What 50 famous artists taught me about creative success

When writer Lydia Figes started interviewing leading contemporary artists for her new book, she expected creative inspiration. What she didn’t expect was how honest – and surprisingly useful – their life advice would be. From struggle and solitude to finding your people, here’s what 50 world-class artists revealed about surviving as a creative today.

A full-time career as a visual artist is a precarious business. Never before have so many people trained to become artists, yet so few will actually succeed in turning it into a full-time profession. With the rising cost of living and fierce competition, it’s easy to understand why many emerging artists feel disheartened.

Photo credit: Sara Casadevall Bellés

A few years ago, I set out to write a book based on real conversations with established, world-renowned artists — the ones who somehow survived and thrived against the odds. I asked people like Marilyn Minter, Antony Gormley, Tracey Emin and Ryan Gander to demystify their lives and speak openly about the parts of being an artist that aren’t usually talked about.

What they shared was hard-hitting, practical, and at times deeply philosophical – creative wisdom that felt surprisingly universal, and helpful for any aspiring creative.

The project became my book Survival Notes: Life Lessons from Contemporary Artists, published earlier this year. Below are a few of the most surprising and inspiring insights, which might just challenge your ideas of what “success” in the art world really means.

Lydia's book, ‘Survival Notes’

Struggle is necessary

This isn’t necessarily what everyone wants to hear, but the reality is that becoming an artist is rarely painless and easy. The struggle and difficulty is part of the journey. Even those who make it look easy from the outside have put in the hours, months and years of hard work, sacrifices and grit into making their artistic production.

Don’t believe the smoke and mirrors of social media – art making and artistic ‘success’ is rarely effortless. There will be moments of self-doubt and great challenge – but take courage that if you haven’t given up, you’re already building the kind of resilience that will help you to reach your goals. Remember artist Alvaro Barrington’s simple piece of advice to aspiring creatives: “Just do the work”.

Tate Britain Commission by Alvaro Barrington. Photo credit: Tate (Seraphina Neville)

Degrees don’t matter (or do they?)

Opinions about the value of going to art school were split among the artists I interviewed. The ones who went through the higher education system before the increases of tuition fees and cost of living in the 21st century agreed that it was a worthwhile and essential experience. On the other hand, the artists who have succeeded in more recent years think that art school isn’t necessarily the right option for everyone. Artists such as Marilyn Minter, Jordan Casteel and Louise Giovanelli emphasised that the opportunity to build community at art school might be more important than the actual teaching.

“To be in community with other artists is the most important thing in your early artistic development – however you build that community” said Casteel.

In short, you can build a community outside of art school – without getting into piles of debt, whether that be by networking, social media, DIY exhibition-making or nurturing creative friendships. Artists have always created their own alternative schools in the form of social circles or communities.

Don’t follow trends

It can be tempting to look at your peers and copy what others are doing, especially if they seem to achieve quick success and public recognition for their work. But this way of working undermines long-term honesty and authenticity in your own practice. Many artists were passionate about the need to nurture what you naturally excel at, whether that be a medium, approach or subject area.

“Stick to what you really want to do” said Louise Giovenalli. “Don’t feel the need to follow the zeitgeist, because everything changes. The pendulum swings all the time.”

Just because something is fashionable now, doesn’t mean it will always be.

Louise Giovanelli, ‘Decades’ at St Mary-le-Strand Church, London. Photo credit: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy Westminster City Council and Create London.

Find unexpected mentors

Mentorship has been the secret ingredient to artistic success throughout history. A mentor doesn’t have to be someone older than you, it can be someone who is a similar age, or even younger – there are fresh perspectives and ideas to be gained from all types of people.

Expanding on this idea, the artist Ludovic Nkoth emphasised the benefits in seeking mentorship outside of your field, someone you respect and admire in an different creative industry or practice to your own.

“You become a product of your environment, so whatever you surround yourself with, you will become” he said.

Learn to be alone

Although nurturing a creative community is key, artists can also reap the rewards from social withdrawal. Being alone allows you to engage in introspection, and with your work more deeply. Many of the artists I spoke to confirmed that real work happens in solitude, echoing the thoughts of the legendary American artist Agnes Martin who once said: “people who like to be alone, who walk alone will perhaps be serious workers in the art field.”

In our hyper-connected world with its pressures to be visible, meaning retreating into solitude can feel hard, or even a bit shameful.

But according to Antony Gormley “solitude is utterly critical in order for the artist to be able to take a particular subjective view of individual and collective life…living life online is a tragedy of our time.”

Antony Gormley UNTITLED [LISTENING FIGURE], 1983. Photo credit: Stephen White & Co. © the artist

Key takeaways

From speaking to dozens of artists whilst working on this project, a key takeaway for me was that maintaining your integrity and creative freedom is ultimately the most important and rewarding thing about being an artist in the long run.

Hype and quick commercial success can be alluring, but you won’t enjoy producing the work unless you truly love what you’re doing, and believe in what you are making.

In a world that is geared towards commodification and visibility, don’t feel like you are behind if you’re still developing your artistic voice behind the scenes and are pushing against external pressures.

Don’t rush, and enjoy the process.