggest DON’T. Be easy on yourself

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Roxy Syroid is known for gorgeous alcohol ink art. Heres what she shared:

• Don’t compare yourself to other artist. It’s hard not to, especially with artists who look like they’ve perfected their craft. But you have to remember you’re just starting and you haven’t learnt as much, or made as many mistakes and learnt from them as they have. 
• You don’t need to have your own “style” when first starting out, or ever if you don’t want to. Its easy to want to perfect every piece to look the same but different, but if you’re just starting out you might end up focusing on one technique without exploring others you may enjoy even more!
• Don’t invest too much into something before you’ve even tried it. You might love it, in which case theres always time to buy more supplies. But when starting only buy a few supplies to test it out and see how you’re feeling.
• Make other artist friends on social media! Everyone wants engagement on their photos, but you have to give some to receive some. That doesn’t mean just liking or commenting “Check out my art” on every post you see. Be genuine! If you see a piece you love, let them know. If there’s something you find jawdropping, or mesmerizing, let them know! One of the best parts of being an artist is supporting other artists. 

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Gabrielle Schmidt is known for her beautiful alcohol ink pieces. Heres what she shared:

• The biggest tip I like to give artists who are just starting out is to paint like crazy. Even if you
feel like nothing is turning out great just keep trying new things. It’s easy to get discouraged
but the only way you will grow is by practicing and experimenting. This is how you will find
your voice as an artist.
• Don’t compare your self to other artists and don’t let Instagram stats discourage you. Your
likes and follows have nothing to do with your value as an artist.
• Share your work. Share it on Instagram, Facebook, anywhere you can really. It is scary putting
yourself out there but you never know how your art will speak to someone. I was so scared
when I first shared my paintings but it was so encouraging to see the way people responded
to them and it has helped me gain confidence as an artist.
• Use the free resources that are out there. There are so many youtube videos, blog posts, and
online classes and you can learn so much from them.
• Use tutorials but don’t copy them exactly. Whether it’s using different colors than the artist in
the video or doing the piece on a different surface. Give yourself room to find your own unique
style.

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Maggie Schirmer is known for her awesome fluid art. Heres what she shared:

• Stop watching videos and start!
• you don’t need the expensive products, go to the Reject Shop (in Australia) Kmart and $2 shops and Op shops to get some of your basic supplies.
• If your watching YouTube, mix it up and watch many creators.
• Start small
• Get in groups and ask questions, most people are very friendly and love sharing their passion.

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Vè Boisvert is known for her unique abstract art. Heres what she shared:

•Don’t give up- Don’t give – And don’t give up! 
It is so easy to be discouraged But, at the end the passion wins it all! 

Thank you to all the amazing artists who shared their tips!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! If you found value in this post I would love for you to share it! I hope this encouraged you, taught you some helpful tips, and gave you a better idea on how to get started following your dreams. I wish you all the best of luck!! I’d love to hear from you. What ideas will you try out? What have been your toughest challenges to face as an artist just starting out? Do you have any advice for someone just starting out?