Artists in their 20's make these mistakes + sets them back a decade

[@kuronekomema]

following instagram algorithm is an artist's nightmare, better not to bother

[@TheArtMentor]

Yeah especially if it doesn’t suit your needs, right?

[@Dekkard5]

damn, I somehow did the worst of both "overworked and underlived" and still have nothing to show for it

[@TheArtMentor]

Not uncommon either. So how are you moving ahead now, knowing that?

[@gilliangonzalez1305]

I’m 27. I spent the majority of my teens and early twenties dealing with depression and mental illness and now I’m trying to get serious about my art and I feel like it’s too late for me. I look at other artists and there a thousand times better. I try to figure out and art style but can’t and I have a hard time figuring out how to structure practice and learning and what to do and it’s honestly pretty depressing. I still have 3 years left of my twenties but I feel like my whole life so far has just been swallowed up

[@m4yr4i]

An art style is just a combination of the way you enjoy drawing and the tools you use. It'll come naturally as you evolve in art, so experimenting is a must. And I honestly feel ya, I'm not doing too well myself at 19, but I can tell you that comparing yourself to other artists is a sure fire way to burnout. You should only compare yourself to other, higher level artists when you're trying to learn certain aspects from them, and otherwise, I'd recommend having a friend who is also at a similar level to you, so you can have a sort of friendly rivalry between you two, that competitive drive might help motivate you, as it does for me.

[@m4yr4i]

Also, as this guy has said, having someone on a higher skill level with you can help, just don't directly compare to them, and you'll find yourself looking up to them, and aspiring to get to their level instead of feeling bad for not being at their level.

[@sleepingatthefrontrow]

32 here and just starting. I felt the same as you when I was in my late twenties. Your artstyle will develop the more you draw and practice. Draw the things you like, practice the things you love like art pieces from other artists. Your artstyle will come as you create a mental library of the art you love. The things you draw will not look the way you wish they looked because our taste is developed before our skills, just trust the process and enjoy the way. Don't be afraid to use references too. It will all come naturally the more you study and draw. Also I get you. I spent all of my teens and twenties depressed and in bad company. What matters is that you are out of it and trying to get into what you love. This is the only time that age shouldn't matter, when you're learning new things and developing new skills.

[@outpost484]

START FIGURE DRAWING EXERCISES on quickposes !! the progress that i made in 3 years with that is unbelievable!

[@numinousnihil3804]

It's not buddy, and I can tell you from experience. I'm in my early 30's now, but I only got serious about art when I was in my mid-twenties. I'm now competent enough to accurately render anything you put in front of me given enough time. It's to the point where if someone see's me practicing, they say "Oh wow, you're so talented" and it makes me want to froth at the mouth and keel over because they didn't see the many periods sat in a room depressed because I felt like I wasn't improving, forcing myself to finish another study in the blind faith that it would be worth it in the end. I'm not gonna sugar coat it for you. I only got good because I literally forced myself to spend work-shift time per day practicing on a set schedule. I made it impossible to do ANYTHING else that would distract me by locking it up or making it impossible to get to. The same type of schedule is not a requirement, but I didn't want anything else in the world and I set my life aside to get the skill I wanted. You can easily do the same by working smart instead of hard. There's a book called "Make it stick" by peter C brown et al that gives phenomenal advice in learning to learn. I just want you to understand that it doesn't need to be on anyone else's time table. You shouldn't compare yourself to anyone else, I'm just one example of someone else figuring it out - but you can do it. Even when I feel horrible, the fact that I achieved the goal without school or an active mentor is something I think about with pride. It can be your pride too.

[@frankkennedy6388]

18:43 Art schools should market themselves as job seeking opportunities rather than schools. It was a huge disappointment when it was all work and no learning.

[@TheArtMentor]

That’s very true. What were your expectations for school instead?

[@LoveYourself-318]

If you spend your 20's investing in your future you regret not having fun and making memories while you're young. if you have fun and make memories you regret not investing in your future. the grass is always greener on the other side.

[@TheArtMentor]

Exactly, and either way, there's no use regretting it. Is there? Just mow your grass and tend it every year

[@Okayletsg0]

Thanks for the cool advice, I just finished my bachelors of fine art and turned 22, applying for honours and have two internships ect. This is full of good reminders. The ones who burn the brightest right away often fade quickly too.

[@TheArtMentor]

Welcome! And I’m glad this was a helpful resource for you. What art goals do you have?

