The journey to becoming a professional concept artist is not an overnight success, but a long arduous uphill climb for many years depending on your level of art proficiency. So staying motivated to continue to work hard and grow as an artist and sustain that energy over a long period of time can be tough, especially if you are learning on your own. It is easy to stay motivated when everyone around tell you how great you are at art. That ended once I left high school.
When I got to Art Center, this was a different league. Most of the art students there were quite advance in art. My high school art cred didn’t help much. I became the little fish in the new pond. Everyone in my classes was so much better. They were beasts with a mission. Again, when you get a head start in this game, you get to be ahead of everyone and everyone look up to you for inspiration. It is easy to stay motivated when there are positive reinforcement from your peers. But, that wasn’t me. I was a crappy artist trying to catch up.
To get good, you have to put a lot of consistent energy for long hours of studies and practices for little progress. It takes a lot of patient and dedication. But it’s all worth it once you get paid to do art. So what’s the secret to keep moving forward when things get tough. When you are frustrated; when you want to break that fkin pencil and punch that stupid piece of paper and just give up. How do you pick yourself up and continue coming to climb the hill? How do you stay motivated??!
Motivation is a tricky thing; it can come from different places. For me, there were three things that motivated me to get better.
Here is the thing, I grew up poor, very poor with immigrant parents who were new to America. My parents worked very hard and had just enough money to scrape by. They fought over money so much, I was sick of the fighting and were always on thin ice towards a divorce. That was from age 6 - 10. Eventually, things got better between them, but we weren’t making it rain. To make matter worst, the neighborhood I lived in was rampant in gang violence; it wasn’t the safest place to grow up. Beside food and rent, we had no money left for other things like toys or travel.
While other kids got to tell their adventures of going to Disneyland and travel to different countries with their families. I was stuck at home drawing and making my own toys.
So when it came to choosing career, art was my way out of poverty and to better opportunity. I wanted to travel the world since I never went anywhere growing up. I wanted to be financially stable so I don’t have to think about money. And I really couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
My second motivational factor was that I knew I would have tons of student loans patiently waiting for me after graduation. Once the loans were pulled for Art Center, there was no turning back. $12,000 USD per semester was the tuition back in 2007 and it never failed to go up everything 4 months. I had to make it work no matter what. It’s like throwing yourself into the swimming pool and pray to God that you will find a way to float and swim.
My third motivational factor, I wanted to make my parents proud and carry them out of their own poverty and to better living standards.
To be honest there are so many times I didn’t think I was going to be get there like my classmates. And I wanted to give up when things got hard. During my 6th term at Art Center, with two terms left before I graduate, I seriously didn’t think I had enough time to get to professional level to get a job.
I was convinced that I need to abort the art mission and find something else to do. Art and design was just too hard. I persuaded myself that I can settle for less, that to travel the world is a luxury I didn’t need or being poor is my destiny. I’m just not born with the talent or the smarts to be good at this.
But when I thought about the loan, the financial reality sets in. How the hell do I pay back the loans??!
Furthermore, just imagining the disappointment on my parents’ faces had I told them I have to find something else to do. They took a gamble on my education, and pulled out those big fat loans for me to get thru Art Center.
Every time I was about to throw in the towel, I just had to think about the second and third motivational factors, and instantly they snapped me out of it and stop my bitching and I just move forward. There were no plan b.
Like I said before, motivation is tricky; it can come from many sources. It can stemmed from stress and pressure or from self interest desires. But for me, the strongest motivational factor comes from the fear of disapointing my parents who have put their blind trust in my ability, simply because I am their son. I fear, therefore I do. I am motivated by fear. The fear of failing.
Everyone is different, you have to find your own motivational factors that are bullet proof, for when shit gets tough and the bullets are whizzing by. You have to define them and burn them into your memories because you will need them in the art journey.
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