11 Things That Scare Creative Artists (and what you can do about it)

I found a great post from the Skinny Artist blog titled 11 Things That Scare Creative Artists (and what you can do about it), and I want to share an excerpt here. I encourage you to check out the full post and/or bookmark it, because it lists some deep-seated fears that we face as artists and it also serves up some possible solutions to combat those fears. Here's a sneak peak at some of the topics that the post covers:

1.) We’re afraid of failure

Failure is inevitable.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are or how successful you are, you will encounter failure.

One thing we fear more than success is failure. We fear nobody will buy our art. We fear we will not make it as an artist. We fear our gallery showing will be a bust. These fears pile up until we are paralyzed. This leads to the ultimate failure, giving up.

2.) We’re also afraid of success

This may seem counterintuitive but one of the biggest fears we all have is a fear of success. You might think to yourself, “I am not scared of success.”  You might not have those exact thoughts, but if you look deep enough, you can find signs of it everywhere.

The most common way you’ll encounter the fear of success is in the “What Ifs”. What if someone steals my ideas? What if I can’t find the time to work on my art? What if I don’t know how to price my art?

7.) We’re afraid to ask questions

When we are kids, we have no problem asking questions. Just ask any parent. They are barraged with questions from their children non-stop. As adults, however, we take for granted how much we know about the world. We forget what it feels like to have a beginner’s mindset.

How often do we try new things without giving up in frustration? How often do we ask questions in order to help us understand what is causing our frustration?

9.) We’re afraid to ask others to pay for our work

“I’m an artist. I don’t need to sell my art for money.”

Does this sound familiar? Have you heard yourself or another artist make this claim? Do you believe it?

Are we telling this to ourselves because we believe it or because it makes for a convenient excuse? How many hours did your art take to create? Would you rather continue doing what you’re doing or would you rather make a living off your art?

Do yourself a favor and read the original post to see the full list!