The WORST Art Advice I Have Ever Heard: Avoid These Common Pitfalls

As an artist, especially a new one, you're bound to receive plenty of advice. Some of it can be helpful, but there’s also a lot of bad advice floating around. Today, we'll dissect some of the worst art advice, particularly for graffiti artists, and explain why these tips can hinder your progress.

1. "Draw Every Single Day"

At first glance, "draw every single day" sounds like solid advice. Practice makes perfect, right? While regular practice is essential, blindly drawing the same thing repeatedly without any guidance won't help you improve. This is especially true for graffiti artists, where the fundamentals aren't as well-documented or widely taught as in other art forms.

The Problem:

Unguided Practice: Simply drawing every day without clear goals or objectives leads to stagnation. You end up at the same skill level as when you started.
Repetition Without Progress: You might find yourself doing the same tags or straight letters hundreds of times without any real improvement.

The Solution:

Study and Practice: Progress comes from learning new techniques and then practicing them. Understand the elements of art such as line, shape, form, value, space, color, and texture. For graffiti, focus on fundamentals like letter structure and space management.
Guided Learning: Use resources like tutorials and books to guide your practice. Our comprehensive graffiti book, available as an ebook and physical copy, covers everything you need to know to improve your skills.

2. "Graffiti Has No Rules"

One of the worst pieces of advice is that graffiti has no rules. This couldn't be further from the truth. Graffiti is an art form and all art forms have fundamentals.

The Reality:

Fundamentals Are Key: Every art form, including graffiti, has fundamental principles. Ignoring them means your work won't improve.
Basics First: If you don’t build a solid foundation then you won’t be able to build a unique style of your own. This is what causes just about all graffiti artists to get into a rut where they can’t seem to progress or develop a style any farther.

The Solution:

Learn the Rules: Before you can break the rules creatively, you need to understand them. Study the elements of art and the fundamentals of graffiti to build a solid foundation.

3. "Copy Other People’s Styles"

Copying other people's styles to build your own is another piece of common but flawed advice. While it's okay to draw inspiration from other artists, directly copying their work won't help you develop your unique style.

The Issue:

Lack of Fundamentals: If you don’t know the basics, you can’t effectively exaggerate or adapt them into your own style.
Stunted Growth: Copying without understanding leaves you unable to evolve your work or create something truly original.

The Solution:

Understand First: Learn the fundamentals thoroughly before trying to develop your style.
Use Inspiration Wisely: Look at other artists' work to understand different techniques and styles, but focus on how you can incorporate and adapt these ideas based on your own knowledge of the basics.

4. "Stay in Your Books, Don’t Paint Walls"

Some advice suggests you should only practice in your sketchbooks and avoid painting walls until you're "good enough." While this advice might aim to prevent premature public exposure, it overlooks the importance of practical experience.

The Problem:

Technique Matters: While fundamentals can be practiced on paper, techniques specific to spray paint can only be learned on walls.
Delayed Progress: Avoiding walls until you feel ready means missing out on essential skills like can control.

The Solution:

Start Early: Practice on walls early on to develop your spray paint techniques alongside your drawing skills.
Balance Practice: Continue working in your books, but also regularly paint on walls to build confidence and skill in using spray paint.

Conclusion

Avoiding bad advice is just as important as following good advice. By focusing on guided practice, understanding the fundamentals, developing your own style, and gaining practical experience, you can make meaningful progress as a graffiti artist. For more detailed guidance, check out our book and tutorials.

Keywords: bad art advice, graffiti fundamentals, improve graffiti skills, graffiti techniques, art practice tips, graffiti tutorials, learn graffiti, spray paint techniques, drawing fundamentals, develop art style.

Additional Resources:

Comprehensive Graffiti Book: Available in ebook formats here.
YouTube Tutorials: Check out our playlist for the best how-to graffiti tutorials.

Feel free to share your thoughts or any bad advice you’ve received in the comments below. Let’s help each other improve and avoid common pitfalls in our artistic journeys!

The WORST Art Advice I have Ever Heard