i'm scared to make real art | exploring creativity ep. 4

Sooo excited for this video! I feel like I have the same issue so hearing you talk about it is very comforting. I feel like I want to make a body of work reflecting my childhood, but my memories are all super fuzzy like I literally have the worst memory and formulating ideas is so hard like what am I trying to say, what do I want to make? It’s so challenging 😭

Thank you! I feel the same with "My Hang Ups" also. I've been in this creative limbo where my art is kind of all over the place, I don't have any stories to tell or anything of value to say. I just want to create some cool bodies of work but I have no direction. Showing how you write out your thoughts on where to move forward is really helpful. Keep doing what you're doing! We got this!

Hi as a grade 11 student doing art I soooo relate to ALL your hang ups and ever since pursuing art more seriously in high school. I promise that the hang ups slowly start to lessen the more you learn, and about failure, i really understand what u mean about that and just want you to know that you will realise that you are actually wayyyyyy more capable than you would've ever imagined. Failures are not the end of the world, they are just lessons to learn from and opportunities to grow, and the steps to success. Thank you for being so vulnerable with us it was truly inspiring ❤

I'm so excited for you that you've managed to use this method to create actionable steps and figure out your next direction! I admire how confident you are in addressing your hangups, fears, and weaknesses.

This video is really inspiring 💚

Kudos to you for being so open and honest. It’s really difficult and confronting to put your hang-ups and fears into words, but it’s also relatable, inspiring and I think it is healthy. I hope you push through them and create work you find fulfilling. Your work is amazing and you have everything it takes to succeed. You got this! Thanks for sharing your journey. ❤

This is exactly how I started my series of work. Do it!!! Have fun! It’s a wild ride.

Hear me out : horror mermaid

Sometimes it takes talking it though and facing our fears that makes us realise that our fears aren't really that big of a deal. Al, you are so inspiring,. I love this series. I feel so excited - can't believe I watched half an hour of someone talking in front of a wall! Hah!!!

What do you think of cryptids and local legends?

Have fun Al you can do this!!! 🥰

In art school right now, I’m starting my capstone work and i’ve been feeling all the same feelings. you do so well at articulating the same struggles i, and a lot of other artist feel and i admire you heavily for that.

This was so fun and interesting to watch!! It's cool to see your thought process thank you for your honesty! I've been reading the manga blue period recently and one of the main characters main struggles in art school is that he doesn't have a voice/ overall artistic viewpoint and this video reminded me a lot of that- it's a really interesting exploration of the art industry.

The main reason I'm a comic artist rather than a fine artist is I find it so much easier to express ideas through a narrative rather than pieces haha.

AAAHHHH imma watch this when I'm not dead tired super thrilled

Well done for breakinf everything down and looking at yourself in such an honest way! It felt kike i was listening to my own voice but in a kore constructed way😅 im excited yo see where you take this!

dont overthink it so much, if you want it just do it youll be okay either way depending on your willingness to accept either outcome determination and commitment to goal are all you really need wanting and doing are two totally different things
go for it dude

I appreciate this series so much. I struggle with the same things and it is so nice to see someone I can relate to

Love seeing your journey, just graduated with my art degree so often figuring out what I want to do with art/wanting to make art solely to make others happy over a specific voice. For your gallery research, it depends on the location but some museums/galleries have an email or form where you can send exhibit proposals (I work in the museum/art world, so just wanted to share) ❤

I can totally see you getting underwater photography tools and doing a mermaid/feminine voice photoshoot underwater for your painting references. It sounds like you attach a lot of background noise to your artistic process/thinking... like "what if people don't like it," etc. I know it's easier said than done - I'm literally doing it right now in my own work - but you absolutely MUST put up a boundary there. Your artwork is YOUR artwork. And while it's awesome to have people tell you that they love it, what people really want is to get to know you through your work. People want to see you in what you do, and feel connected to you through consuming what you make. It's human to want approval, but approval can (does) totally silence the artist's voice. I know this sounds a bit preachy, but I hope you know what I mean. Personally, I'm really inspired by the ideas and themes you've talked about in this video. I'd just love to see you flourish and do what you want WITHOUT having the success/failure depend on what other people think/say/see about the end result. Make what you like, follow what you're drawn to. The only way to find authentic connection is to BE authentic yourself (and in your art). XOXO Hope this sounds LOVING and not like I'm talking down to you. The intent is definitely to send a hug your way, not a scolding.

Hello lovely! This is a very similar process to what I did before working on my most recent project— a 54-piece art show I focused on for the last nine months 😵‍💫🥰 it was my first-ever show, I should have been less ambitious as to the size space I wanted to fill, but it is honestly SO fulfilling and rewarding to see my own work displayed in a legitimizing setting.

It was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever completed, and I 100% went through highs and lows of motivation throughout. I will say, I fundraised for the project through Kickstarter and that baked-in accountability to the backers (plus, securing the gallery space and therefore a HARD deadline back in January) was super helpful in keeping me to the schedule and piece list I had planned in advance.

Wishing you the best of luck, and happy to chat anytime as another young, Floridian, queer, woman artist who is just-barely on the other side of this process (my show is still up until the 28th, haha!)

❤❤❤

this hit me in the feelings soooooo so hard, man. especially talking about the fear of rejection and falling short of your potential in terms of other people's expectations. ooft. dude.

This video came at just the right time! I just did a similar breakdown/process to start building my portfolio for grad school! I’m glad you took the time to acknowledge your hang-ups bc that can be brutal (it def was for me😅) and thought of how to push past them. I’m so excited for to watch where you go with this!

I feel like we are kindred spirits! I love doing brain exercises like this. Luckily, as I've gotten older, so many of my fears have faded when it comes to insecurity. I've started giving less F***s about other people's opinions. I think this is the "wisdom" people talk about haha. And I've realized there is ALWAYS an audience for EVERY kind of art. I find that very comforting.

I'm starting ap art this year and its something I'm so incredibly nervous about in ways that your video perfectly expressed, I'm worried that I don't have a voice or that ill disappoint everyone by trying, but I think that its much more manageable that someone I really enjoy watching is going through something similar, to me it symbolizes "lets work on this together" and that means a lot :)) thank you for sharing your thought process!!!

I’m here to say that content about girlhood and your experience as a woman overlaps with feminism inevitably!! I love this idea of an exploratory board. I sat and watched this and got out my notebook and made one with you!!! Love your videos they keep me company while I make art for my clients.

When you said “ is going on these excursions really as important / helpful as just creating art “ I was like YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH I feel attacked

you got this.

You got this Fran, we believe in you

You should make the affiliate links available in all countries… if I want to use it I can’t because it’s not eligible for my country

Lots of good ideas! A tip for the “end” goal of the work for showing at a gallery or space is looking for call for proposals or call for entries! Lots of accounts on instagram promote calls regionally and internationally.

I’m gonna have to put a list like this together for myself

I will say you definitely have more to add to the conversation about Queerness than you think you do being an artist from Florida in this time. Not to mention the connection between queerness and cowboys is a thing that exist. cowboy seen as traditional western masculinity. There’s a lot to go on there.

This video was sooooooo insightful and inspiring!! Thank you for sharing your thought process, I know a lot of us artists have similar if not the same mental struggles 🙏

I feel these so much haha something that helps me is focusing on themes rather than message. So when they say what is your message? Talk about your themes and how they relate to you and your life and process. I know this comment won’t be read but that helps me a lot ❤

love this series !

I read a thing once that said "so be afraid.. and do it anyway". Since then i think that line a LOT in life. i have a fridge magnet on my fridge I made that just says 'Do It Anyway!'

The overthinking bug is so huge and prevalent lol I like your taped to the wall idea board a lot & knowing it was helpful for you encourages me to try it. My perspectives on art and how my art interacts with the world need a clean up & videos like this help. Thanks ❤

Listening to your hang ups… same… it’s like listening to my inner self… the difference between you and me is that you are taking actionable steps and I am currently less so… dont be like me, be more like you and hopefully I also will become more like you

I love this for you and I really hope you can make it because it is amazing! I already did my first series of work and it was absolutely insane, I loved every part of it! ❤

I love this so much! I just want to jump on the bandwagon of others saying SAME, GIRL. Me freaking too. This was like listening to my own thoughts. Somehow cathartic and refreshing and self affirming! Idk why but I feel like you'll look back and remember this process as some sort of turning point in your life. You just levelled up!

Omg I felt this on such a deep level. I always felt like a “fake” artists because I was never really a creative person