5 tips for new creators in 2017
If your new years’ resolution is to strive towards creating stuff, whether its painting, illustration, music or writing. Here are a few tips to hit the ground running.
If you’ve toyed with the idea of pursuing a career in the arts, to throw caution into the wind and embrace your passion in creating stuff, then luckily we’re at a time where the tools are out there to make this transition much much easier.
If you’re starting out, here are a few things that will get you off the ground.
1. Set up a permanent space
Setting up a permanent space to work allows you to practice your art whenever you have that spare 30 minutes. It doesn’t have to take over your home. Fill a corner of your flat / house with the tools you need to carry out your work. Plaster inspiration all over the walls. Add a cosy little desk lamp, maybe a draw for snacks, maybe even a little kettle for hot drinks.
Ultimately, you want to make it the one place you’re looking forward to be in everyday. Make it your sanctuary.
2. Make a schedule. Make a habit.
A little discipline is necessary. Scope out the next week and colour in some of the free time you have to work on your art. Perhaps do this every Sunday over a coffee. That way, you’ve comfortably mapped out your week and have some idea about how much work you can fit around your current lifestyle.
If your schedule allows it, try and keep a consistent schedule over the weeks for your work. This will reinforce a habit, which is ultimately what you’re aiming for. Once it gets ingrained into your lifestyle, you’re golden.
One thing I’ve realised, however, is to stop as soon as you feel overworked. The last thing you want is another aspect of your day becoming a chore. Art should always be a pleasure to create.
3. Share your progress when you’re ready
It’s always a tad nerve-racking when publishing your work online for the first time. Getting your work seen early is necessary for critical feedback, for showing others what you’re doing and who you are, and it also becomes a nice little motivator once you start accumulating fans.
If you’re just starting out, concentrate and focus on one platform that displays your work decently and allows for it to be easily shared should a fan want to. Tumblr is a good option for this. Feel free to break into other social (Instagram is a popular one for visual artists) once you’ve developed a habit of sharing work.
If anyone has other platforms they feel would be a good start for new creators please do pop it down in the responses!
4. Meet other creators (preferably offline).
It’s comforting to chat to another creator and realise you’re not alone in the everyday trials and tribulations associated with pursuing an artistic career. You’ll make friends in your area of work and you’ll be able to bounce ideas and advice off one another, as well as learn from people who’ve been around a bit longer than you.
How you find fellow creators depends on your location. If you’re in a major city, more often than not there are awesome meet-ups that people set up for a range of artistic fields. For example in London, there are recurring events on meetup.com where you can rub shoulders with a colourful variety of artists.
5. Make sure it is fun
I’ve realised that sometimes if you start out in a particular field of creating something, it might not be exactly what you had imagined. It might have been romanticised in some way which might feel different from actually pursuing it.
It’s okay to feel this way and it’s also okay to completely change field if you’ve realised it’s not what you want to do. What’s important is that you swallow your pride and realise this, so you can explore another area that excites you.
From experience, you’ll know you’re doing something you love if the hours fall away. You’ll be in a intimate state of flow with whatever you’re creating. A quick glance at the watch reveals that it’s gone 3 am without you realising.
If you’re in this position, you’re onto something.
And remember…
