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Z Art Blog–Talent With No Motivation?

Z Art Blog–Talent With No Motivation? published on

Have you ever known someone who had artistic ability but never seemed able to accomplish much of anything after high school? Maybe this person achieved As in art classes with plans to continue in art but then couldn’t come up with ideas for new work. Or maybe this person would start a painting and never finish it. Then start another painting and never finish it, etc. Art teachers give their students the direction for each piece. So, how would a fledgling artist know what to paint if no one was giving him or her the ideas for each piece?

Is this problem a lack of motivation? It may rather be a lack of direction or organization. In other words, this artist has not yet made a decision about “genre” or “theme.” Does he or she want to paint nature—farm animals, zoo animals, prairie scenes, jungle scenes, mountain scenes, or ocean scenes?  Maybe he or she prefers to paint pictures of humans—humans at play, humans at work, etc. Does this artist use oil, tempera or water color paints, pastels or chalk? The more an artist can narrow the focus or purpose of his or her work, the more likely he or she will be able to develop a unique style and perfect that given theme. This concept also applies to photography, pottery, music, and other visual art forms.

If the artist we are talking about is you, you may want to start by imagining exactly where you want to see your artwork. Then do some research on competition in that market. Yes. An artist must be aware of the competition. Who are some of the artists who are currently being hired in the area you hope to see your work? Observe the work. Ask yourself, why is this artist being hired? Of all the artistic people you know personally, how many are getting paid for their artwork? Probably none. What does this mean? Does it mean the competition is tight? Does it mean very few ever pursue professional art? Does it mean those who are being hired blow everyone else away? You may feel that your work is already as good as that of those being paid for theirs. How should you proceed? Remain humble. It is often more than just talent that causes an artist to become “chosen” or “successful.”

Many people who become successful in a specific area have family members who “preceeded them” in some way, possibly blazing the trail for them–establishing connections. So, the younger artist did not reach his/her level of success entirely on his/her own. He/she had groundwork in place. Another example of shared success might be a band of musicians who support each other. In that case, success is a group effort. You however, do not have the “connections” just described and must somehow make up for that lack of “advanced placement.” You must study harder/smarter, work harder/smarter, and seek new opportunities as often as possible, etc

Lets say you decide your theme is going to be stuffed animals and other toys from childhood and your style or brush stroke is soft and fluffy. You recall the stuffed animals from your childhood and observe some from the present. You imagine or sketch several scenes, decide upon one and begin creating your first piece. When you have completed the first piece, you decide on a second scene, begin creating your second piece, complete the second piece and so on. Hopefully, in these scenes you are also developing that style all your own.

If after completing several pieces, family members and friends recognize the uniqueness of your work, you might then begin making your work known to people who know writers of children’s books or designers of nursery décor, etc. Look online and go to the library. Find books that explain in detail exactly how to ask for permission to submit your work. You also need to know how many pieces are reviewed and in what standard form such as digital. If you studied hard in high school, it will seem a natural progression of events to begin studying the business side of art which was probably not taught in your art classes. As you study, continue to create new pieces to keep your collection fresh. It might be more difficult to submit work that was completed five years ago while you were still in high school. Employers want to know that you are an active artist–working on a new piece or project at all times as much as your life allows. See previous articles in this series.

So, is your problem a matter of talent without motivation or talent without direction and organization? You may now be answering this question a bit differently. A unique theme and style may lead to name recognition and later success. If potential employers or consumers can’t quite put a finger on what makes your artwork unique, they won’t be able to mention you to someone else, much less someone who is looking for a specific type of work for a specific project. Get the picture? Keep studying the business side and keep spending time on your artwork.

Z Art Blog–Producers and Consumers

Z Art Blog–Producers and Consumers published on

This is the seventh in a series of articles about what it means to be a lifelong artist. This article is written for an audience ages 18 to 25.

