You're a BETTER ARTIST Than You Think. (here's why)

What's up, my nephews? Today in this video, I want to talk about six reasons you're actually a better artist than you think. And I'm not here to just blow smoke up your little booty hole and feed you BS because quite frankly, I see too many artists drive themselves insane and sometimes leave the hobby because they just feel like they're behind. They're inadequate. They're not good enough. Now, you listen to me, you little my hand on your shoulder, that is not you, son. Now, I've done quite a bit of thinking, which is something that I don't normally do, but I've come up with six main reasons that I think most artists feel this way. So, please gather around my nieces and nephews because we're about to dispel these misconceptions. The first reason that you might be feeling behind is you see your own worst work while you see everyone else's best. Whether it be in real life or on social media, we as artists are generally not eager to show other people the work that we're not proud of. When was the last time you made a piece that you hated and you were like, "Oh, this is so bad. is horrible. I better show this to everyone. Never. Because we don't do that. And if you're the type of person who does that for some reason, like, bro, you seek help. It's important to remember that almost every single piece of art that you see out there has been approved for you to see by the person who made it. They saw that thing and they were like, "This is good enough for little Jimmy here to lay his eyes on." So, with that in mind, okay, just think about the entirety of all of the work that you've ever made. What percentage of that are you truly proud of and would you truly want to show to the world? probably less than 20%. So, with every artist out there, you're only seeing the tip of the iceberg. There's a whole body of work under the water that you will never get to see. I can promise you guys, everyone has bad days. Everyone has unfinished pieces. Everyone has stuff that they're not proud of. You're always seeing yourself in your entirety. You see all of your flaws, all of your stumbles, all of your learning blocks, but you only see everyone else's top 20%. Right? So, there's a huge skewed perspective here that can lead to a lot of imposttor syndrome. So, if you find yourself comparing all the time, stop it, okay? Don't compare your worst to other people's best. That's a losing battle. The second reason that you are a better artist than you think and you're not actually behind is we are completely blind to slow and steady progress. And that statement could not be more true for art. Look, as much as all the Tik Toks like to tell you that you can immediately become a better artist if you just learn this one hack, that's complete BS. Art progress is measured in years. This is also a scientifically proven reason why flies are not good artists, because they only live for less than a year. and you can't get good at art in less than a year. But lucky you, you're not a fly. Now, even with myself, sometimes I just feel like I'm stagnant. I'm not moving. I'm not really learning anything. But a really good analogy that I like to use when I feel that way is I try to imagine the entire art journey as a painting on a canvas. Okay? And when you're working in the moment, when you're just going about your day-to-day studies, you are zoomed in like a thousand%. You're so locked in that you don't see anything else beyond the current frame. But the thing is, if you're able to metaphorically zoom out, take a step back, and genuinely evaluate how far you've come and just how much you've learned, nine times out of 10, I promise you, you'll be very surprised with your own growth as an artist. Here's a perfect example of this. Okay, so I've been making these videos where I give you guys paintovers and give you critiques on your guys' work. And one of the comments that I get the most on those videos is people seeing the before and after comparisons and realizing that they've forgotten what the original looked like and they didn't even realize how much of a difference the small changes made. That's how our brain works. We just adapt to the current thing that's in front of us. We adapt to the current skill level that we're at and we're somehow tricked into thinking like we've been here forever, you know, and that happens in those videos within like the span of 3 minutes. So imagine doing this over 3 years. You go blind to your own progress. So, it's important to every once in a while zoom out of that canvas, take a step back, and genuinely evaluate how far you've come. Now, the third reason that you are an absolutely trash artist is, hold up. That's not the premise of this video. The third reason that you might feel more behind than you actually are is because you're relying on others to validate the worth of your art. All right, come here. Look, I'm going to choke you while I say this so I get my point across, but don't you dare fall into the trap of thinking likes and views equals value. Now this why are you making that face? What did you like that? You enjoyed that? Oh, this hyperfixation on numbers can completely derail your entire learning journey and refocus all of your energy into something that should not be a priority. Look, unless there are actually genuinely things at stake here and you're a creator who has tens of thousands of likes and comments and you really truly depend on this to make a living, then yeah, of course, then you kind of have to focus on the numbers a little bit. But outside of these very rare cases, you should always focus on your own growth and your own artistic journey. Let's get into the mindset of posting these pieces without expectations for engagement. And instead, we could almost use these platforms like a public portfolio, a collection of a body of work that you're proud of. Don't you dare fall into this trap of expecting insane numbers for every piece you post. Okay, this is just a game that the corporations, they want you to play. They want you to get hooked. They want you to make free products for them. Okay, they want you to start overthinking things like, "Oh, this last post got 10 more likes than my previous one, so I must be doing something right." And then you start changing your entire outlook on art for those 10 extra