How do you evaluate your art life progress?
Do you compare yourself to your peers? Or to the established artists you admire?
That strategy guarantees frustration. If you want to advance your own work, yes study other artists from the past and present and learn from them.
But never compare your work to others. You can only measure your own progress from one point. Where you started.
UPDATE 12.24.19
See other artists compare their current and past work in this post on My Modern Met:
https://mymodernmet.com/draw-this-again-drawing-challenge/
Indie artist Mia Araujo has written an outstanding post on her Patreon page. She describes the impact of looking back.
Here's an example of Mia's recent work
Read her post. Learn how she overcame challenges in the past 10 years of her art career.
Day jobs are part of the journey. They are like sketchbooks -- a place to practice art life skills. If you want to build a client base, work with agents, galleries, film directors... you need people skills. You need to know how to provide customer service. How to meet client expectations. How to resolve problems to satisfy customers. How to negotiate with bosses. Why not hone these skills as part of the job description for a role you're getting paid for?
Art life time becomes focused while you're juggling day jobs and/or family obligations. Use your art time well. Find that project you can build on with your artistic vision.
Mia found her project in her own unique take on "Alice in Wonderland"
Mia at a recent comic con exhibition hall space.
Read Mia's inspiring story in her Patreon post...
https://www.patreon.com/posts/32399139
Here's an excerpt ...
"This was a decade full of failure for me, which was once my worst nightmare. In 2012, I was a terrified-of-the-world late bloomer of a girl, $20k in debt, with a stagnant gallery career. And I was deeply depressed due to this and family turmoil. It was the first time that my art had failed me emotionally and financially, and I had moved out for the first time. I didn’t know what to do.....
I tried making my gallery art work for another year, and tried looking for art-related jobs. Being a traditional artist whose art was not commercial, and whose skills were massively lacking for studio work, this search proved fruitless. In 2014, I swallowed my pride and took a minimum wage job to pay the bills, since it was the only job that would hire me. Making this choice and finding a therapist, helped take the financial pressure off my art so I could get out of my depressive rut. I started working on the seed of an idea that would soon become my Alice project."
Find more Mia Araujo art here:
Mia Araujo books on the SNB website:
https://stuartngbooks.com/alice-in-wonderland-process-sketchbook-vol.-2-signed.html
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