Make Art into a Career | Alexandra Novik-Khamis

Alexandra Novik-Khamis's ART Bahrain

If You Want to Make Art into a Career- You Can’t Wait to be Inspired to Create.

Art is work. I’ve heard so many times over the years that “If you do what you are passionate about, you’ll never work a day in your life,” well that’s a true, but it may give false expectations.
Having passion doesn’t mean what you do won’t feel like work. Passion means you are able to work harder, longer, for less pay and still wake up with energy and desire to do it all over again.
So if you have a passion for art–are you the type of artist that wants to make it a career?

The difference between a professional artist and a hobby artist has little to do with skill and everything to do with perspective. As a hobby artist, you are likely to create for fun. You enjoy the activity, play around, and maybe even sell something here and there, but you don’t need to sell your work to pay your bills. As opposed to professional artists who often torture themselves to create constantly and stick to a schedule no matter what they are feeling because a girl’s got to eat!
I used to be a hobby artist. I would create only when inspiration struck or when I had a deadline looming over my head.

But I’ve learned you must make it a habit to create, no matter what state of mind you are in.  You cannot stop when it’s no longer fun or therapeutic.
You have to show up, do the work, and realize fear of failure or lack of inspiration is no excuse for inaction.

Create a Schedule

If you want to make a career out of art, you need to make a schedule. Create a schedule that is realistic for you.
Do you work best in small bursts? Do you prefer working for long periods of time?
Stick to it, and create as often as you can.

Give yourself goals to accomplish

Example goals: Sketch every day for 10 minutes. Paint every Sunday for 4 hours. Draw hands every Tuesday. Do a group gallery show 6 months from now. Grow your Instagram following to 1000 by posting new work twice a day, etc..
Make sure they are SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely).

Learn how to shut off your internal critic

“It’s likely that you will fail.” “Do you really think you can do this?” “There are a lot of artists that are better than you, so what’s the point in trying?”
When you aren’t inspired, your critic is probably going to be loudly telling you that everything you touch well is not very good and it’d be better to just stare at your phone for a while and wait for inspiration. Ignore the critic. The less you pay attention to that voice, the quieter it will become. Power through the frustration and keep creating.
It’s also helpful to ask yourself what the harm of dreaming big is. I call it stubborn optimism. Believing I can’t do something just prevents me from trying. Believing I can do something, even if I ultimately can’t or don’t means I spent a lot of time having fun, enjoying the process, and maybe in the end I feel sad for a bit, but then I adjust my goals and go back to enjoying life. Be a stubborn optimist with me! Believe in yourself.

Stockpile Inspiration Catalysts

Write everything down. Sketch your ideas. When you ARE inspired, take advantage of those moments and capture every little idea you have.
When I am inspired, I often start multiple pieces of art so that when I come into the studio another day, I have a starting point. It’s easier to build off of previous ideas than to come up with entirely new ones when inspiration is lacking.
I also keep a journal or sketchbook near me at all times to be ready to write and doodle when I have ideas.

Make time to practice
You don’t need the inspiration to practice. Practice is like lifting weights. Go through the motions. It hurts at times. You’ll feel your weaknesses, but the more you do it, the easier it will be to start creating.
Improving your skills and constantly growing as an artist will help you reach different levels of success.
The best part is that ideas can develop from practice. Just showing up and doing the work opens the door to new areas to explore.

Find an art buddy for accountability

Is it hard for you to stay motivated when you are the only one paying attention to your habits? You may benefit from having someone there that checks in on your progress and keeps you motivated to stick to your schedule. A fellow artist or creative person would be best.

Making art a habit is the first step to making a career out of it. I have made art a habit, but I am still working on new goals to push myself even further. Passion keeps us from plateauing and seeing how much you’ve grown keeps you motivated to push harder.