As you begin to or continue to think about your priorities as related to your artwork, you will also realize that not only do you want your artwork to somehow supplement your income, ultimately you want your artwork to be so sought that you would even be able to quit your “day gig.” Not to shatter that illusion, however the percentage of non-performance artists who support(ed) themselves solely with revenues generated by the sale of their artwork and over an extended period of time is very small–probably less than 1%. So, if you haven’t yet reached that pinnacle of success, consider yourself typical. What’s wrong with being a typical artist? Nothing really, unless you want to raise a family on a typical artist’s income. That kind of thinking would require a serious reality check.

For you, the thought of having/raising your own family rarely if ever enters your mind, and you therefore do not need a reality check but rather an occasional mental carrot to keep your creative juices flowing. At this point in your journey, it may be of some consolation to think of yourself as a “producer.” Because you are an artist, you may never become as much a “consumer” as the average (American) person who is forever busy trying to keep up with or outdo the Jones family—and as a result in these times also goes into extreme debt.

Simply attempting to pay your way through college can also cause this problem, regardless of whether or not you “consume” much of anything else but food. As an artist, you know you can’t afford to go any further in the direction of debt than absolutely necessary, because you have learned you need to continue purchasing your supplies and equipment and spend a few additional dollars on promoting your artwork. In avoiding and ignoring the whole keeping up with the Jones family scenario, what are you missing anyway? Nothing but stress.

The only down side to resisting the temptation of economic competition (if you actually think of such as a temptation) is that the “status quo” may perceive you as being a bit odd at times. Not that this should bother you. Your family members and true friends are going to love you no matter what. Nevertheless, it may be helpful to anticipate certain situations that arise in conversation with not only your family members and friends but also with people who don’t know you very well. Don’t be surprised when it seems even your family members don’t know you very well, especially if you are the only practicing artist in the bunch. There are likely many creative people in your family (talent is hereditary), but most of them probably chose paths other than becoming a lifelong artist.

So, what do most people (non artists) do in their free time? A large majority of Americans go see or watch movies on a regular basis. Watching TV and movies is so common because it is so easy. It is easier than reading. Listening to music is also widespread but music is another matter. While listening to music, it is possible to add an activity such as cooking, cleaning or painting a wall or a picture. The only creative activity you might be able to accomplish while watching a movie is working on your guitar licks, (without an amp or headphones of course).

Imagine attempting to work on your brush strokes while watching a movie. It would take you twice the amount of time to complete the project and would probably look absolutely ridiculous. There you are, looking up from the canvas to glance at the TV, shifting your focus from the rhythm of your work, then returning your focus back to the canvas where you then have to reposition your brush, because while you are glancing at the TV, your glance becomes a gaze, then a stare . . . Your brush begins dropping from in front of the canvas to closer to your hip, and the paint soon dries on the brush. This may be a bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea.

A movie is considered “popular,” because most of the general public goes to see it at the theater or has seen it on cable, etc. When most everyone sees the same movie, it becomes food for conversation, even years after the movie was made. As an artist however, you have likely spent much more time working on your artwork than watching TV, playing video games, going to movies and whatever your cohort deems “the thing to do”–You know, consumer style activities.

Frequently in everyday conversation, someone makes reference to a specific movie or a specific actor in a specific movie or a specific line in a specific movie and you have no idea what they are talking about because frankly, it doesn’t interest you. But of course, you don’t want to let on that it doesn’t interest you (or maybe you do).

The conversation goes something like, “Remember that scene from . . .” or “I just love that line from . . .” or “That reminds me of what Johnny Stardust said in ‘Big Screen Magic’ . . .” When the conversationalist pauses in his or her dialogue, noticing the blank expression on your face (wondering if you are even paying attention), he or she says something like, “You’ve never seen that movie? (What is wrong with you?)!!!” How can you answer this question politely? Just feign a patient and pleasant expression and shake your head ever so slightly. As you stare at each other, depending upon how well you know each other, the other person might experience an ah-ha moment and say, “Oh, that’s right . . . While everyone else was rushing out to see that movie, you were attempting to perfect the bar chord.”

