ledollsoup asked: How do you keep your drive to draw alive?

This is a hard question to answer, but I honestly think drive is the most important element when it comes to a career in art. I know people with amazing amazing talent, who aren’t going to make anything of their career simply because they don’t feel like facing the struggle that’s going to come their way. And that’s what kills me. Drive, or motivation, or passion is the only thing they lack, and in the end, that’s the only thing that matters. 

I dont necessarily think it has to do with the art though. I definitely see it as something deeper, that usually seeps its way into everything you do. For me, and this may be a pessimistic way of looking at things, I always have to think to myself “there is always going to be someone better than me and when I die, who’s going to give a shit about what I’ve done at all?” 

This ultimately leads to “well yea, if you aren’t the best at something, why’s it worth trying?” That’s the point when you’ve just gotta say, “I don’t give a fuck” and just draw. I feel like you’ve just gotta take that pressure and that negative feedback that is inevitable and use it to your advantage. You’ve gotta realize you aren’t doing this for other people to see, you’re doing it for yourself. I draw to make money and please clients, yea, but I started drawing and will always draw for myself just because I like it and it lets me get my feelings out there and all that sappy shit. The number one reason people don’t get anywhere with their art is because they give up on it, and they give up on it because of what other people think. You just need to take a step back sometimes and do what you wanna do for yourself. The ‘drive’ is already there, no question. You just have to spend your energy on not letting it get covered up by self-doubt.

Here’s a little story that happened to me 6 months ago:

 I had a portfolio review with a certain art rep (i wont mention the name, but I can say that their agency is one of the, if not most, well known agencies out there, who rep talents that are some of the most incredible artists). Anyways, I basically get my portfolio chewed up and spat out within 10 minutes. He tells me my work looks unprofessional, that I’ll never get any jobs, and that I’m a one-trick pony who needs to pretty much trash my portfolio. And then he told me that my 10 minutes were up and I needed to get out of his face. I said ‘thank you’ and I left.

2 weeks later, I got a call for my full-page job in Playboy.

Keep drawing because you want to do it. This is your expression and you shouldn’t let anyone else trick you into thinking differently.