For those of you who know me, you know that I am constantly listening to podcasts. I’m listening to comics podcasts, illustration podcast, motivational podcasts, and any random podcast that peaks my interest. I am always on the hunt for the next thing to listen to. Something that will hopefully help me in my art, practice and influence and shape me for the better.
This week I came across Neil Gaiman’s 2012 commencement speech at the University of the arts in Philadelphia. I’ve heard about this speech before, and multiple artists had recommended it. And after finally listening to it, I understand why.
So here are my 5 takeaways for artists from Gaiman’s speech Hopefully it will inspire you as much as it inspired me. You can click here to watch the video.
1. You don’t need permission
Gaiman starts his speech telling the audience that he never attended college. In fact, he never even wanted to attend to college. He felt that his creativity would’ve been stifled. He felt that he would not have been able to make the work that he wanted to make. So instead, he just wrote. He wrote stories he wanted. And he got hired. And sometimes he didn’t get hired. But he just kept writing. He kept doing the thing he loved to do, and he didn’t seek for approval or permission.
In today’s world, there is so much opportunity for people to create their own projects and bring them to life. You don’t need publishers, you don’t need degrees. Simply start creating and bring it to life. So go out there and make the things you want to make!
2. If you don’t know it’s impossible, it’s easier to do
For those of us early in our career, we are simply experimenting. We haven’t figured out what works and what doesn’t work. We haven’t learned what is possible and what is impossible. And because of that, we have a lot more freedom. It is easier for us to blow past the boundaries of what other people say is impossible because we don’t have that boundary in front of us. As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. The Takeaway here is that in the beginning experiment a lot. Try new things, try crazy things. This is when we can learn the kind of artist we want to be.
3. What’s your mountain?
He then gives us an exercise to help us determine if we are moving in the right direction. Imagine our goals as a mountain. For example, my goal is to make a living off of my comics, and less so, off of freelance jobs. that goal is my mountain. Now whenever you are faced with a decision, you can pause and ask yourself, am I moving towards or away from the mountain? This can lead to some surprising results. In my last newsletter, I talked about turning down a job. You can read that here. Ultimately what it came down to was if I had taken that job, I would have been moving away from my mountain. Also at different points in your career, the same opportunity that is a no right now could’ve been a yes 10 years ago, because at that point it actually would have moved you towards your mountain. Determine what your mountain is. By having it in view, it will help you in the moments when you are not sure what decision you should make.
4. You will fail
Things will go wrong. There will be moments in your career where You will feel hopelessness, discouragement, hunger. You will ask yourself if you’re doing the right thing or if you’re on the right path. You will seemingly be sending out hundreds and hundreds of pictures and ideas only for them all to come back to you either unanswered or outright rejected. Sometimes the failures are simply out of your control. All you can do is make work that you enjoy making. If you fail while creating things you enjoy making, at least you will have done something that filled you with joy. If you create only for the money and then fail, you will have come away with nothing. So great things that bring your excitement, because failure is inevitable, and we might as well enjoy the process.
5. Dealing with success
When you hit moments of success, you will question it. You question whether you really deserve to succeed. Your question whether you belong in these new spaces that you now have access to. You will worry that one day the jig will be up and you’ll have to go work a normal boring 9 to 5 for the rest of your days. With a bit of luck, you will experience success. Your pitches and proposals will come back with offers. People will start reaching out to you for commissions and stories. And now you will have to learn to say no. You will have to grapple with the fact that the thing that brings you so much joy is also tied to your well-being and income. And you will have to find a way to keep the spark of excitement and fun alive in what is ostensibly your job. In the midst of success, make sure that you continue to do the things that bring you joy as best you can. More and more administrative work will begin to creep in as you find success. Things will pull you away from what initially brought you success. Say no to the things that take you away from the mountain.
Gaiman ends his speech with one encouragement that encompasses all the points above. And that is to “make good art”. In the moments that are hard and you are struggling…make good art.
“Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician…make good art. Leg crushed, then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor…make good art. IRS on your trail…make good art. Cat exploded…make good art. Someone on the internet think what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before…make good art.”
And on top of that make your art. Make the art only you can make. As beginners we will start by copying. That is natural. We try to learn from those who did it before us. But you have art in you that no one else can make. You draw like no one else. You tell stories that no one else has. You dance and make music like no one else can. So be unequivocally you. And Gaiman says when you feel like you may be giving too much of yourself or sharing too much of yourself, that’s when you know you’re on the right path.
Secret Knowledge
“People get hired because somehow they get hired.” When Gaiman was young, and asked about his work experience, he made it up, sounded confident, and got the jobs. There is no right way to get work. It is more important to know how to keep work. There are three factors to this claims Gaiman: your work is good, you are easy to work with, and you deliver the work on time. And you only need two of these three!
Best Piece of Advice
At the height of his success, Gaiman received a simple piece of advice from Steven King. Talking about Gaiman’s success, King said, “This is really great. You should enjoy it.” But Gaiman instead worried. He didn’t enjoy the moment. He didn’t have fun. So he tells the audience, that in the midst of all their future endeavors, to let go and enjoy the ride, because that will lead you to some unexpected and remarkable places.
That’s all for this week! Hope you found that inspirational. I encourage you to go watch the video! He is much more eloquent in his way with words than I am!
Thanks for your support!
Raj