When it comes to creating art, there is one maxim that holds true for almost any creative endeavor: don’t get too comfy!
Being creative is all about trying new things, coming up with fresh ideas, and looking at the world in many different ways.
If you are getting too comfortable with what you are doing, you risk reaching a plateau and getting stuck with your art—aka creative rut. But you also hinder your artistic growth and prevent you from discovering new and exciting territory with your art.
That’s why artists should leave their comfort zone—at least every now and then.
Naturally, stepping out of the known and into the unknown isn’t easy. There are a lot of fears and worries that hold us back.
Nevertheless, it is important to leave your comfort zone in art. Why that is and what you can do—that’s what we are going to get into in this post!
~ Auguste Renoir, French painter
Why is it important to leave your comfort zone in art?
The arts are usually not thought of as being risky, but creativity and risk actually go together. In a previous post, I already spoke about why you need to take risks in art.
Not taking risks in art is pretty much like not leaving your comfort zone. You stay within the boundaries you already know too well and don’t try anything new. In other words, you keep doing what works and what you know brings you a certain level of success.
This is surely no wrong thing to do—provided that you don’t do it all the time. Because, if you don’t leave your comfort zone at all, you only hamper your artistic growth and you will never get to know your full creative potential!
Usually, there are various fears that keep us from getting out of our comfort zone.
The fear of failure is perhaps one of the biggest fears we all have. But there’s also the fear of rejection, the fear of criticism, and the fear of making mistakes. And sometimes, believe it or not, even the fear of success can unconsciously stop us from exploring our full artistic self!
No matter what fears you are facing, it is important to acknowledge those fears and to learn to overcome them.
Remember: you are not alone. All artists have fears, and I dare to say that all artists struggle to leave their comfort zone at some point in time. So, don’t stay on your own, if you don’t want to. Look for other artists to connect with, and to support and encourage each other. (You can always connect with me on Instagram or reach out to me here, if you wish!)
which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears.”
~ Dan Stevens, British actor
Why should artists leave their comfort zone?
‘Leaving your comfort zone’ has kind of become one of those hackneyed phrases, like ‘thinking out of the box’, that everyone says, but no one really knows what it means.
‘Stepping out of your comfort zone‘ doesn’t mean that you do something really terrifying and forbidding. It’s not like ‘do one thing every day that scares you‘—as Eleanor Roosevelt, the niece of former US-American President Theodore Roosevelt, so famously said.
I don’t know about you, but if I did one thing every day that scared me out of my wits, I would soon feel so stressed out that I probably wouldn’t leave my comfort zone anymore for the next ten years!
So, it's important to not get this wrong. While leaving your comfort zone can make you feel anxious, it shouldn't make you shake with fear.
We artists tend to be sensitive beings anyways. Do you feel the same?
Recently, I read the book The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron (highly recommended for anyone who is going through life with a higher sensitivity than the majority of the population).
Interestingly, the book teaches us that everyone feels best when they are neither too bored nor too aroused. We perform best on any kind of task when our nervous system is moderately alert. With too little arousal, we are dull and ineffective. On the other hand, too much arousal makes us feel distressed, clumsy, and confused.
Psychology even found that we all seek an ‘optimal level of arousal’—not only adults, even infants!
So, next time when you leave your comfort zone in art, don’t push it too far too quickly—take it easy! ♥‿♥
Down below, I have a couple of simple ideas for you to leave your comfort zone in art. Let’s go!
~ Roy T. Bennett, American author
6 Ideas to leave your comfort zone in art
1. Get a change of scenery.
Getting a change of scenery doesn’t mean that you need move to another city. There are so many small things you can do to switch up your environment!
You can paint the walls in a different color, change the lighting, put some plants, move your furniture, hang a new artwork on the wall, stick an inspirational artist quote above your desk, get new curtains, and much more. Little changes can make a big difference.
What can you do to surround yourself with more beauty?
2. Learn a new type of art.
There are so many different styles of traditional and digital art—why not just try a new type of art?
