Doing It Your Way: Finding Your Voice as an Artist

People will tell you no throughout your whole life no matter what you do.

And boy is it tiring.

They'll tell you that's not how it's done. That you need to follow a certain path, learn the rules, stick to what works, and be realistic about what you're trying to achieve.

Sometimes they'll tell you this with the best intentions. Sometimes they'll tell you because it's what they've always known. And sometimes they'll tell you because what you're doing doesn't fit neatly into what they understand.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, particularly when it comes to art.

There's a way you're supposed to paint. A way you're supposed to build a career. A way you're supposed to grow a business. There are rules about what sells, what people want, what a successful artist looks like, and how long it should take to get there.

And if you listen to everyone, you'll eventually find yourself doing things exactly the way everyone else thinks you should.

No thank you.

I'm not saying there's nothing to learn from other people. Quite the opposite. I'm always curious, always learning, and always looking at how I can improve. But there's a difference between learning from someone and handing them the authority to decide what you're capable of.

You can take advice without taking direction. You can respect someone's experience without assuming their way is the only way. And you can listen to criticism without allowing it to become the voice in your head that tells you what you can and cannot do.

Just because something hasn't been done that way before doesn't mean it shouldn't be.

I have been getting a lot of push back for painting watercolor on an easel and it has been very interesting to dive deeper into why.

Some of the people we now consider the greatest artists, entrepreneurs, and innovators were once told they were doing things wrong. They challenged conventions, ignored expectations, and pursued ideas that didn't always make sense to the people around them.

Of course, doing things differently doesn't automatically make you a genius. Sometimes an idea simply doesn't work. Sometimes you get it wrong. Sometimes you have to go back to the drawing board. Actually., more often than not, that is the case.

But I'd rather find that out by trying than spend years wondering what might have happened if I'd listened to my own instincts.

I've never been particularly good at following a path just because it's the path that's been laid out for me. My life has taken me through different countries, different careers, and more than a few unexpected turns. I've learned that there's rarely just one way to get somewhere, and that the most interesting opportunities often appear when you step outside what you already know.

Art has been no different.

I don't want to spend my life trying to paint the way someone thinks watercolor should look. I don't want to limit the scale of my work because a medium is traditionally used for smaller pieces. And I don't want to make decisions about my future based on someone else's idea of what is realistic for me.

I want to see what happens when I push things further.

Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it takes me somewhere I never expected.

That's the point.

I think we sometimes confuse having a plan with needing permission. We wait for someone to tell us we're ready, that our idea makes sense, or that we're qualified to take the next step. We look for reassurance from people who may never have attempted what we're trying to do ourselves.

But not everyone will understand your vision, particularly when you're still in the process of bringing it to life.

And that's okay.

You don't need everyone to understand what you're doing before you begin. You don't need universal approval to take yourself seriously. And you certainly don't need to convince someone who has already decided that something cannot be done.

There is a time for listening, a time for learning, and a time for getting on with it.

The difficult part is knowing the difference.

I don't think success comes from ignoring the world around you. It comes from being curious enough to learn from it, confident enough to question it, and stubborn enough to keep going when your own vision matters more than someone else's approval.

Sometimes the best response is simply to carry on.