Starting Art Later in Life Advice + Experience
Advice from firsthand experience of starting art later on in life and tips for how to get going if you want to pursue art.
By: Ananya ChittibabuÂ
I started pursuing art (painting, drawing, etc.) around 7th grade, which is quite late compared to others. I know people who started taking classes in like first grade, so in comparison, 7th grade is late; and I didn’t take any sort of art classes till last semester. So I always felt like I was behind or not as good as other people my age because I started later. I would watch people’s youtube videos, and they would show the artwork that they did when they were 12 years old, and it was nothing like what I was creating, which is fine. You’re not always going to be good at something right away. You need to practice and actually put in the time and effort to improve; you’re not magically going to be good at something. Which I didn’t completely understand at the time; I mean, I understood that practice makes perfect, but I didn’t fully realize how long it would take to achieve results that I was happy with. It took me a long time to get to the level that I’m at, so practice helps, and you will improve. Even if you think that you can’t, I promise you will. If you really want to improve at something, you can.
If you’re just getting started, I would recommend watching youtube videos. There are so many talented artists who create tutorials which can help you understand how to draw something, for example. Or you can watch videos of people drawing just to see what they’re doing, learn from them, and take bits of their style and put it into yours. One thing that I used to do is recreate paintings of other artists, and that really helps you improve your technical skill. Your own paintings don’t have to look like that, but it’s good to have that foundation. But have fun and do what you like and push yourself. It doesn’t have to look good.
My advice is to be confident in your abilities and stick with it because your art doesn’t have to look like it was done by Leonardo DaVinci to be considered good. Everyone has their own style, and different people like different things so there will always be someone who appreciates your art. So don’t hold yourself back just because you think that you’re too old or that you’re not good enough; it’s never too late to start pursuing art.