How to win at failure

Growing pains Mistakes and rejections are an essential part of developing as an artist, explains Tom May

Are you struggling to develop your career as an artist? Well, you’re not alone. Pretty much every successful artist goes through tough times, particularly at the start of their career.

Take Eisner-winning illustrator and comic artist Jen Bartel. “Art school ingrained in me that I needed to get editorial jobs, which my work has never really been an obvious fit for,” she says. “So I spent nearly six years postgraduation spinning my wheels, trying to make a portfolio that would get me hired.” Only when she gave up and started to draw for fun again, did things turn around. “Folks can always tell when an artist is ‘faking it’,” she says. “By allowing myself to draw for fun, I think my authentic voice started to shine through, and people could tell I was having a good time.”

3D character artist Shayleen Hulbert went through a similar experience. One year after graduating, disheartened by “a graveyard of job applications”, she gave up on art and looked into retraining as a bar manager. “I felt like a huge failure,” she says. “I’d got pretty

average grades and my friends had all found work at this point, so it was hard not to feel chewed up by the whole experience.”

BEING IN THE RIGHT PLACES

Thankfully, an art job came to her through Linkedin and revived her career. And Shayleen’s advice is this: “People who get the golden ticket to their dream studio the second they walk out of university doors aren’t the standard; it’s okay if it takes a little longer to achieve your goals. Getting work is down to the right place and right time. You just need to make sure you’re in all the right places, offline and online… so all that’s left is time.” Artist and illustrator Tessa Mag agrees. “Not one artist can say they’ve never been rejected for a job or commission,” she points out. “Gigs can take a

while to get. I started posting art online in 2008 and it took four years to get my first commission. The hard truth is they’re not something you’re entitled to as an artist.” Such times can be tough, but are essential training for the future. Because mistakes and rejection will face you – not just at the start, but throughout your career.

Illustrator and animation artist Peter de Sève, for example, is celebrated for his covers for The New Yorker and work on films like Finding Nemo and Ice Age, but that doesn’t mean everything always goes his way. “I’ve submitted cover ideas I thought were brilliant, only to have them shot down,” he says. “Months later I’ve run across the same drawing and wondered, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ Conversely, sometimes you do get it right and they just don’t see it. In that instance, I’ll take the piece to finish and post it myself: success is the best revenge!”

If you find rejection difficult, though, it can have dire consequences. Tessa recalls a time when she was so afraid of failure, she wouldn’t do the job at all. “Overcoming this is a matter of putting faith in yourself, your work and the client’s decision to choose you,” she says. “Remind yourself about what you enjoy about the work; and if you don’t, find ways of working that you find engaging. Put your best work in an inspiration folder to remind yourself what you’re capable of.”

When it’s handled well, though, rejection can be a positive thing. “You just need to take the time to analyse why you’ve been rejected,” says Jen. “That’s why feedback from editors or peers is always so important. Even though it can sting, it helps you figure out how to pivot your career in a more big-picture sense, and that’s hugely valuable.”

ACCEPT YOUR MISTAKES

Along with rejection, mistakes are also something you’re unlikely to ever escape. In fact, according to concept and comic artist Dave Repoza, they’re the inevitable sideproduct of taking risks

You just need to take the time to analyse why you’ve been rejected

and pushing your art forward. “I’d consider failure a daily occurrence,” he says. “Remember that everything you first attempt will likely fall relatively short of your goal. Everyone starts from a place of ignorance and learns through experience.”

Dave gives the example of when he switched from painting to drawing. “Lots of my followers weren’t too into it; I got a lot of messages asking me to switch back,” he recalls. “But I knew that however bad my drawings were, I had to focus on failing in this way, over and over, until I had a strong foundation to my skill.

“Just because you’re trying something and aren’t successful yet, doesn’t make you a failure. Be proud of yourself for taking the risk to fail, and push yourself to be better.”

IDENTIFY KNOWLEDGE GAPS

Fantasy illustrator Kimonas Theodossiou, who was once so demoralised that he stopped painting for three months, agrees with Dave’s approach. “It’s important to learn to embrace failure,” he argues. “Learning is most effective after realising a knowledge gap or skill gap exists. This is how failure can speak to us. Sure, it sucks to fail, but when you start using it as a tool to learn, it can become the gateway to success. How can we make the biggest improvements in our art? By grabbing the bull by the horns and tackling our biggest weaknesses. This is part of the journey every successful artist has gone through.”

And frankly, the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. “To my mind, the biggest risk of all is staying comfortable,” says Dave. “This can lead to a lack of growth, lack of positive stress that pushes you to new heights, and in the end, great regret later in life.” The key takeaway here is that mistakes, rejections and even total disasters can lead you to learn more about yourself and ultimately open up new avenues to better things.

Sure, it sucks to fail, but when you start using it as a tool to learn, it can become the gateway to success

“Being active in the community and working on small passion projects is really useful for finding work,” says Shayleen Hulbert.

“In the 80s there were scores of magazines, so finding work was easy. That’s no longer true,” says Peter de Sève.

“To succeed, I had to put in the time, but more importantly, start being honest in my work,” says Jen Bartel.

“Much like luck, success will come more frequently if you put in the work and effort,” says Dave Repoza.

“I’ve often felt like running away from commitments, because I feared disappointing whoever hired me,” says Tessa Mag.

“Your journey is your own, and can’t be compared to that of others,” says Shayleen.

“Were there ever times I felt like giving up? What time is it?” jokes Peter de Sève.

“It’s pretty much illogical to anguish over not getting a job,” believes Kimonas Theodossiou.

“I try to pursue failure so I can continually learn,” says Dave.

“There were many times, back before 2016, when I’d take one or two months off from drawing,” says Jen.

“Some things just aren’t in our power. But what is, is to strive to improve our work,” says Kimonas.

“I know this is a cliché, but failure does make you stronger,” says Peter.

“You need to remind yourself that not being hired doesn’t determine your worth,” says Tessa.

“Comparing my current work to work from a decade ago cheers me up on tough days,” says Kimonas.

“Even when I got my first job I wasn’t happy; it took two-and-a-half years to get there,” says Shayleen.

“If you stick to a schedule, growth will happen naturally over time, even if it hurts to do so,” says Dave.