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February 21, 2023

Art Tips From a Professional Artist

Have you ever stumbled on an artwork from a professional artist which left you thinking how do I become this good?

If you have, look no further as we unravel the mystery behind becoming a professional artist.

As an artist with numerous years of experience, and several artworks and commissions under my belt, I’m sharing some basic tips every beginner should know to maximize your artist potential.

A professional artist is not just an artist; but someone who has sharpened their creative skills, monetized their trade, and created exceptionally amazing art pieces through years of experience.

5 key tips to becoming a professional artist:

1. Have fun and explore the art world

Before we dive in let’s ponder on the following quotes:

If you’re not having fun it’s not worth doing – Tommy Bolin
I’m having fun. I’m being myself. I’m doing what I love. That’s all that matters – James Charles
Fun is one of the most important – and underrated – ingredients in any successful venture – Richard Branson

As the quotes above state, fun is an essential factor in the art creating process. It fosters a favorable environment for creativity, and helps us unlock our inner creative self. I found out experientially that “passion would always drive us to create but fun would keep us creating”.

Another key component to unlocking creativity is exploring. This includes trying out new ideas, different art forms, and various materials to spice up our creating process that all result in the creation of unique and distinct art.

Exploring also involves going out to places where we can increase our knowledge and find inspiration in other art masterpieces. These places range from art houses, art museums, art galleries, and exhibition centers. They play a vital role in educating and awakening our mind to the endless possibilities in the art world.

2. Have passion and remain consistent

Passion is a strong liking, desire for, or devotion to an activity or object.

Any artist who desires to stand the test of time must be passionate about creating art, and have a strong and genuine love for creating art pieces. Every masterpiece is birthed through a long period of time and that’s where consistency comes to play.

For example, it took Leonardo da Vinci four years to create his famous Mona Lisa artwork, which is arguably the world’s number one artwork to date by far. To become a professional artist, you would have to dedicate hours and hours to the creation process.

An artists’ patience is an inescapable virtue that we must all possess in order to see our imaginations become realities.

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A professional artist is not just an artist; but someone who has sharpened their creative skills, monetized their trade, and created exceptionally amazing art pieces through years of experience.

3. Seek inspiration from mentorships and tutorials

During my early stages of drawing, I found it pretty hard to achieve my intentions. After a while, I stumbled on a good number of helpful tutorials online where I learnt new techniques that helped sharpen my drawing skills.

Tutorials are essential. They help expose you to a wide range of ideas and techniques allowing you to reach your potential as an artist.

Pro tip from me: never hesitate to seek help and guidance from a professional artist. Whether you found them online, or from a friend that is also an artist.

Growing up, I admired many artists I discovered on social media, and I carefully examined their artworks. I tried putting their ideas and techniques to work. The inspiration I got from the artists I found online were essential to my personal art journey.

4. Invest in art supplies

In addition to investing our time, we also need to invest in buying the right materials and art supplies.

It is essential to make use of the right products when producing an art masterpiece. Art materials might be on the expensive side, but they’re necessary to elevate our art pieces. Never forget, “the right tools produce the right result when used rightly”.

5. Maximize your creativity

Artists are bound to develop creativity from experiences. The more experiences you have, both as an artist and as a human, the more ideas will flow towards your artwork.

In order to generate new ideas, you also need to spend time investigating the experiences you have and those you are in need of.

Let’s say you are interested in painting a subject, such as horses, you must investigate, experience and understand horses. You must watch how they move, discuss them with knowledgeable professionals, and view other artists’ work on the same subject.

This will increase your creativity towards what you wish to paint or sculpt.

The most important takeaways from this article to enhance your artwork are to develop a strong passion and love for creating art; as well as building consistency, investing your time, money, and dedication, which are all essential to the creative process. Most importantly, don’t forget to have fun, and try new creative ideas, no matter how crazy they seem.

Cheers to unlocking your inner Picasso.