As both an artist and an art educator, I’ve spent the last five years deeply invested in helping others embrace their creativity. But today, I want to talk about something even more personal: how to build your own creative confidence.
Confidence is a muscle and like any muscle, it grows through use, intention, and rest. Whether you’re just getting started on your creative journey or returning to it after a long break…these five practices have helped me (and my students) show up with more assurance, joy, and clarity.
1. Be Obsessed With Yourself
Like really obsessed. Spend time rediscovering what lights you up. What kinds of things did you do just because when you were a kid? What hobbies or interests made you lose track of time before anyone told you what was “productive”?
Creative confidence starts with joy. When you’re having fun, you’re more likely to create often and consistency breeds confidence. Make space for your own happiness. Don’t just revisit things you like haphazardly. Think about why you like certain things. Think about common feelings. Find community and others that indulge in the same things you do. Study yourself like your life depends on it, because your creative life does.
2. Ask for Feedback (Even If It’s Scary)
Feedback isn’t always easy, but it is absolutely necessary.
Whether it’s from a mentor, a peer, or someone whose taste you trust, getting used to hearing thoughts on your work (positive or not) will make you a stronger artist. And more importantly, it’ll help you clarify your own opinions. Not every critique is gospel, but every critique is information. Learn to have discernment over feedback. Over time, you learn to separate what’s useful, what aligns with your vision, and what doesn’t. Confidence doesn’t come from being right all the time, it comes from knowing how to handle being wrong and growing anyway.
3. Make Time for Play
Contrary to popular belief, play is essential! Paint, dance, write bad poems, doodle, take a walk with your favorite playlist, cook a meal with no recipe. Your brain needs unstructured space to relax, so that when it’s time to focus creatively, you’re not starting from a place of depletion.
Creativity is the act of taking something from your imagination and bringing it into the world. Practicing that process, even on a small scale, is a powerful way to build trust in your own ability to follow through.
Whether it’s a painting, a lesson plan, or a pot of gumbo, when you bring a vision to life, you’re reminding yourself: I can do this. I’ve done this before.
4. Consume More Art
The more art you consume, the less intimidating it becomes.
Read books, listen to music, visit galleries, watch performances, scroll through digital portfolios, study street murals. Every piece of art you experience is a reminder that creativity takes endless forms, and that there’s room for all of it, including yours. Personally, music has always helped my process. I loveee deep diving into new artists, listening to songs I’ve never heard before, and sharing playlists of all genres and vibes with the people I love. While music is an art form I am deeply moved by…film, fashion, coding, or dance may be yours. The form doesn’t matter as much as the frequency. Exposure leads to expansion.
You’ll start to see yourself reflected in the work of others, and realize that art isn’t this elite, distant thing, it’s just humans making meaning. And you’re one of them. When Issa Rae spoke of the importance of storytelling in her Masterclass, she spoke of the importance of YOU. That any and every story can matter and that you are the only person that can share your story from your point of view and I found a lot of power in that idea.
5. Honor Your Creative Wins—Big and Small
That lesson plan you wrote? That sketch that became a canvas? That idea that lived only in your mind and now exists in the world? That’s magic and you should always take note of these moments. They all matter. Celebrate them. The more you recognize the small ways you’ve brought ideas to life, the easier it becomes to trust your capacity to keep doing it. Confidence comes from evidence. So keep collecting it.
At this point in my career, I can confidently say: I am an artist. That’s not up for debate. Not because I’m the most talented or the most trained. Not because I have been to school for art or because I am returning (yay!) to school for art. Not because I know a lot of artists or because of how many I’ve taught, how much money I’ve made or any other vanity metric. It is because I’ve put in the work to believe it. And that belief shows up in every painting, every lesson, every creative risk I take.
You deserve that same confidence.
Let’s get you there!
Need support in your creative practice?
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