The Importance of Making Art by Az Samad

It’s important for an artist to make art.

If you have a skill, be it painting or writing a song or singing or drawing or making sculptures – anything at all is creative, making food — making beautiful food. 

Anything that is creative that expresses yourself — it’s important that you make art. 

Sometimes we get stuck as artists, we don’t know what to make. 

We don’t know what to say. 

We feel a little bit uninspired, and sometimes at those moments, it’s even more important to keep making art in any kind of form. 

It might not be what we usually make. It might not be what we’re used to making. But it’s important to document and express ourselves, to make more art.

Here are three steps you can try, which is one of the ways I do to create something.

Find something to say. 

If you have something to say. Find the topic, find what’s the message, or what’s the main thing that you want to express.

Then, find your medium.

Art doesn’t necessarily have to be on your conventional canvas. 

It could be a podcast, 
it could be a blog post, 
it could be a painting,
it could be on Instagram, 
it could be on Facebook, 
it could be on YouTube.

Pick your medium. Then find out how are you going to express what you want to say.

Lastly, make your art.

This is important because sometimes we overthink it and we don’t even start making it. 

It’s important to just make your art, and go with the flow, create it.

Make it complete.

You can of course edit it, refine it. 

But it’s important not to get obsessed with it, that you never put it out there. 

Perfectionism is a moving target. 

We often chase it until we don’t put anything out there. 

We don’t release anything.

Artists, especially in the middle part of their career, or as well in the beginning, can be very afraid to put art out there, afraid of being judged. 

We’re afraid of it not being good enough. 

There’s a lot of fear. But it’s important for artists to make art.

So if you’re an artist — make your art.
If you have something to say — make your art.
If there’s something speaking inside of you, and it needs to get out. 

Make your art.

Az Samad
Feb 5 2020, 9:03 PM

Guitarist-Composer-Educator Az Samad is the author of Make Your Art available now. You can get a discounted copy of his latest ebook via this link (limited to the next 10 buyers).