likes. That's not even consequential. And even if your goal is to grow on social media, the most authentic and honest answer that I can give you on how to do that is to level up your work. The quality of your work is what matters the most. It's like one and two, okay? You attain immaculate quality, people will notice. And here's the beautiful thing. you have agency. You have the power to change things. The quality of your work is entirely in your hands. Now, the fourth reason why you might be feeling a little bit behind is you never really see the full picture. This one might be a little controversial for you if you're someone who has no integrity, but there's a lot of people out there who like to take shortcuts and cheat. Now, especially relevant in today's landscape, uh this comes in the form of AI where typing in a sentence can replace the entire creative process and someone can pass that off as something they made themselves. I mean before AI this was like tracing you know a lot of people got caught doing that and nowadays you know they're tracing over the AI so it's a cluster especially now on social media you come across new artists all the time if it's someone who you don't really know and doesn't have a track record then don't take everything at face value and start comparing yourself immediately and wind up feeling bad about yourself just because of this random piece that was recommended to you. I've literally seen comments from people telling me that they were scrolling Pinterest, seeing a lot of art, and feeling discouraged because they felt not good enough. Like, bro, let me let me hold your shoulder again when I say this, okay? 40% of what you just saw was probably AI. So, just keep that in mind, okay? You come across random pieces on the internet, you never know the full picture. The fifth reason that you're a better artist than you think is age does not equal experience. I see this all the time. Okay? very common experience for us artists is to see someone who's younger than us who's making work at an arguably higher level than us. And what does that lead to? Well, self-doubt and thinking maybe ah I'm just not made for this. You know, I don't have the talent. I mean, holy, this three-year-old is doing better art than me. There's no hope for me. But the thing is, age does not equal experience. Okay, that three-year-old might have been drawing for 20 years. That's a bad example, but age is not relevant for the skill level that you should be at. It's all about the amount of time that you have put in. Look, let's use me as an example instead of the 3-year-old. Okay, I'm 27 and I've been drawing for 20 plus years. I got put into classes before elementary school. So, in no universe would I expect a 40-year-old who's just picked up drawing to be immediately at my level or higher without the same amount of time and experience. And also, it's hard to measure. You know, maybe somebody practiced for 8 hours a day for like a year straight, whereas someone else practiced for only 1 hour a day for 3 years straight. Who's better? I don't know. But it's all about time and experience, not age, not when you started. And I think if you can open your mind to this concept, this becomes one of the most appealing aspects of becoming an artist. Everyone is truly unique in that they're on their own timelines. They're on their own journey. They're learning beats are completely different from each other. And that's what makes it so fun. Okay. So, what if that 12-year-old is better than you right now? Maybe that 12-year-old is going to give up drawing in the next 2 years while you continue. And then next thing you know, you beat the 12-year-old. And then you can circle back and be like, "Take that, you stupid kid." Now, last but not least, number six. I want to change your perspective on this one thing. Okay? If you ever feel like you're behind, like you're inadequate, like you're kind of an impostor. Believe it or not, in my small mind, I genuinely think that this is a great thing for you if you can harness it. To me, if you feel that way, it means that you understand your art can improve. You understand there's a lot more to learn, and you're actively looking at the works of other people, and you're understanding that they might be more skilled than you. So when you see this, when you get this feeling, okay, instead of letting it overwhelm you and fill you with negativity, let's turn this into something more productive. In my eyes, you have humility and a desire to grow. And that is the best quality that any teacher could ever ask for. You are in an infinitely better position than someone who might be super skilled, but has a big ego about it. All right, so that's what I want to leave you with because you're literally primed for improvement as long as you can be patient and allow yourself to push through all of these doubts. Don't let the negative voice inside your head win out every time, okay? Turn that thing into something positive. You are a better artist than you think. You're not as behind as you think. And if any of these reasons resonated with you, leave a comment down below, okay? Tell other people about how you felt in the past, your experiences, and we can form down there the biggest support group ever in the history of art YouTube. Cuz listen, I promise you there's thousands of other people out there who feel the same way. Hell, I made this video because I feel the same way. If you guys want to see more art related content, please subscribe to my channel. We are almost at 2 million and I'm very, very excited about that. So, thank you guys for all of your support over the years and thank you for all the love that you've given me. Hey, check out my Patreon for monthly tutorials where I teach you guys about more specific in-depth topics. And with that being said, I will see you guys on the next video. Stop feeling down about yourself. Let this be a sign, a sign from Uncle Sam that you're doing okay, son. You're doing all right.

Hope this helps u my nephew ✨ Monthly Tutorials on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/samdoesarts 🫶 Limited Merch and Print Releases: https://samdoesarts.com/ ⭐️ check out my work here: https://www.instagram.com/samdoesarts/ 💫 Gumroad shop: https://gumroad.com/samdoesarts My art book: https://store.3dtotal.com/products/the-art-of-sam-yang