Creative

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Beehaw's section for your art and original content, other miscellaneous creative works you've found, and discussion of the creative arts and how they happen generally. Covers everything from digital to physical; photography to painting; abstract to photorealistic; and everything in between.

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Do you ever feel like art "art" is not your thing? [Question/Rant I guess] (feddit.it)

submitted 1 year ago by pieceofcrazy@feddit.it to c/creative@beehaw.org

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I do, most of the time. I've always felt creative, I always have thousands of ideas and concepts for anything, be it a drawing, a song or a text of any kind, but regardless of what it is, anytime I sit down and try to make something I hate it, I hate it so deeply it disgusts me and kills any will to continue whatever it is I'm doing.

I tried to write some lyrics some days ago, it felt okay-ish until I wnt back and read it, at which point it feelt as if I was seeing someone else in the mirror: all the things, the ideas, the feelings I thought I put in it just aren't there. It feels hollow, alien, repulsive.

I know I can't be good as a beginner, but I've been a beginner in everything since I was a kid. And I kept trying and trying and trying, and every time I felt that feeling of disgust and repulsion, outrage even. I just can't stand it anymore, and maybe "art", or rather artistic self-expression, isn't my thing? Maybe I keep trying to open a door that simply isn't the one I'm supposed to open?

Did you ever feel this way and overcame it? I don't even care about making whatever I make public, I just want to feel as if I gave shape to something I thought or felt.

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[–] badpenny 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Make the thing and let it go. At least for a while. If it's art, give it away. If it's written or sung and you've got a copy, put it aside to rest for a while. It took me a while to realize the value to myself was in the creative work that takes place in the moment. The product that was the result was just a castoff, even though that's all i had to show others. It's okay for things to be not quite right. It's okay to you as a creator to feel like you're falling short of whatever artistic standard you set for yourself. Just make the thing. Then make another thing. The power and value is in the making. And eventually, if you're stubborn enough, you won't care if you love or hate the thing after you make it.

[–] gonesnake@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

There's also a fun little cheat I'll do when I'm frustrated trying to create something. I'll try to ape someone else's style. See how close I can get to creating an original piece (for me it's writing and music) that is completely in another artist's voice. It instantly takes the pressure off because it's more like an exercise but keeps me interested enough to finish it and see how close I can get.

I always learn a few things; new techniques I might have never tried or discovered on my own, finding my own unavoidable fingerprint in the end result (no matter how good the imitation) is a clue to what I sound like and almost every time it makes me want to do my own very different new thing.