[@Okayletsg0]

@ :) im hoping to gain more technical strength from the 1on1 mentorship of my colleges honours program, compete for public art project grants, and continue showing in group shows at galleries with more conceptual stuff. But one step at a time- just focusing on honours right now and doing volunteer public art projects. Thanks for asking!

[@stallout_art]

6:11 Ain’t no shame not having a cool art job rn, most of us have gotten laid off or never gotten hired because of the decline in the industry and the decline in the economy rn. So do what you gotta do to survive and maybe start building your dream project since no one is hiring rn 💪😎 Great video as always Sean!

[@TheArtMentor]

Hey great to hear from you again!! Looking forward to your content as well 😁 But yeah we place that coveted art job position too high, don't we? You can still be an artist even if no one is paying you for it haha

[@hypnomouse4906]

one of the best examples of someone who's terrible at art and made it would be the maker of One Punch man the manga. He draws his own comics and they look absolutely awful. But he has an incredibly good ideas that were made into actual anime. He also made Mob 100 and a few others. He makes his shit, and people like it. It's not overly complicated, it's not overly stylized, it's no the best at ANYTHING, but it's a good story and concept and people buy it. Make your shit and people will eventually find it and they will either like it or no.

[@TheArtMentor]

oh AWESOME example! Thanks so much for that one. If he made it, why can't anyone else, right?

[@warrenbradford2597]

I need remember to avoid these mistakes to make my twenties better. Thank you for informing me.

[@TheArtMentor]

My pleasure! Are you approaching your twenties soon?

[@warrenbradford2597]

@@TheArtMentor I am already in it. I am 28.

[@alcidesprieto1967]

I remember my struggling days. I was not making the best looking or flashiest work compared to others because I did not have the best equipment and tools. But I did not care what others do, I love my earlier works. It's when I put my best effort, my soul into everything, where I learn to improvise for what I was lacking, I was driven to point of obsession. I calm down now but I remember and appreciate those hard times. Please be true to yourself and humble.

[@reddevilsunited_2060]

Well I m 27 so I don't know if this video applies to me and yeah I m working a mundane office job to pay my bills.

[@asain101g7]

If you dont mind me asking, how did you get your office job and what is your position like?

[@reddevilsunited_2060]

@asain101g7 well I have a degree in hospital administration. So currently I m working in a hospital looking after the 2 In patient floors assigned to me. Not the medical side but more on the administrative side. (This would entail things like going for daily rounds and checking on bed/room availability whether more patients can be admitted or not. Checking whether the rooms are getting cleaned on a regular basis. Ensuring the discharge process goes smoothly. Whether they are getting their meds on time by the nurses or not etc. and things of that nature.) So yeah this is what I do ;_;

[@TheArtMentor]

Of course it does! And there's nothing to be ashamed of in that, is there?

[@reddevilsunited_2060]

@@TheArtMentor ashamed ? No no. That's too harsh of a word for either the video applying to me or my "mundane job." It's just that I am in my late 20s now technically so that feeling of falling behind is always there especially when it comes to my digital art goals🥹. When it comes to my job. Well it is feeding me but I know if I got skilled enough to do digital art full time I would leave this job in a heartbeat.

[@ameliaroseillustrations]

I’ve been waiting for so long to open my own online shop, because I thought I couldn’t do it until I had a large amount of followers/subscribers… but you know what, I’m just going to do it, for the fun, and see what happens! ✨✨

[@FernandaNolasco-r6t]

this video is extremely helpful and insightful. thank you for everything!

[@TheArtMentor]

Glad to hear! What advice was the most impactful for you?

[@petersinger8942]

These are really interesting stuff on important topics. It’s surprising that after watching so much art education content, I’m only learning these things now. This is definitely a good piece of knowledge. Thanks for making this video

[@TheArtMentor]

Yeah it's interesting how these points are rarely discussed, yet widely experienced, isn't it?

[@Kold_Arts]

Just turned 30 this month. Not in the art industry and my career has nothing to do with art. Got offered a tattoo apprenticeship a few months ago so I'm going to try and have that as a side hustle, so it's never too late.

[@TheArtMentor]

Oh wow that's awesome for you! Let me know how it goes okay??

[@joelbulagnir5018]

Thanks for making this video!!! I struggle a lot this past few months figuring out everything and this content help me a lot. Your advice is worth to share and watch. Thanks bro

[@TheArtMentor]

Thanks so much for sharing it to other artists you know! I hope it helps that too! What advice in this video was the most valuable for you?

[@alcidesprieto1967]

It does no matter what it is as long as it is made by you and you like it that is fine.

