Why It's Never Too Late to Bring Out Your Inner Artist
By: Bean Jones
Art Start. Want to find out if you have what it takes to be an artist even if you've already got a great day job? Who's to say you can't do it?.
My mother recently called me up with the news that my cousin Robbie had quit his job as an architect and has decided to paint for a year. My mother's family is fiercely clannish so Robbie's seemingly-crazy move was spread through the grapevine in a matter of minutes. (My mother and her sisters will put CNN to shame.)
Thinking Crazy
Anyway, my aunt wanted my mom to ask me to talk some sense into Robbie because I myself had done something similar years ago: I quit med school and decided to work with words. "Maybe you could tell Robbie how hard it is to work in jobs like yours," my mom said.
Exasperated, I told her, "He's 27 for goodness' sake! He can do whatever he wants. Besides, you know better than to ask me to do that. I don't regret not being a doctor--except maybe when I get sick and wish I could prescribe medicine for myself."
In any case, it's not just my family who thinks that ditching a "grown-up job" in order to be "creative" is nutty. A lot of people actually forgo pursuing creative professions because they don't want to be "starving artists."
Despite this, there are still people like Robbie who take a chance on being creative. Hey, it's never too late to do it.
Bringing Out the Inner Artist
In fact, Julia Cameron, author of Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance, offers tips on how to awaken your inner artist at any age:
1. Name your fears. Jot down any anxieties you feel about pursuing a creative career or project. Putting your worries on paper allows you to confront them, then move past them.2. Dial a friend. Appoint a positive pal whom you can call in times of doubt and who is also able to make you see other more practical perspectives. In my case, my med school buddy Allan was there to tell me: "Buddy, if med school isn't for you, juts leave before you turn into a lousy doctor. But be sure you can tough it out as a wordsmith."
3. Do it whenever you can. You don't have to cross over to the creative side drastically. You can have the best of both worlds by finding time for your creative pursuits. For instance, your can use your lunch hour to write down your ideas for your story or do a rough sketch of a painting you hope to do.
So what advice can I give for my cousin Robbie? All I can tell him is this: Man, do what you can to be happy at what you do. Whether it works out or not makes no difference, as long as you give it your best shot.
And for those who want to tap their inner artist without much risk of being the topic of the family grapevine, check out Simpleology's Jacque Fresco on Drawing. The guy is over 90 years old and still obviously stoked by being creative. Plus, he's certainly still making some money from it, too. Isn't that inspiration enough?
(Way to go, Robbie!)
Credits: Photo by Anna Cercova, courtesy of Public Domain Pictures.
Comments
I am a natural poet, I know that may not be quick money as I hoped. I have always been a writer but, it was only read, in my first language limited to my church (here in Houston, TX) until recently and following Mark Joyner's 7day program, that I started to translate them in English. Recently, I got these overwhelming responses from my English speaking �writers critique group� e.g. they "felt chill in their bodies" while reading it. it is exhilarating and addictive to hear the move and surprise that my poem creates in the audience, I do not seem to stop creating and writing. I need some one to speak sense to me too, I am becoming like your cousin Robbie.
Thanks for this great post! I have been pursuing my creative dreams for 10 years now & am still being told to go get a "real job"! (Laughing) I wouldn't trade my life for any false sense of security in Corporate America. Many of the people who told me to go get a real job have lost theirs in this economy and I'm making more money than I've ever done, while loving what I do every single day. No one has the right to steal your dream! Go Robbie!
This is a wonderful post. I went to an art school right after graduation and all of my friends and family were hounding me about it. "What are you going to do with a Fine Art degree?" they would ask me. I would shrug my shoulders and ramble off a few good jobs like writing art lesson books, being a storyboard artist, work in a museum, or a teacher at a university. I was happy with that, but I had so many creative passions that I was unsatisfied with Fine Art. I eventually switched over to Illustration, and then Animation, and now I'm doing Stop Motion movies. This is a much broader art form, and gives me the chance to move back and forth between so many different styles of art. The sky is the limit when it comes to creativity. All you need to do is believe in yourself, work hard, and you will get where you want to be.
Thanks for this post, I am an art director for Disney and I tell people all the time that it is about desire and passion to make it as an artist, nothing else matters in the pursuit of art. Anyone can be taught the core principles of drawing and become a master artist when they have the passion to. Core principles such as control, shadow shapes, values, they can all be taught, passion is the key.