All artists have their struggles. None of us is free of worry, distress and anxiety in our art – just like in life in general. Am I right?
But that’s totally normal.
“Creativity takes courage.”
is not only a famous quote by French painter and sculptor Henri Matisse, it is absolutely true. You need to be courageous to create art, especially if you want to stay true to yourself and make the art you love.
Artist fears are quite common among creatives, and every artist has something to struggle with. I myself am no exception.
Have you ever caught yourself thinking things like, “I want to be an artist but I’m scared. I will never be good at art.” Thoughts like that indicate that you are struggling with certain artist fears, too.
A lot of times, artists tend to struggle with one major fear that is specific to their personality (for example, perfectionism like in my case), but they face several – or maybe even all – of the artist fears listed below at least at one point during their creative career.
In this blog post, I want to talk with you about the 10 worst artist fears – I’ve already encountered all of them at least once on my artistic journey and I know that many other artists have, too! – and share with you my best tips what you can do about them.
I hope that talking about these fears helps you realize that you are not alone and that creative anxiety is something very normal that all artists come across. By reaching the end of this post, you hopefully will have found new courage and inspiration to create art joyfully!
So here we go! These are the 10 worst artist fears that every artist struggles with at least at one point in their creative life:
10 Artist fears & how to overcome them
1. Failure.
Failure is inevitable. No question about that. It happens in all areas of life, and at one point or the other it will happen in our creative life, too.
Nevertheless, failure is one of the biggest artist fears. We fear that no one will like our art. We are afraid that no one will buy our prints. We are worried that our client will not dig the commissioned piece.
Those fears of failure go on and on and in the end we feel so paralyzed that we are giving up completely, not knowing that the next success was already awaiting us behind the corner.
Things to do:
- Accept that failure is inevitable and that it helps you grow.
- Instead of giving up, or not trying out new ideas, figure out what works and then do more of that.
- Realize that failure is never final. Even if you fail one piece of art, your entire artistic career won’t be doomed. And even if you fail a digital art commission, you always have the chance to revise it and adapt it to your client's needs!
Further reading:
2. Success.
Believe it or not: a lot of artists fear success as much as they fear failure. You might not catch yourself thinking, “Oh, I am so scared of being a successful artist. I rather give up.”
No. The fear of success will come in much more subtle ways. For example, you might worry about more negative comments when more people get to see your art. You might fear the opinion of art critics that discover your work once you are on the rise.
Generally speaking, you might be scared of change. Because success means change. Most of us are comfortable doing our thing before a few select eyes of our small community. But once our audience starts growing, we’ll need to adapt to whole set of new challenges.
Things to do:
- Growth takes time. Give yourself the time you need to deal with new challenges and don’t try to rush it.
- Learn from artists who already walked down the same path before you. Observe how they handle the challenges that come with success and follow their example.
- Build a supportive community of like-minded people that are there to help you when the going gets rough.
Further reading:
3. Perfection.
Perfectionism is a big issue for many artists. Our society has an unhealthy inclination towards perfection that is being cast on us since our early childhood.
As a result, we tend to be very finicky about our work as grown-up artists. We spend a lot of time trying to make a single piece perfect, instead of creating more art and getting more practice to improve.
When you don’t dare to show a piece of art to the public if not every single blemish has been removed, you will probably never be able to publish your work.
Things to do:
- Don’t expect to create a masterpiece every time you go to the studio. Not even the greatest artists in history were able to do so!
- Don’t be afraid to show work that isn’t perfect. Don’t aim for perfection. Instead, focus on creating a lot of art and building a stunning portfolio.
- Have a look through the portfolio of the artists you admire. Chances are not all pieces will be equally amazing. There are always good and bad pieces in every artist’s portfolio – no matter how talented, skilled, or experienced they are!
Further reading:
Nothing. Is. Perfect.
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4. Rejection.
Rejection is another huge one among the artist fears. We all want to be loved and appreciated. That’s just our human nature. That’s why rejection can be such a painful and dreaded experience we all try to avoid.
As artists, we are anxious that the art gallery we applied to will reject our application. We are scared that our followers won’t like the newest piece we created. We are devastated if the art magazine we submitted our art to doesn’t publish it.
Rejection happens to every artist – usually multiple times during their career. To overcome the fear of rejection, we need to realize that rejection doesn’t mean our work is not good enough.
It’s just that you cannot please everyone with your art. There will always be people who love your art, and there will always be people who hate your art. That’s just the way it is.
Things to do:
- Don’t try to create art that pleases everyone. This will only deter you from your original purpose. You will never be able to cater to everyone’s taste – no matter how hard you try.
- Remember why you initially started out to make art. Go back to creating authentic art that you love and that makes you happy!
- Build meaningful connections with those who love and support your art. Forget about the haters and the nay-sayers!
Further reading:
5. Creative Block.
Who does not know creative block? We’ve all had these phases when inspiration just wouldn’t come, no matter how long we kept staring at the blank canvas.
At times, our creative ideas are just flowing, but then we happen to get stuck in that place where we just don’t seem to be able to reignite our fire.
Creative block can be scary because it keeps us from living our dream, and sometimes even from sustaining ourselves financially when we are not able to complete work for a client or for an art show.
