Uniqueness is Magic Dust
Sprinkle it on your art to competition proof yourself
You are unique.
In the history of the universe there has never been and will never be another human being with your unique DNA, your unique experiences, and your unique way of perceiving reality. Creation, nature, God made you unique. So your job, as an artist, is to reconnect with your uniqueness and move beyond what society expects. Society attempts to create clones through programming to preserve itself. But I prefer to live as a True Human, and not a clone.
Show us something the world has never seen, for if the world has already seen it, then why are you repeating it? Uniqueness means “one of a kind” and “unlike anything else.” That is what you need to share through your art. Seek to be a legend.
Yet many artists (not you, dear reader, of course) learn enough to create somewhat competent pieces and then keep producing derivative works in the medium or style they enjoy. That’s fine, for enjoyment, but you must push it further. If you aren’t going to be unique, then, the other path is to be the best. And it’s much much easier to be the one and only than to try to be the best in a commodified area.
It’s very difficult to be “the best”, but as I stated, you are already unique in some way. Just drop the scales from your eyes and see Truth, filtered through you. Your uniqueness may not show in your art yet. But push yourself until it does. Not every artist is producing unique work, plenty of artists do the same type of landscapes, still lifes, or portraits that thousands of other artists also do. For example, if I go to a plein air competition and everyone’s paintings look basically the same without much uniqueness, then I’d likely look for the best one I could afford (price) or the one painted by the artist that I best connected with (story). But, to truly differentiate yourself, it’s far easier and more sustainable to mine your own uniqueness, which takes time and experimentation.
It’s important that, before you “productize” your art so that you may sell it, that you truly develop your style, your vibe. What makes you one of a kind? Figure out and utilize what makes you truly unique. Do not blame the economy, your day job, your web host, your fans, the Instagram algorithm, a lack of marketing knowledge or anything else for a lack of sales until you’ve nailed your own inspired uniqueness.
One way to do this, ironically, is to lean into your imperfections and weaknesses.
Let me explain….