WEEK 5 - Need help getting out of the comparison trap? Read this assignment!
Hey there, thanks for joining us for Week 5 of HOMwork 2020!
#HOMwork GIF stickers for Instagram Stories are finally here! The next time you share your #HOMwork in your IG Story, search for homwork in the GIF sticker section to use these fun stickers, created by my studio designer Kristle.
I often hear from creatives who are worried about how their work overlaps with the work of others. And they’re not alone! This kind of worry is a sort of cultural anxiety in the world of visual artists:
Are our styles too similar?
How could we ever come close to the skills of our personal idols?
What even IS a “unique voice"?
But, as I was pondering this, I had one of my favorite playlists going in the background. And it dawned on me that a lot of my favorite musicians have similar sounds and vibes. In fact, we group musicians into genres and add them to the same playlists all the time...and that's a good thing!
Music is a great way to think about our visual art, especially in terms of comparison and competition.
Like musicians, visual artists CAN do similar work and occupy the same space and still be complementary. Conversely, we visual artists can totally share fans with artists who are working in a completely different genre.
Neither musicians nor their fans really care if there’s another band out there doing a similar thing. Turns out there’s enough people in the world for every band, no matter how niche (or generic), to have a solid fanbase!
Instead of avoiding a style or a technique because “I’ll never be as good as my favorite artist,” get out there and start creating! Because there's a good chance that the people who love that kind of art (or music) will love YOUR art too.
(This musician-to-visual-artist analogy also works for artists who are worried about “jumping around” a lot. Those artists tend to stress about their work being too “all over the place.” Well, guess what? There are plenty of successful musicians who do that! And even the ones who have a super consistent sound are inspired by a ton of different styles.)
Personally, I realized that I tend to think that people who love cute, PG art won’t really like MY art because I make dick jokes and love a well-placed f-bomb. While it may be true sometimes, it's mostly a total self-deception because people like all kinds of things!
You can enjoy bubblegum pop AND heavy metal…. And you can enjoy - or draw! - all different styles of art. Let’s make comparison more about cherry picking the stuff that lights us up and less about feeding the fear that there isn't enough space for us.
I didn't even need to make up a dream concert line up because it's REAL and I have tickets to it this summer! High school throwback, here I come haha.
Your assignment: Design a gig poster with a lineup of your favorite musicians and bands. It can be for a single show, a tour, or a music festival.
Thoughts to get you started:
Mix it up! Think of your unique combo of music loves as inspiration for your unique perspective as an artist.
Tag the bands and musicians that you include in the poster! You never know who’s gonna see.
This assignment is a triple win:
You get to show your audience your musical interests,
You get to design a poster (portfolio piece, anyone?!) for an event you’d actually love to attend, and
You might even get on the radar of your favorite musician!
Don’t forget to use the #HOMwork and #HOMwork2020 hashtags and tag me @homsweethom when you post your creation. I’ll be sharing my favorites in my Story all week!
x,
Lauren