Getting into new artistic styles, mediums, techniques, or themes isn’t always a pleasant experience. When I think back to the time I started with digital art, I still remember how awkward and frustrated I felt looking at my first creations… Unfortunately, our first attempts, more often than not, don’t turn out anything like we imagined. (◔_◔)
But that’s normal. No one is born a master. Therefore, when you try a new type of art, don’t give up when things are not going the way you wish. Learning something new always takes time and effort to see good results!
3. Enroll in a creativity-boosting class.
If you don’t want to enroll in an art class to learn a new style of art, I suggest you try something to boost your creativity!
Each artist has their own muse. Maybe for you, it’s going out to nature, looking at beautiful landscapes or waterscapes, at the sunset, at impressive architecture, and so on.
What about switching things up and exploring new ways to get your creative juices flowing? Skillshare offers lots of online classes to boost your creativity—from intuitive painting, to finding your artistic identity and original ideas, to increasing your productivity. The list goes on.
One thing I personally like a lot and find very effective to rekindle your creativity is meditation for artists. An excellent Skillshare class is Meditation 101, led by a creative who has studied meditation for more than 10 years in different monasteries around the world.
Easy-to-follow meditation course for beginners that gives you all the basics you need to get started with meditation and fuel your creativity!
4. Create a new creative habit.
We all have our creative habits—although we are sometimes not even aware of it. Maybe you always draw or paint with a coffee beside you, maybe you always listen to one particular song, or maybe you just need the TV to be on so it’s not too quiet in the room…
Breaking your creative routine is a simple but effective way for artists to leave their comfort zone. Choose a different music to listen to and observe how it affects your creative process. Practice during a different time of the day than usual or create a brand-new creative routine altogether.
A great art ritual to ignite your creative fire is to have a stack of cards with inspirational artist quotes near your workspace and pick one card every day before you start your creative practice! So powerful.
Stay inspired all year long!
5. Take on a creative challenge.
If you are ready, take on a creative challenge! For example, you can challenge yourself to complete one artwork every month for the next twelve months. Or, you can commit to practice 20 minutes every day for the next four weeks.
Both are great challenges for artists to leave their comport zone, to my mind! (By the way, short consistent practice is better than long sessions of practice on an irregular basis, in my experience.)
Other options can be to create, for instance, five pieces using a specific color palette or to make a certain number of artworks following the principles of good composition in art (you can download a free copy in the Freebie Library).
One type of challenge I like to set myself is to use what I have available in a specific spot. For ‘LO|VE DUST‘, for instance, I only used what I had available in my kitchen cupboard.
And for ‘Despair‘, ‘Hope‘ and ‘Courage‘, I challenged myself to create three lip art pieces using only plants I found in my garden. If you’d like to learn more about the process of creating those three pieces, then have a look at The Making Of here.
6. Get your art out there in new ways.
My last tip for artists to leave their comfort zone is to get your art noticed in new ways. If you haven’t been showing your face so much on social media, take heart and start showing yourself a bit more on Instagram stories, on TikTok, or simply by posing with one of your artworks in your hands.
If you have only been posting your art on social media and art sharing sites, step up your game and build your own artist website! Your own website has so many advantages over any other site where you can upload art. So, if you haven’t yet, you should make a website for your art today!
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Every time we do something out of our comfort zone, we push our boundaries a bit further. When we do something we thought we couldn’t do, it doesn’t scare us anymore. It becomes something we have done.
What do you like to do to leave your comfort zone in art? Please leave comments and questions below. If you create something using any of the ideas suggested in this post, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram or post a link to your work in the comments! I’d love to see your creations! Make sure to sign up for my email list below so you don’t miss out on new blog posts and other cool stuff. ♥
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Well put! I’m very new to your site and artwork but I enjoyed reading your blog post so I know I’ll be back. Happy art making! Xx
Hi Mareike, good to have you here! Looking forward to staying in touch with you (: