Five Reasons You Hate Your Art
You will hate your art. It's a never ending struggle for those with great taste and the desire to do creative work. Whether it's day one or year twenty, there’ll be times where nothing you create is good enough and the truth is, that feeling will never completely go away. The best way to handle a creative slump is to identify what isn’t working and evolve. Below are five reasons why you may hate your art and solutions to tackle each.
1. It isn’t your own.
You are imitating others and your creative soul knows it. If you’ve been copying instead of creating, you are killing your creative voice. The best way to solve this problem is to start listening to your own ideas and trust in them. The moment you do, you’ll no longer have to imitate someone else’s work because you’ll be too busy perfecting your own.
2. You are ready to evolve.
You are good at what you do. So good it no longer requires any effort. Your creative process has become formulaic and your creative self is desperate for a change. You hate your art because you are bored. Explore new territory and let go of the fear of learning something new. It may be as simple as changing your subject or as complicated as exploring new techniques.
3. You’ve lost your why?
There was a time when creating art had a purpose. You set a goal for yourself and achieved it, but once you reached that mark you lost your why? Your work is no longer about improving a skill or completing a massive project and now you don’t know why you create. Reconnect to your creative voice and set a new goal. You should be creating because you want to be a better artist, that’s a why that can last a lifetime.
5. Your environment sucks.
As artists we are inspired by many things, but when an environment oppresses our creative voice we suffer. In a bad situation anything we create is hated, because it was created in a negative space. Frustration, anger and anxiety can make the most magnificent piece seem like a pile of trash. The best way for you to solve this problem is to leave that environment as soon as possible. Create a space physically and mentally where your creativity is stimulated and return there often.
4. You think you’re not good enough.
There will always be someone better than you, but that doesn’t mean you should hate your art. To achieve anything you have to start at the beginning, and in the beginning everyone hates what they create. Why? Although our taste demands perfection, it takes a while for our ability to catch up. Be patient with your work. Instead of giving up do more, work harder and know that you will eventually get to a place where your ability meets your taste.
This is the nature of the creative mind and a gap that most artists spend their lives trying to close. We are always evolving and continually questioning our creativity. Often we will be disappointed, but eventually that feeling is replaced with accomplishment. No matter where you are in your career as an artist, the key to overcoming self-hatred is to never stop creating. If you keep evolving, creating new work and strive to appeal to your own standards you will grow to love what you do until you don’t anymore. You will hate your art but struggling with your creative self makes you a true artist.