[@pinklotus9684]

This video about this topic made me feel better how about my personal decisions I had to make as a creative thank you. 🧸✨💖

[@TheArtMentor]

Happy to hear this helped you! What would you say was holding you back or making you doubt yourself?

[@ZETAGeTh]

I started drawing at 35 (I'm 39 now), so I never had any of these issues :D

[@TheArtMentor]

Oh really? I wonder if they'll arise the more you go through your art journey

[@ludovich.3303]

can you do a video like this but for a later baby artist! please! i'm 33 and I want to succeed. great video ! keep going !

[@TheArtMentor]

I read your mind! That's coming out next week, you excited??

[@darklordsoma]

I love honest videos like this.

[@TheArtMentor]

Glad to hear we think alike! What helped you the most in this video?

[@Eldr1tchGl1tch]

Adding onto point one, i never tried to copy a style, i wanted my own. What i learned is sometimes what I like consuming isn't always what i like drawing. I've found the base of my style, but there's still a long way to go

[@TheArtMentor]

That’s a great point! Also I made a video about real things to develop your art style that you might enjoy. Would that be helpful?

[@Eldr1tchGl1tch]

@@TheArtMentor I think my problem these days is letting myself learn new things like I used to and letting things be imperfect.

[@unknownusrname]

ive actually started working on one of my projects after drafting the idea along long time ago, im working on a webcomic and i'm using it as a stepping stone and i hope this motivates me to work on the rest of my comics

[@TheArtMentor]

That's incredible! I can't wait to see it someday! What's your comic about?

[@unknownusrname]

@@TheArtMentor basically its a scifi horror story drawing some inspiration from ridley scott's aliens where an long dormant alien bioweapon infects humanity on mars and they indirectly lead it to earth where it takes over. i wrote this story back in like 2016/17 wehn i was in the 7th grade, drew 3 comics lost all of them though. this is a revision of the bricks i layed in the 7th grade and a redirection as before i wanted to go the route where people started using some other infected people to fight in wars and such and i now felt i was starting to lose the plot so hence the redirection to more a more horror focused story.

[@unknownusrname]

if this webtoon does well i'll start revising more of my other comic stories, i have another project and fortunately with this one i still have the original copy so this can be my second release

[@eline3]

This is a video about everything I realized in the past year lol It's like a epilogue of my 2024

[@TheArtMentor]

Oh really! Glad to know I made your wrap up video 😂

[@YaiunicUP]

*Weeps in 29*

[@superherochestsymbol1032]

*weeps in 26*

[@boscorner]

Dunno why I felt compelled to reply to this comment specifically. But I'm 31, and most of my 20s was hellish. When I was 21 I was just ready to die, didn't have anything to live for so I threw my life away essentially and got into a lot of trouble in many ways. I bet you haven't messed up as bad as I have or gotten as behind as I am. (Not trying to be like oh I have it worse, just sayin don't be so hard on yourself) I also genuinely didn't find the things I enjoy most until quite recently. I started playing banjo at 30. Never played a string instrument before that. Now I'm gonna get back into dance dance revolution. Mentally I felt more old at my early 20s than I do now. Right now I feel so much potential. You've got time, just don't throw yourself away like I did. Cheers. Try something new keep going you got this! Hope I didn't come across like an asshole or anything. Pardon the rambling I've got hella ADHD (didn't find that out til mid 20s..)

[@iMaytriksU]

Weeps at 30

[@TheArtMentor]

I did too lol

[@ayrtonenrique4447]

the perfect time to find this video 5, months away from turning 30

[@TheArtMentor]

Funny you say that since I read your mind when I made this 😂 So what advice do you want to apply now?

[@mlghardcolt9865]

I feel like finding a job is painful and I am hungry to get clients!

[@SimicChameleon]

Doing an art hobbies at 20’s take time to improve. It matter how much time invest in your goals. Also udemy and books are good to use to find skills to specialize in. I found some books to learn animation. Best to be ambition and innovation. Also active income is important and building a strong rapport in fandoms. A strong rep and seem professional vibe will attract clients. Also learn to be charismatic and it ok to ask clients if they interest of commission projects. Got clients from being asked for their birthday commission, projects and empathy warm call tactic.

[@TheArtMentor]

glad to hear that's working for you!

[@thgritic102]

Thank you for talking about the passive income bc i HATED when other artists mention it, but as someone who has nothing to show for it, why should i do it?

[@TheArtMentor]

oh that one always sets me off too lol. Like how are beginners supposed to have 7 revenue streams?

