The 10 WORST Artist Fears & How To Overcome Them


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Artist fears can be a huge obstacle to our creativity. They paralyze us and keep us from living our dream. Why are artists anxious? There are different struggles that artists may face on their path. Here are the 10 worst artist fears and what you can do to overcome them!
Artist fears

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.

What struggles do artists face?​

Depending on their personality and environment, artists face various difficulties in their life. However, certain problems that artists face are always the same. Here are 7 common things artists struggle with!

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!

Why are artists anxious?

Art anxiety can have many reasons. One of the most common reasons is overthinking. If you tend to get trapped in an endless loop of negative thoughts, then here are 5 tips on how to stop overthinking art!

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:

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    Nothing. Is. Perfect.

    Get this printable quote as a reminder that you don't have to be perfect and save 40% with code 'QUOTES40'.

    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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!

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    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?

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    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.

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    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!

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    AngieG. – The Person behind the Pictures
    HI Y'ALL!  
    My name is Angie and I’m a self-taught digital artist. On this blog, I am sharing inspirational resources and advice to help you develop your artistic skills and cultivate a creative mindset. My desire is to support you in becoming a confident artist and realizing your dream!
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