I hate my artwork, but I think that’s ok
I am a Pretty Good Artist. I have worked professionally since 2006. I have worked on properties like G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Transformers, and a host of others. You can see my work everywhere, from toy packages to comic books to DVD covers. I currently work for MinoMonsters, where I have designed everything from the monsters themselves to the environments they live in. I have done a lot of things, now that I look back on it.
And my artwork makes me CRAZY. Absolutely bonkers.
Oh, there are standout pieces that I like. They’re probably different from the ones you prefer (although we both align on ManSkitty). But it never feels like enough, at least to me. To me, my work is never good enough—not drafted well enough, not rendered enough, not colored right, not composed right, too stiff or too floppy or this or that or anything and everything. I can point out a hundred thousand flaws, and a hundred thousand artists who do what I do but who do it better.
I say this not to fish for compliments, but to give a shout out to my fellow frustrated artists—which I am coming to learn, slowly, is pretty much all of us at one time or another. We all drive ourselves nuts. Our need to keep improving is compulsive. It’s equal parts horrendous and wonderful. We—I—keep pushing and trying to reach something like satisfaction, even if we don’t know what, artistically, that is.
It was bad before the proliferation of the internet, but oh god! My Tumblr dash is like an inferiority complex, delivered right to my eyes. It pushes me to get better—and it pushes me to remember that sometimes, it’s best to unplug for a bit.
So here’s to every person who’s ever drawn something they hate, or compared themselves to others, or looked at their work and muttered ‘why do I even BOTHER.’ SHINE ON, YOU CRAZY DIAMONDS. I’ll be shining right with you. <3
