What advice would you give a first-time artist who is trying to figure out their style?

The most important thing you can do is create work and get feedback—not just from family and friends, but from strangers. This is a loop: create and get feedback, create and get feedback. Even if the work doesn’t sell initially, the feedback will drive you toward work that does sell. Don’t just create pieces and hope to be discovered. Get your work in front of eyeballs. Walk up to someone in a coffee shop or library and ask honestly what they think. If that feels too scary, have a friend help you. The point is to avoid creating in a vacuum. Even the greatest artists didn’t have every piece sell—Pablo Picasso had 45,000 unsold works when he died—but he kept creating and listening to feedback until he became one of the biggest artists in the world.

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Asked by a young artist trying to figure out their style · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-09-11