How to be an Artist

"Risk Factors," oil, 20x16, 2012

An article by Jerry Saltz that appeared on Vulture.com caught my eye not long ago. He wrote an ambitious piece, giving not just advice on being an artist but on becoming one and continuing to be a presumably successful one. Mr. Saltz is an art critic but has also been very candid in saying that he is a "failed artist" (his term), and wrote about what happened to his career as an artist and why a year or so ago. In his new piece he provides a list of 33 "lessons" to follow on the path to becoming a successful artist, despite his own lack of success. The list is certainly comprehensive, even detailed, containing six steps from "You Are a Total Amateur" to the final: "Attain Galactic Brain." Of course anyone can make lists, and a lot of people in various pursuits could write similar ones. Mine is quite a lot shorter.

Maybe you don't have to worry about any of this and simply start working and say you're an artist. Works for some. But if you long to be an artist, are a few ideas. This list applies to visual art, but you could probably substitute other art forms without much modification.

First Principles:

"Silver Creamer," casein on panel, 4x6, 2017

1. Art is what you make of it. Whatever the art form, genuine work comes from the maker, even when copying someone else. Even conceptual art requires that someone make the art; even something as evanescent as an idea is created.
2. Art is about the work. It's not about being a bohemian or bourgeois, if anyone still recognizes those terms. Instead, art is in the doing of a thing (dancing, playing the bagpipes, whatever) as well as one can, then doing it again and then again to make it better each time. Art is about the making, over and over again.
3. Without a commitment to regularly making art there is less point in beginning. And truly, artists are makers. Without the focus on making regular work you can still be a gifted amateur, of course but you are unlikely to be more. Focusing on the work and advancing it is crucial.

"La Rambla, Barcelona," watercolor and ink, 5x9, 2017

How to Start:

1.  Start simple, but start. In visual arts, drawing is fundamental and luckily easy to begin and to practice. A common #2 pencil and a stack of printer paper are all you need, and easily available for nearly anybody. Add other media and other methods as you go. Painting, sculpting, are more advanced. Save those for later. The basis of visual art is drawing.
2. Get instruction. You can only teach yourself so much because by definition it is difficult to teach what you do not know. Happily, teaching comes in many forms these days--more now than ever before. Attend classes, watch videos, read books and articles, go to workshops, seek mentors. Whatever you do, learn your craft, from basics like materials through techniques and methods and best practices.
3. Practice constantly. The masters through the centuries, whether painters or musicians or authors, worked diligently at their art. Michelangelo famously wrote to an assistant, "Draw, Antonio. Draw Antonio, and don't waste time!" In his article mentioned above Mr. Saltz advises carrying a sketchbook and using it constantly, which is excellent (and centuries-old) advice. Another variant is the famous maxim: "Nulla dies sine linea," that is: never a day without a line," a quote of Adolph Menzel, the great German artist.
4. Show your work. If you want to improve, show your work. Show your work to other artists, then to the public. Show only your very best work. Be critical. Seek admission to juried (judged) shows. Exhibit widely, from local galleries to national competitions to online exhibits. Online shows are becoming more and more common and quite simple to enter.

Being an Artist
This one is tougher. So far as I know there are no uniform steps, no consensus of how to live as an artist or anything beyond doing the work. A writing teacher once said that if you want to be a writer, you must write. If you want to be a painter, you have to paint.

"Mugshot," digital drawing,2018

The life of an artist means different things to different people. Many are industrious, daily workers with regular hours, like William Bouguereau, the famous Frenchman. Some are dreamers; more or less slapdash, their unplanned peaks and troughs as surprising to the artist as anyone (insert any name you wish). Regardless, true artists produce whatever their art may be: images, statues or sculptures, stories, drama or comedic arts, written words, and on and on. The key is that an artist produces art. That is the life of an artist.
Art is making, and making is work. For most, the point is the work. Approval is a bonus, but the work is the goal.