[@alcidesprieto1967]

Just find your niche first and dedicate yourself to it. If it's really about the art for you then you just have fun please and put your spirit in it. Others with similiar interest will naturally spot this and be drawn to your passion also.

[@TheArtMentor]

It sounds so simple, yet so many artists avoid this, don't they?

[@alcidesprieto1967]

@@TheArtMentor so true. It is simpler then we think. We as humans over complicate things too much sometimes. Especially now, get caught up in chasing trends, clout, views and money, etc. That we forget why we do what we do. The motivation and passion burns out. We forget to appreciate and take care of what we have. It's important to find a balance.

[@sayantanbhattacharya5840]

Sir, my biggest question is do I have to learn digital art without learning traditional art or other wise?

[@TheArtMentor]

That's an interesting question. I'd say they go together, not separately. Being proficient in one leads to proficiency in the other. It's not a matter of necessity, but learning to draw or paint is a global skillset, not media-specific. How's that sound?

[@EddieArtShow]

I'm 22 overworked and under accomplished💀

[@TheArtMentor]

That’s also quite normal, but have you considered that it’s just bc you’re just too young to gauge accomplishment? 😅

[@silentartist7854]

Banking on putting your all your eggs in one financial basket is never a good idea, lol. I'm starting to get active soon in my pursuit as an artist next year. And I wanted to be realistic about doing this, so thinking about this I've come to understand is if you're not making ANY income from your work, then you have to address surviving first. All that stuff about passive income is a luxury issue, all things considered after you've dealt with the basic issue of paying your bills and food. What I understand is, you gotta get scrappy and active. I'm hoping that diving into commission work, and selling at conventions will be the thing for me. I'm just not confident in my consistency, efficacy, and above all efficiency at speed yet. I'm confident in my skills. I just feel like I'm taking too much time on pieces due to personal issues like clinical depression. But I realize, I won't know if I can do this unless I just go for it.

[@TheArtMentor]

I understand the sentiment, but have you considered that putting your eggs in one basket is the most successful concept with the most social proof? Consider marriage to one person, careers, or even if you only have one child, as a few examples. Since it seems like you’re at the outset and haven’t started your actual work towards freelancing, can I recommend that focusing on one thing and specializing will bring you much more success than spreading it around? It’s a real success story!

[@so_few]

thank you for making all these vids! i really appreciate all the effort that you are putting into it and your art. by the way, have you been doing commissions lately? i saw your last upload was like half a year ago. you don't post comms to socials, do you?

[@TheArtMentor]

Thanks so much for saying so! And yes, I'm always doing client work. I just have been unsure where to post my artwork lately, so my IG is a horrible representation of it lol!

[@ZCoreStudio]

28:58 my friend you hit the nail on this one. working on minecraft animated series... delayed the first episode of the second season for over a year because I believed i am not good enough to do it... only recently started working on it...

[@TheArtMentor]

Well it's not too late now, is it?! And where are you publishing that? On YT?

[@ZCoreStudio]

@@TheArtMentor yep on KZbin. on this current account I am using.

[@afklegends151]

Would art school or like an art online course that’s equivalent to art school that’s online and has the same amount of work?

[@TheArtMentor]

Yeah absolutely, so long as you commit to it and finish it. Art education isn't a building, it start with you first and foremost. How's that sound?

[@SerenaMarenco]

Sean, the video started in an auto translated AI voice. It was terrible!!! 😂😂😂 Anyway, this is one of your art I like the most!

[@TheArtMentor]

Should be all set now, sorry! YT made an auto-dub option for non-English countries and I turned it off. Can you let me know if it works now?

[@SerenaMarenco]

​@@TheArtMentor Yes, it starts in English now. 🎉

[@Lucylittleart]

I’m only 10 minutes into the video and already: thank you. This is a very important video especially as someone about to enter their 20s next year and is already feeling a lot of what you are saying. Gonna try and be more kind to myself in the years to come and I hope that every young artist sees this. ❤️🫶

[@TheArtMentor]

Happy to hear this came at a good time! What changes or new routines do you want to make in your life now after watching this?

[@ArtOfRavenD]

You mentioned to check those "top" artists years after. Funny because I actually looked up artists I followed when I joined DeviantArt at 16 (I'm 35 now) weeks ago.... a vast majority of the people I looked up to disappeared and fizzled out. I may not be successful at making a living off art and am another non-art jobber, but I haven't given up on creating and sharing my work.

[@TheArtMentor]

Yeah it's almost sad how many artists fizzle out, isn't it?