Not that the conversation has to end there. It is just as entertaining (and usually less time consuming) to listen to someone’s retelling of a plot as it is to take the time to go rent and watch the movie yourself. Then at some point, the conversation might take a refreshing detour from the norm and involve a discussion about what artists do in their free time (not that anyone would get it), and at least one person in the crowd will chime in with, “I always wanted to learn how to play guitar (but watched movies instead).”

So, though you may feel a bit uncomfortable in some conversations (if not bored to tears), you will be comforted in remembering the difference between producers and consumers and in continuing to spend your free time the way you want to, not the way the general public thinks you should.

Z Art Blog–Sitting on the Fence Post

Z Art Blog–Sitting on the Fence Post published on

This is the third in a series of articles about life as an artist written for an adolescent audience. Most of these articles will apply to the topics of visual and audio art.

Student, you may see this title, “Sitting on the Fence Post” as being a bit ridiculous, but don’t laugh just yet. Here are a few examples of how a situation may change for or time may get away from an artist or an artist wannabe. Which one are you?

Let’s assume you consider yourself an artist at least during your high school years. You have already spent quite an impressive amount of time perfecting your skills and talent. You are so organized that you even keep a time log. You can tell anyone exactly how much time you have spent on your artwork in the last year. Good for you! Now what?

Toward the end of your high school years, you decided that a social life and parties are more important than art. Good luck. Your competition (a future topic) may now have an advantage over you. You made a decision to start a family and therefore cannot afford to go to college, because you must now work to support your child. (Hopefully, you become employed sooner than later.) Not that a college degree is absolutely necessary for a career in art. However, if you are a young parent, don’t plan on having much if any free time for your artwork anytime soon. Your subconscious mind (or an older adult in your life) is (or should be) telling you that your chosen path is making it necessary for you to leave this website and start searching for articles about child development and parenting.

Ok. You in the front row. You’re not into parties. Are you attempting to pay your own way through college? In this case, you must work as many hours as possible to pay an unreasonable tuition rate that no one can justify. Continue to work hard on your school work and at your job (while somehow finding enough time for sleep), and you may be able to spend a little time on your artwork during holiday breaks, summer breaks and again when you have your degree.

Maybe you are receiving scholarship money because you play a sport or have another important role at college. You are fortunate. Even so, with your studies (mostly non-art related), your extracurricular responsibilities and a boyfriend or girlfriend, you may not have much if any time for your artwork. Are you hearing wedding bells? No? Don’t give up on your art just yet.

Other fortunate ones have some time on their hands, because their parents are able to help them with tuition. If this is you, what are your priorities? When there is no college near your parents, you may want to work part-time to pay for your dorm room, books and fees, so that you can start fresh without any debt when you graduate from college. In this situation, in order to keep art in the picture you must remain organized and determined–setting priorities and goals for yourself: schoolwork first, job second and artwork third.

Not to throw water on your fire. Even though you still enjoy the thought of becoming a lifelong artist, this is the most likely time a person begins wondering whether or not art is actually in the cards. Priorities and opportunities can change and/or disappear during the young adult years. You may be destined for marriage whether you had previously realized this or not. Someone you were not looking for or hoping for comes along and boom. This person becomes an instant priority—hopefully a worthy one. You are now realizing that even the best organizer all of a sudden may have no time to complete the most recent piece in progress.

Can you keep art on the back burner? Certainly. There may be some time now and then when you can continue to read topics related to art. Go online, check out books, etc. Keep the art options open if you can. You may have chosen a field of study that involves your art. Lucky again, as long as there is enough demand for your talents or you have done well enough in college to attract long-term employment when you graduate. If you land a job related to your specific field (of art), you have the best of both worlds if you choose to marry. Whether or not you can simultaneously play the roles of artist, spouse and parent without losing your mind is a topic for another series of articles found elsewhere.

What about you? College is not for you, college is not financially possible for you, or you just don’t want that kind of debt to worry about at such a young age. Keep your chin up. It sounds as though you are already wise beyond your years. If you have worked hard all through high school there is definitely hope for you. You have decided that you are an artist not only by choice but due to your current circumstances. How can you make the most of it? Keep it in focus just as you have been doing and begin to see not only the creative side of your art but also the business side of your art. Business? Yes, business.

