Just recently I was speaking to a retired Illustrator and was very surprised to hear her describing how pleased she will be to pack away her pencils and paints for good. She was retiring and could not wait to you get rid of all the deadlines and stress that came with illustration commissions. This was understandable but the love of art and her own creativity also seemed to be packed away with the end of her career.
I have met both experienced and beginner artists who have confessed that their art does not make them happy. How can we keep the magic and passion alive that we remember so well when we enjoyed creating art? In this blog post I would like to explore this topic.
Mixing Work and Pleasure
I have friends who work in the creative industry who no longer enjoy drawing and painting, for many it has become associated with the stress of deadlines and meeting exacting briefs. If our art becomes our living I think it’s even more important to explore our own voice and create art for pleasure in our own time.
Keeping it Fresh
Another reason that many get fed up with their own artwork is because they become stuck and what I would call an art rut. There are many ways to kick start yourself out of an art rut such as starting a drawing practice everyday or taking a course in a new area of art. Our creativity does need to be exercised and it needs new challenges.
Pressure of Perfection
Having unrealistic standards for your work can take all of the joy and passion out of learning to draw and paint. I met one learner who seemed very deflated after he spent time next to a very talented learner in the class. The following week he learner didn’t turn up and after contacting him he explained he no longer enjoyed art although he was unable to explain why. I’m guessing that he was comparing himself with the very talented learner next to him. If you can still enjoy art without comparing yourself to others and having unrealistic expectations of perfection then you will be able to keep the passion alive.
Do you have any other suggestions for how to keep your love for art alive? If so do share below in the comment box.
rebeccaarttutor.com 
For me, leaving behind the need to create a finished piece helps to keep things fresh. I find colour mixing is good for this. I still like the the imaginary landscapes I ended up with in my earliest days of discovering watercolour from using up paint from colour mixing. That, and giving up any preconceived ideas of what you will end up with…….
VeryI true, I think if the element of play is there the work is always much better, it can be easier said than done to push away of the preconceived ideas!