I'm going to be honest and up front with you - being a freelance artist is no picnic. I'm sure the same could be said for a great many chosen career paths, but in my thirty-seven years as a commercial illustrator I have found that there are really only a few traits that determine if one will truly be successful or not. Below I will talk about these five points and why I believe every creative individual should live by them.
The five points are ....
1. Having a Talent
The first one is important, but it's not mandatory. As the author Erica Jong says, "Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads."
Talent alone is not enough, you also have to be fearless, bold, daring, and willing to take chances. You can have a desire to do something and that desire is what spurs you onward to succeed, but you must also have the courage to follow that talent into the dark places - those spooky mist covered fields where the unknown is lurking behind every gnarled tree and shadowy bush. As she says "everyone has a talent", but what separates the successful from the unsuccessful is the willingness to follow that talent wherever it leads.
2. Love What You Do
Having an ability and a desire to become successful is nothing if you don't also love what it is you do. If you don't then it becomes as trivial and mundane as flipping burgers in some greasy spoon.
You see, doing what you love may seem like a cliche, but I believe it's an old paradigm that all creative people should live by. Because we live in a day and age where everything is manufactured by machines and the old ways of making things by hand with love and pride have gone the way of the dinosaurs. So it's important to not only love what you do, but also to love it for what it is - something personal and unique that belongs to just you.
Also, your world doesn't need to be consumed with the constant desire to make a living out of this, either. If it's meant to be then it will be. In the meantime take time for yourself. This reminds me of something I heard in the movie Cars...
Sally: Forty years ago, that interstate down there didn't exist.
Lightning McQueen: Really?
Sally: Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way.
Lightning McQueen: How do you mean?
Sally: Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
So, you see, it's important that your whole world isn't consumed by the constant drive to succeed to the point that you end up missing the other little joys of your life. Relax. Have a latte. Take a drive in the country. The desire to be successful at something you love should not be paramount to your happiness. Sure, it's great to be a rock star where everyone demands your autograph, but ask yourself - "Is that person truly happy? Do they love what they are doing? Are they content with their life?"
Yes, I love what I do. And yes, I would like to be successful at it. But in the end it's not the focus of my whole existence. Perhaps you’ll make a living with your talent. Or, perhaps, like me, you’ll simply draw things. Either way you have to balance what you love with what you live.
3. Do the Best You Can
It took me a long time (and many attempts) before I finally nailed my own portfolio. My biggest problem was trying to impress people. When I finally realized that my online presence should be a reflection of "me" I began to build around that, implementing a layout that showed my own personality and character. I believe in any creative endeavor you should strive to be yourself and allow your own unique personality to show through in whatever you do. The Web is already proliferated with enough bland and boring personalities as it is. Do you want to be one of them? No, of course you don't. Then always try to do the best work you can in your chosen field and let the originality of 'you' show through.
Whatever it is you have a desire or talent to do you must also strive to keep it fresh and alive. Push yourself to excel in new areas (remember those dark fields) and be willing to take on new challenges.
In her article Success: Are You Getting In Your Own Way? Amber Riviere expounded on this point further ...
Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it did get built.
4. Encouragement
Keeping yourself focused on what it is you desire to do and always striving to excel will strengthen both your talent and your resolve to succeed with it. Discouragement comes in many flavors, but you must believe in yourself. You must plod on even if that nagging little voice is telling you "you are no good, you'll never make it." Because the woods are filled with many birds and not all of them sing the best, but it is the diversity of many different talents that fills the world with song.
When I first started drawing things I was only three years old. My mom noticed this right off that her son may have something unique and she squealed with delight to all her friends, "Look! My son is an artist!"
Well, she is still squealing about it today, God bless her. My mom is my biggest fan and my biggest encouragement. If you want to be successful as an artist (or whatever your chosen creative field is) then I pray you have someone like this in your life. If it wasn't for my "biggest fan" prodding me on I would have hung up my design cape long ago.
5. Never Give Up
I am not in control of my talent, which I know sounds odd, but quite often it’s like Richard Bach said (in his preface to Illusions), "But once in a while there’s a great dynamite-burst of flying glass and brick and splinters through the front wall and somebody stalks over the rubble, seizes me by the throat and gently says, I will not let you go until you set me, in words, on paper."
The talent draws on you so give the talent something to draw with. No matter if you are doing it for someone or just doing it for yourself always keep this one thing in mind - it's not about the money. Do not make the mistake of equating your talent with how much you'll make off of it, because that will only trivialize what you do. Yes, it is desirable to earn an
income from your abilities and provide for yourself while doing what you love, but this should not be your main objective.
My mom always likes to say to me, "You are a millionaire waiting to happen." Well, that would certainly be cool, but the odds of that happening are about the same as if I played the Lottery. Again, it isn't about the money; it's about the talent and your love and desire to be a part of it. Sure, being a millionaire rock star would be cool - for maybe five point two seconds. Fame and fortune are entirely different animals. You don't need either to effectively do what it is you do. The five points I have discussed here are more about you personally than what you want to do monetarily. Because, in all honesty, success is only measured by those who truly believe in themselves.
So what about you? Have any personal points you would like to share? What have you found that works best for keeping you "at the drawing board"? Let me know in the comments section.
The five points are ....
- Having a Talent
- Loving What You Do
- Being Good at What You Do
- Being Encouraged
- Never Giving Up
1. Having a Talent
The first one is important, but it's not mandatory. As the author Erica Jong says, "Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads."