So, you are the image that comes to mind when a person thinks of the word artist—working on your artwork during all of your free-time. Now you must realize that it is better to move forward with goals and plans than to move forward blindly. It certainly appears as though you are an artist. You have no trouble with productivity. Your body of work includes numerous pieces. But do you have any idea how you are going to make your artwork known? Artists dream that each piece of art will somehow miraculously attract its rightful owner. What a lovely thought. If only it were true. In most cases, pieces of art don’t have legs to walk around doing their own promoting without their artist’s or someone else’s assistance. Good luck finding assistance promoting your work. Guess what? You have just become an art promoter.

How do you proceed in promoting your art? That would be jumping a step ahead in our discussion. Your productivity has proven you know how to budget your time. Hopefully, you are just as good at budgeting your money–exactly the topic of the next article in this series. See you there . . .

Z Art Blog–Choices an Artist Makes

Z Art Blog–Choices an Artist Makes published on

This is article two in the Z Art Bog series about life as an artist, written for an adolescent audience.

So, you have an inkling that you are in fact an artist or at least hope to pursue life as an artist, but will you? Hopefully, your life will present you with a few choices.

What are some of the choices you are about to encounter if you haven’t already? For one, you may be able to decide for yourself how you spend your free time. This assumes you have free time. Actually, even though you believe yourself to be an artist, you may have competing responsibilities or interests. For example, you may be the oldest of several children and are expected to care for your younger siblings when a parent is at work. In this case, your free time may be non-existent depending upon the work hours of your parent. Without free time, when will you be creating artwork?

Even with responsibilities, you absolutely must make time for both your school work and at least eight hours of sleep (seven minimum) each night. Enough sleep is physically necessary for persons of any age. Sacrificing your school work (or sleep) for your artwork may cause you to later regret not having achieved a higher grade point average.

Are you struggling with a particular subject? Learn to be a good self-advocate by asking for teacher assistance when you need that second explanation. Are you too embarrassed to ask during class time? Hopefully, you can arrive a little early or stay a little late to find your teacher before or after school and arrange for some one-on-one or small group time with the lessons. Most teachers are truly there to help you succeed in school and in life. If the teacher is unavailable, find a study buddy or go online. There are some great websites for homework help. Look for them, take notes and make certain to study for all of your quizzes and tests.

Do the best you can in all of your subjects. The higher your grade point average the better you look to prospective employers, prospective trade schools or colleges and the more you will respect yourself for putting forth the most effort you can. You are going to need that strong work ethic to become successful at anything, art included. Employers who are looking for talent or solid help can spot those who live their lives by putting forth the least amount of effort possible. Realize that you may be competing with many others for the same job. Learn to put forth effort, thereby making yourself worthy of the best opportunities. Then when given an opportunity, make people aware you appreciate the opportunity. There is nothing more annoying than someone who puts forth the least amount of effort while expecting the best results in life.

If you worked hard during junior high and high school but for whatever reason you do not attend college, you may still need or want to use some of that good high school knowledge as an adult. Also, knowing a little about many subjects will make you a well rounded person. Have we strayed from the topic of the choices you may make to become a lifelong artist? Not at all. The point here is that no matter what path you choose, effort is more likely to be rewarded than is lack of effort.

What if the amount of time and effort you are putting into your studies is keeping you from your artwork? Even as a lifelong artist, there may be periods of several months or even several years during which your artwork must be put on hold. If you are in fact a lifelong artist, you will pick it up when you can. Maybe not until after college or after your children are raised and living successfully on their own, but it is never too late to resume your artwork. Are we looking too far ahead? Not really, but the main focus of this article is those choices you may be making during your teenage years and into your early twenties.