Things to do:
- Let go of the notion that inspiration strikes like lightning, out of the blue. Most of the time, that’s not the case. Creativity requires hard work.
- Try working on a schedule. Set aside fixed times of the day for creative work. As Picasso said: “Inspiration is possible but it must find you working.”
- Take a proactive approach to find inspiration. Use social media to scroll through images that inspire you, read inspirational quotes, or go for a long walk through nature!
Further reading:
6. Criticism.
I know that many artists are anxious that others might think their art is ‘not good enough’. They are afraid of the criticism of other artists, professional art critics, collectors, and simply ‘other people’.
If you are on any social media platform or art sharing site, I am sure you’ve already received one or the other negative comment. It is not fun to read such unfair, and sometimes even intentionally mean, feedback under a piece of art which you put your heart and soul in.
But unfortunately, not every critic is able to express their opinion in form of constructive criticism, and many people might actually just comment from a place of envy and jealousy.
Things to do:
- Train yourself to not take other people’s opinion too seriously. After all, it’s just that – their opinion.
- Realize that no artist is charmed against harsh criticism. Browse through the Instagram profile of your favorite artists and chances are you will find negative comments under their posts. Unfortunately, that’s how it is in our day and age...
- Practice self-care and focus on your inner artist. Recall your initial motivation to create art and focus on making the art you love!
Further reading:
7. Authenticity.
Creating authentic art isn’t easy. It requires courage because it makes us vulnerable. Vulnerable to what others think and say. And once you put a part of yourself into your artwork, rejection and criticism are a hundred times more painful.
A lot of artists allow the outside world to define the art they create. They don’t dare to break out of that niche they got stuck in because they fear the reaction of the people around them. They fear to lose followers and sales if they venture into following their intuition and try something new.
However, if you want to truly express yourself through your art, you need to have the courage to be vulnerable. Holding yourself back for the fear of being hurt not only robs you of the joy of creating art, but also prevents you from telling your story through art, which is a great way to bond with others and even increase your sales!
Things to do:
- Don’t be afraid to let your true self shine through. Be sure that the right people will discover your art who love what you do and support you as an artist.
- Used correctly, art can be a great way to support your mental health and find meaning in your life. So make your voice stand out and focus on doing what makes you happy.
- Stop comparing yourself to others. You are unique. Tap into that uniqueness and express it through your work. Your art doesn’t have to look like any other artist’s work. There is an audience for everything.
Further reading:
8. Marketing.
Marketing is one of the artist fears? Yes, indeed. Many artists feel uneasy about promoting their work because they still have that notion of marketing being sleazy and bogus. They feel uncomfortable about approaching people with the intention of selling them something.
But have you ever asked yourself why there shouldn’t be people out there who would be more than happy to purchase a piece of yours because they like your art? If your art touches people, if they can relate with the story you are telling through your work, they will appreciate the opportunity of having a print of yours at home.
I’m sure you’ve already bought an art print of another artist or some handmade item on Etsy, right? So if you are willing to pay for other people’s art, then why shouldn’t other people not want to buy your pieces?
Things to do:
- It’s important to change your attitude about marketing. People who love your work will be happy to acquire a piece of yours and support you by paying for it.
- Understand that without promoting your art you won’t be able grow an audience and make a living with your passion.
- Nowadays you don’t need a middleman to market your art. You can do it yourself the way you want, for example, by building your own artist website.
Further reading:
9. Routine Work.
Let me take a wild guess: you decided to become an artist because it doesn’t require you to go to an office every day. Because you don’t need to wear a suit, and you don’t have to listen to a boss who tells you what to do.
Most likely, you became an artist because it gives you the freedom to work whenever you want and, if you create digital art, to work wherever you want. Creating art for a living allows you to escape the 9-to-5 rat race.
However, being an artist comes with its own challenges, and even though routine work might bore you to death, there will be times when you will need to follow rather boring routines because you have deadlines to adhere to or commissioned work to deliver.
Things to do:
- Make sure to do some creative work every day. That’s the best way to get ample practice and make progress.
- Unfortunately, being an artist isn't fun all the time. There will be phases where you will have to keep pushing, regardless of whether or not you feel inspired to create.
- Be grateful for having the freedom to create and the chance to live your passion, even if deadlines get tight and creating feels like routine work.
Further reading:
10. The Unknown.
Last but not least, the fear of the Unknown is among the worst artist fears I want to talk about in this blog post. How often has the fear of not knowing the outcome held you back from trying out something new? If your answer is: “well, quite a few times,” then you are one of those artists who are wary of taking risks.
There is only one way to get over the fear of the unknown and that is to go right through it and see what’s behind it. Then the unknown becomes known, and oftentimes a whole new world of possibilities will open up to you.
You cannot separate risk-taking and creativity. Every time you are creating new things, you’ll need to get comfortable with the Unknown. This is true for every hobbyist artist, but even more so for artists who want to start their own art business!
Things to do:
- Keep in mind that conquering the Unknown will provide you with a whole lot of new amazing opportunities that you wouldn’t be able to enjoy if you stayed in your comfort zone.
- Change the way you look at failure and realize that failure is a great pointer to lead you in the right direction.
- As you begin reaching for more, you’ll be able to speed up your artistic growth in many areas.
Further reading:
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