This Is Going To Sound Whiny, But This Is An Issue I Really Struggle With As An Artist. I Know You Said

This is going to sound whiny, but this is an issue I really struggle with as an artist. I know you said before that artists should try to develop their own styles instead of copying the styles of artists they admire. But what if you can't figure out your style? How do you know what your style is, and how do you find it? I love to draw but sometimes I can't even tell if I like what I'm drawing. I always feel like I'm drawing the wrong stuff the wrong way you know?

I think you feel that way because you grew up in a world that believes the product is more important than the process. And this is the same world that allows only certain, elite people to dictate what counts as art. Or what counts as valuable.

Take the Mona Lisa as an example. It’s a very nice painting, but it’s still just a painting. It’s rotting. It will be gone someday. We think it’s priceless. But it’s not really valuable, and I know this because my mother, who is very important to me, doesn’t have the Mona Lisa on her wall. However, she does have a drawing I made of apples in fifth grade on her wall.

My point is, there’s no rule that says artists have to produce a body of cohesive, unique works to count as successful. In fact, there’s no rule that says you have to make anything at all if you don’t really feel like it. You can burn your drawings and leave this life weightless. You can draw donuts on coffee shop napkins if you want. You can keep your art a secret. You can make sandcastles and watch them melt in the high tide and never show them to anyone.

I mean if it’s practical advice you’re looking for, then I suggest you start throwing things away. Because when you say, “I can’t tell if I like what I’m drawing,” that tells me that you believe that anything you produce is more important than you are. And that’s just not true.

You will always have your skills. However you develop them, for as long as you’re alive, they’re yours. The rest is just stuff—almost all of which will rot and turn to dust or become obsolete. So draw something and throw it out. Draw ten things, throw them all out, and then draw them again. Give your drawings away. Delete the drawings with the most notes off your blog. Fill up a sketchbook and burn it. Finish a drawing and then tear it to pieces. Practice destroying your art so you aren’t afraid of it.

Art isn’t precious. YOU are precious. The skills and the passion come from you. Your style is you. Get into the habit of being in control of your skills to serve your happiness instead of letting the rest of the world turn you into a vending machine that produces only the “right” kind of art.

More Posts from Mattlindel and Others

8 years ago

story time: i taught my little cousin her first longer word when she was very young. i taught her to say “tax benefits”. and to this day my aunt still doesn’t know where she got it from, but it was a hilarious sight to see a little toddler waddling around the house, wearing a big diaper, all the while yelling “TAX BENEFITS!!!!”

5 years ago

u know that thing where an animals grow in a far off place and some idiot introduces him to a new habitat and it turns out its characteristics that help them in their own sometimes are too helpful in the new one and they become like an invasive species yeah thats the word i was missing anyway back to my point i think i saw a human version of that just now i was driving in tonights snow storm and i saw a man wearing a big ass cowboy hat to keep the snow off him and a bandit red bandana to keep it off his face and a big ass pancho to keep him warm and nice ass cowboy boots to keep his calves dry and he was prancing along while everyone on the road looked miserable and frozen solid and idk i guess the point im trying to make here is i feel like cowboys would have taken over russia if given the chance or something

7 years ago

Knowing that trans women of color started the movement in the united states and were literally immediately erased and excluded from what they started is the most deeply jading knowledge.

It is the original sin of the so-called queer community and it damns it from the cradle.

5 years ago

I hate it when your parents are like “I know you better than you know yourself!” Like no you don’t

8 years ago

my stomach hurts


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6 years ago
mattlindel - Babayaga
mattlindel - Babayaga

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7 years ago

Don't kill yourself, please.

If you’re suffering from depression and are looking for a sign to not go through with ending your life, this is it. This is the sign. We care.

If you see this on your dash, reblog it. You could save a life.

6 years ago
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of
It’s Here !! The Guide For Two-legged People Who Don’t Know How To Draw Wheelchairs !!! 7 Pages Of

It’s here !! The guide for two-legged people who don’t know how to draw wheelchairs !!! 7 pages of infodump ! Disclaimer : I don’t know everything, I have one (1) experience of wheelchair user who used both bad and good chairs, and I share what I learned.

Image description :

1) Calvin in his wheelchair saying “yo” under a huge title “how to draw manual wheelchairs properly by Calvin Arium, a wheelchair user comic artist”.

2) A character says “my character self propels in a chair that was outdated in 1970 lol” Calvin says “so it looks like you two legged people don’t know the difference between an hospital chair and a chair made to be independant” an arrow point the crapppy chair, saying “we never want to see this again”

a bubble says “the hospital chair is extremely unpractical, tough considering it’s cheaper than a good custom chair a lot of us have only this”

3) a character hurt himself trying to reach the wheels of the hospital chair. Several arrows point why the chair is unpractical : “high backrest restrain shoulders movement” “huge armrest restrains wheel access” “separated footrest : amovible, cheap, bulky” “x structure, foldable but heavy” “huge front casters for stability” “heavy wheels”

4) Several arrows point an active wheelchair (the KSL by Küshall) : “usually no armrest” “a low backrest allow more movement” “light, design, ferning expersive” “special cushion to avoind injuries” “knee angle is usually 90°” “one single piece of frame, sometimes entirely welded” “weight : from 4 to 10kg” “often rigid” “center of the wheel is the center of gravity” “higher quality wheels : less spikes”

5) A hand grab different parts of the wheel, pushing harder in the second half. Bubbles says “some have gloves, some don’t. The hand must grab the biggest area possible. Less movement = more energy. This is a common but not only way to push.Calvin is on his back wheels, rolling on grass and dirt bubble says “popping a wheelie is when a wheelchair user rolls on their back wheels to roll on every complicated surface.

6) several drawings illustrate the folding frame, the ergonomic but rigid and expensive backrest, the separated footrest (only for folding frame), the handles, the folding handles, athe amovibles handles, or no handles, the cool fancy loopwheels, the pretty custom colors 

7) More Features ! The fancy rigid-foldable frame, the anti tippers (sometimes used by beginners), the motorization (wheels, smart drive) when propelling yourself is difficult Calvin says “and now vroom vroom motherfuckers”

6 years ago

Pros of writing gay relationships: 

- gay

Cons of writing gay relationships:

- they both have THE SAME FCKIN PRONOUNS SO I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO NAME BOTH CHARACTERS BECAUSE OTHERWISE IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL WHO’S DOING WHAT OR WHO’S SPEAKING WHO WILL SAVE ME FROM THIS HELL


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6 years ago

nobody ever talks about how saying non-binary genders don’t exist is racist as fuck


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mattlindel - Babayaga
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