Another situation you may encounter is having more than one area of talent and wanting to experience both or all of them. There is nothing wrong with this if you can actually make time for all of them (and enough sleep). You may be an athlete and an artist. Your athletic skill may be at a high enough level to attract scholarship money. If not, depending upon the sport(s) you play, you may be gaining valuable experience in working as a member of a team. Knowing how to work as a member of a team is always useful in life. The job(s) you have may require you to work as a member of a team. Who doesn’t appreciate someone who is helpful and humble? No one wants to work with a slacker.

What about peer pressure? What about it? If you are an artist you are likely less affected by peer pressure than the average person—then again maybe not. Is your priority to do what everyone else does because everyone else does? Are you afraid to be a positive leader? If so, do what everyone else does and you may or may not be happy you did. On the other hand, you might prefer to focus on building yourself up with knowledge and skill for your own future benefit and the benefit of your offspring if you plan to do the best you can to support their well being.

The choices you make as a young person, will likely affect you for the rest of your life. Depending upon your situation, you may have one or two choices about how you spend your time. On the other hand, you may feel as though you have few or no choices at all. The aspiring artist who has familial (childcare) obligations during junior high and/or high school or who spends more time studying than does the average student may just have to wait for that “free time” to free up.

Look for the next article in this series, “Sitting on the Fencepost” about when and how your priorities may change.

Z Art Blog–Am I an Artist?

Z Art Blog–Am I an Artist? published on

This article is written for an adolescent audience but may also be enjoyed by persons of other ages.

Student (and you are a lifelong student), you may be asking yourself questions such as, “Am I an artist?” “What is an artist?” and/or “What is life as an artist?”

As it is with life, one individual may have more choices than does another. These choices may or may not be related to the amount of money (or lack thereof) available to support a certain lifestyle. Depending upon your creative or artistic medium of choice, money may play a lead or lesser role.

So, money may be your first consideration or it may be lower on your list of considerations.

For example, if you draw, sketch or design graphically, you may be spending less money on supplies or equipment than would be someone who paints or someone who is working at becoming a recording musician or a recording artist. Sketch pads and pencils may be less expensive than are painting supplies or recording equipment, though in recent years the basic graphics and recording tools have been made available for free online. Either way, you may eventually need your own computer which you may not yet have.

If you are reading this article from a computer at your school or a computer at your local library, good for you! You have already discovered an economical avenue for exploring your love of art and/or music and educating yourself on how to enjoy life as an artist.

As you work at your art and therefore become more artistically experienced or advanced, money may become more of a concern. You may begin to discover that the tools available for free online are not sufficient for your more advanced knowledge and skills. You have outgrown the tools. Congratulations on your time and effort!

Hopefully, you are taking art and music classes and therefore have art and music teachers as resources—people who can provide new tools or point you to someone he or she knows who might be able to help you with your current needs for new tools. If you are already skilled at or become practiced at online and library research you will likely find your own artistic way. Finding your own way may be even more artistically gratifying than if it seems family members, teachers and friends are trying to tell you which direction to go.

Not that you should ignore the voice of experience and the voices of people who know you best. And not that you can ignore the fact that your talents came from somewhere in your family. Remain humble. Recognize your parents and your teachers as people who have lived more life than have you and therefore deserve a certain given amount of respect. That said, after you have considered what those around you are saying, only you as the artist will know what is right for you, because being an artist means discovering your own inner self.

Let’s assume you now believe that you are in fact an artist. How do you know this? You may have achieved A’s in your art or music classes. Art or music teachers may have told you that you have a special talent. Someone may have told you that you have a good eye or a good ear. Maybe no one has said anything in particular about your work. You may simply have a sense that there is something unique about the way you perceive the world or the way in which you express yourself artistically or creatively.

One of the most important realizations of an artist is that you are not the only one. Obviously, there are other students in your classes who have also achieved A’s. Will these students also choose art as a lifelong endeavor or will they choose different paths? Be conscious of them. Again, remain humble. Remember that you are not the only one and that you will always have room for improvement or new methods in your art. Keep working at your art and keep educating yourself.

Keep visiting ZArtTones.com and follow ZArtBlog. Look for the next article in this series about the choices an artist makes to keep his or her art in focus.