Talent alone is not enough, you also have to be fearless, bold, daring, and willing to take chances. You can have a desire to do something and that desire is what spurs you onward to succeed, but you must also have the courage to follow that talent into the dark places - those spooky mist covered fields where the unknown is lurking behind every gnarled tree and shadowy bush. As she says "everyone has a talent", but what separates the successful from the unsuccessful is the willingness to follow that talent wherever it leads.
2. Love What You Do
Having an ability and a desire to become successful is nothing if you don't also love what it is you do. If you don't then it becomes as trivial and mundane as flipping burgers in some greasy spoon.
You see, doing what you love may seem like a cliche, but I believe it's an old paradigm that all creative people should live by. Because we live in a day and age where everything is manufactured by machines and the old ways of making things by hand with love and pride have gone the way of the dinosaurs. So it's important to not only love what you do, but also to love it for what it is - something personal and unique that belongs to just you.
Also, your world doesn't need to be consumed with the constant desire to make a living out of this, either. If it's meant to be then it will be. In the meantime take time for yourself. This reminds me of something I heard in the movie Cars...
Sally: Forty years ago, that interstate down there didn't exist.
Lightning McQueen: Really?
Sally: Yeah. Back then, cars came across the country a whole different way.
Lightning McQueen: How do you mean?
Sally: Well, the road didn't cut through the land like that interstate. It moved with the land, it rose, it fell, it curved. Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time.
So, you see, it's important that your whole world isn't consumed by the constant drive to succeed to the point that you end up missing the other little joys of your life. Relax. Have a latte. Take a drive in the country. The desire to be successful at something you love should not be paramount to your happiness. Sure, it's great to be a rock star where everyone demands your autograph, but ask yourself - "Is that person truly happy? Do they love what they are doing? Are they content with their life?"
Yes, I love what I do. And yes, I would like to be successful at it. But in the end it's not the focus of my whole existence. Perhaps you’ll make a living with your talent. Or, perhaps, like me, you’ll simply draw things. Either way you have to balance what you love with what you live.
3. Do the Best You Can
It took me a long time (and many attempts) before I finally nailed my own portfolio. My biggest problem was trying to impress people. When I finally realized that my online presence should be a reflection of "me" I began to build around that, implementing a layout that showed my own personality and character. I believe in any creative endeavor you should strive to be yourself and allow your own unique personality to show through in whatever you do. The Web is already proliferated with enough bland and boring personalities as it is. Do you want to be one of them? No, of course you don't. Then always try to do the best work you can in your chosen field and let the originality of 'you' show through.
Whatever it is you have a desire or talent to do you must also strive to keep it fresh and alive. Push yourself to excel in new areas (remember those dark fields) and be willing to take on new challenges.
In her article Success: Are You Getting In Your Own Way? Amber Riviere expounded on this point further ...
"Last night, I was reading Wayne Dyer’s book - Excuses Begone! - and came across a statement that really resonated with me. "We don’t always want to undertake the necessary steps to create the life we desire." Many times, there are limits as to how far we’ll go to achieve success in our lives and businesses. Maybe we don’t want to move, or give up a certain type of lifestyle. Maybe we don’t want to have to bootstrap our new business idea and drop some of the luxuries we enjoy on a daily basis, like cable television or expensive cell phone plans, or maybe we don’t want to have to do things we’re uncomfortable doing, like promoting our businesses and putting ourselves out there."
- Amber Riviere
Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, but it did get built.
4. Encouragement
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
- Henry Van Dyke
Keeping yourself focused on what it is you desire to do and always striving to excel will strengthen both your talent and your resolve to succeed with it. Discouragement comes in many flavors, but you must believe in yourself. You must plod on even if that nagging little voice is telling you "you are no good, you'll never make it." Because the woods are filled with many birds and not all of them sing the best, but it is the diversity of many different talents that fills the world with song.
When I first started drawing things I was only three years old. My mom noticed this right off that her son may have something unique and she squealed with delight to all her friends, "Look! My son is an artist!"
Well, she is still squealing about it today, God bless her. My mom is my biggest fan and my biggest encouragement. If you want to be successful as an artist (or whatever your chosen creative field is) then I pray you have someone like this in your life. If it wasn't for my "biggest fan" prodding me on I would have hung up my design cape long ago.
5. Never Give Up
I am not in control of my talent, which I know sounds odd, but quite often it’s like Richard Bach said (in his preface to Illusions), "But once in a while there’s a great dynamite-burst of flying glass and brick and splinters through the front wall and somebody stalks over the rubble, seizes me by the throat and gently says, I will not let you go until you set me, in words, on paper."
The talent draws on you so give the talent something to draw with. No matter if you are doing it for someone or just doing it for yourself always keep this one thing in mind - it's not about the money. Do not make the mistake of equating your talent with how much you'll make off of it, because that will only trivialize what you do. Yes, it is desirable to earn an
income from your abilities and provide for yourself while doing what you love, but this should not be your main objective.My mom always likes to say to me, "You are a millionaire waiting to happen." Well, that would certainly be cool, but the odds of that happening are about the same as if I played the Lottery. Again, it isn't about the money; it's about the talent and your love and desire to be a part of it. Sure, being a millionaire rock star would be cool - for maybe five point two seconds. Fame and fortune are entirely different animals. You don't need either to effectively do what it is you do. The five points I have discussed here are more about you personally than what you want to do monetarily. Because, in all honesty, success is only measured by those who truly believe in themselves.
So what about you? Have any personal points you would like to share? What have you found that works best for keeping you "at the drawing board"? Let me know in the comments section.
Hey, if you need help with zazzle.com, just ask. I'm not a pro but I've been using them for a while. You can just send me an email or what ever :) (email at my blog)
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