The Hardest Part of Being an Artist

Spoiler: It’s Not the Painting

People think the hardest part of being an artist is mixing colors, finding inspiration, or mastering perspective. Nope. The real struggle boils down to two deceptively simple things:

1. Making the First Mark

You’ve got a beautiful blank canvas staring back at you. It’s crisp, pure, a little intimidating—like it’s silently judging you. Suddenly, you forget how to hold a brush. Do you start with a bold slash of red? A delicate scribble? Or maybe you just need more coffee first (definitely more coffee). That first mark feels like proposing marriage. Once it’s down, there’s no going back. And if it looks like a toddler did it? Well, then you just call it “playful abstraction” and carry on.



2. Naming the Piece

So you’ve finally finished the painting. It’s bold, it’s alive, it’s got soul. But now comes the Everest of artistic challenges: what on earth do you call it? Every idea either sounds too pretentious (“Ethereal Dialogue Between Cosmos and Time”) or too boring (“Blue Thing #4”). Sometimes you end up naming it after what you were eating while painting (“Ode to Cheese Toastie”) or what your dog was doing in the background (“Bark Symphony”). And just when you think you’ve nailed it, someone at your exhibition asks, “But what does the title mean?” Cue the awkward smile.

So there you have it—the hardest part of being an artist is not the paint, not the brushes, not even the critics. It’s surviving the terror of the first mark and the comedy of naming your masterpiece. Everything else? Easy.