We all want to unleash our inner artist, but many of us tend to do things that are harmful to our creativity. That may be detrimental self-talk or harsh self-criticism. All these things prevent us from bringing out our true artistic self. It is important to develop healthy habits that help emotionally support our artistic self. In this post, I show you how to nurture your inner artist! Get inspired and then create art with even more verve!
As weird as it may sound, but we all tend to do things that are harmful to our creativity at some point and to some degree.
Over more than a decade of being a digital artist, I’ve done quite a few things that have been counterproductive to emotionally support myself as an artist (like easily getting caught in harsh self-criticism).
However, it is no rocket science to realize that such habits are not helpful to unleash our potential and over the years, I’ve learned how to nurture my inner artist.
In this post, I want to share with you 5 powerful methods that I’ve discovered and that I find incredibly useful to build creative confidence and recharge my artistic batteries.
Most artists are sensitive persons who are good at paying attention to other people’s needs, while forgetting to care for our own emotional and mental wellbeing. (By the way, art has proven positive effects on our mental health, so that alone should be reason enough to nurture your creativity!)
How do you unleash the inner artist in you?
What exactly is an inner artist? Well, it could be described as the creative side of us. In fact, we are all creative people.
Simply think back to when you were a child. Chances are you couldn’t wait to draw and scribble as soon as someone would give you some crayons and a piece of paper. As we grow older, however, we tend to lose that connection to our inner creativity.
Just like Picasso said:
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
But our inner artist is still there, and all we need to do is nurture her with confidence and encouragement to unleash her (or him) again!
So how do you bring out your inner artist, practically?
Bringing out your inner artist is about so much more than just working on your skills or developing a unique art style.
In today’s fast-moving world, art provides us with a lot of benefits that by far exceed the mere process of being creative.
Making art can be fun and joyful, calm and meditative, fulfilling and liberating. It gives you a means to channel your emotions and express yourself.
The art you create is also a reflection of your personality. That way, you can use it to discover more about yourself and reconnect with your inner, subconscious world.
As a result, you may experience a greater sense of wellbeing, a stronger connection to the world around you, and reduced levels of stress.
All sounds pretty good, right?
That’s why nurturing our inner artist is important for all of us, regardless of what stage of our creative journey we are at.
However, while feeding our inner artist what she needs doesn’t seem too hard in theory, our best intentions might easily get buried in the rush of our daily routines.
To not let that happen, I’ve put together five practical tips that you can easily integrate into your everyday life.
So here they come – 5 powerful methods to nurture your inner artist!
5 Powerful methods to nurture your inner artist
1. Practice gratitude.
Being grateful for your creative achievements is an immensely empowering technique. There are so many things you can be grateful for. Just look back at all the beautiful art you’ve already created. At all the skills you’ve already learned.
Be grateful for your talent and your creativity, because without it, you wouldn’t be where you are now – even if you are just at the beginning of your artistic path.
Be grateful for your supporters. Even if you have only a small following on Instagram or DeviantArt, I’m sure there are people who like your work, comment on it, and support you emotionally as an artist.
If you look deeper, you will even find more things to be grateful for. Maybe you were able to afford nice digital art equipment or a great brush palette and selection of canvases you can paint on.
Make a list of all the things you are grateful for and give thanks for each of them. This is a fantastic way to nurture your inner artist. You will see that you will be able to get back to work with so much more energy and enthusiasm!
2. Take each mistake as a lesson.
As highly sensitive beings that we are as artists, many of us are either trying to be perfect or we tend to get discouraged quickly when something doesn’t turn out the way we expect.
Many of us are scared to make art at least at one point in our career. The fear of being judged and making mistakes can be utterly paralyzing and stop us from being creative altogether.
It’s important to understand that none of us is perfect and that mistakes are bound to happen along the way. The key is to make sure that when something negative happens, you don’t let it throw you out of balance.
By becoming more open to these imperfections, you will be able to approach your art in a more playful manner and be more keen to experiment and try out new things.
As a result, you’ll be able to grow as an artist and enjoy your artistic journey, wherever it takes you!
3. Take time to unwind.
It is important to set aside some time to unwind every day. We are all living busy lives that can easily make us feel stressed and exhausted.
That’s why having time to restore our energy and refuel our creativity is vital for every artist. You can meditate, practice yoga or tai-chi, listen to music, read positive affirmations, or go for a walk in the forest. Whatever works for you is fine.
Physical exercise is also a great way to clear your mind and de-stress your body and soul. Take a jog, go to the gym, walk your dog.
Once you’ve taken some time to unwind, you’ll notice that your creative juices are flowing again more freely!
4. Do more of what feels good to you.
With the internet and especially social media around us all the time, it’s easy to get trapped in unhealthy self-comparison. Every day, we tend to consume lots of content that is not really beneficial to us.
We endlessly scroll through our social feeds to just think that we will never be as good as that artist and then feel bad about ourselves.
This is kind of what we learn in today’s society. Everybody does it, so it must be normal. But truth is you can always choose to do more of what feels good to you.
You don’t need to have an x amount of followers to be a ‘real artist‘. You don’t need to submit your art to yet another art magazine, if you don’t want to. You don’t need to compete in an art contest, if it doesn’t feel good to you.
If you feel like sitting down in your room alone and just creating art for yourself, with the intention of showing it to no one, do it!
Maybe you grab the book that you’ve been wanting to read for so long, instead of checking your Instagram for the tenth time of the day.
Doing more of what feels good to us is the easiest way of nurturing our inner artist. Still, it's one of the hardest things to happen naturally. That's why we need to set a clear intention to do more of what makes us happy!
5. Set aside time to create on a regular basis.
If you don’t create on a regular basis, your inner artist cannot grow. Even though creating art might come to you naturally, it’s important to make it a priority in your life.
Just like you have, for example, a meal planner or a budget planner, you should have a ‘creativity planner’.
Take a look at your daily routine and see where you can fit in some time to be creative.
I personally find that creating a little bit every day is best. But you’ll need to see what works for you. Maybe you will make art every week, maybe every two days.
Creating on a schedule can often feel like work. It’s like forcing yourself to be creative when you are not feeling inspired. But I still believe it’s a good method to nurture your inner artist, because it will greatly benefit you in the long run!
Give it a try and let me know what you are thinking!
∗∗∗
I hope you’ll benefit from the methods I showed you in this post and wish you lots of joy and success on your creative journey!
Please leave questions and comments below or reach out to me directly. I’d love to hear from you! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
![5 Tips On How To Stop Overthinking Art [Tackle Your Art Anxiety]](https://ginangiela.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/How-to-stop-overthinking-art-500x400.jpg)
What a wonderful blog post, Angie. So much information, well written, and great insights! Rest assured you have a dedicated following who will continue to support you!
Hi Natalie, great that you found the blog post helpful and awesome to have you in the community! 😍