Three years ago I quit my IT job and struck out into the world all wild eyed as I sought to support myself with my art. At the time, I wanted to be a gallery artist where I would paint what I wanted, put it online and in galleries and I'd sell loads, make loads on prints and I'd be carried down the street like some kind of art champion.
Well its safe to say that that never happened and, in all likeliness, was never going to happen. You see, although I wanted it enough, had all the positivity in the world, the passion for those dreams and the guts to stick my neck out there and try somethings, my expectations were marvellously unreal. I was wearing some whopping rose tinted glasses alright, the best you could ever see.
So these last three years have had some ups and downs, hard realisations and rejections aplenty. All of which have resulted in a major shift in my expectations and all of which, have made me a lot more grounded and humble. Its funny, but if I was able to go back and tell myself the lessons I have learned since I set out and what would happen, to shake my 2010 self and yell "Its not going to happen like that ya idiot!" I wouldn't tell him a damned thing.
Nope. I'd let my 2010 self struggle, crash and fret away as he became Lloyd version 2011, then to version 2012 and eventually, catching up to present me (who still does fret and struggle in some ways but its different now), because its important. I had to go through everything I did and, even if I could tell 2010 me everything to try to give him a head's up, 2010 me probably wouldn't have listened anyway... the jerk.
In these last three years, I have worked and worked hard. I have tried things and failed. I dropped projects and ideas to give other opportunities room to grow. I relentlessly strived to improve my work and, also, I kept at it when things looked bleak. If I am to part something to you with this blog post, whether you are looking to jump career into the creative field or just start venturing out and begin to experiment, it is this:
You will fail at some of the stuff you do. You will struggle at times and there are going to be dark days. But, as long as you are committed to keep plugging along, to keep seeking knowledge and to practice as much as you can, you will start to notice a general change in yourself and your work.
Today, as I release 2 new art books that chronicle the progress of my personal art these last 3 years, I want you to keep at what ever it is you're doing. Stick it out. It is worth it.
Thank you for reading.
Lloyd Harvey
"Learning To Live" Hard Back book, with over 40 paintings that are dated from late 2010 to mid 2013.
LEARNING TO LIVE (hard back) by Lloyd Harvey
"Shrunken Doodles" is a collection of some of my more 'charming' sketches that I have created over the past few years.
"Shrunken Doodles" is a collection of some of my more 'charming' sketches that I have created over the past few years.
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