Trying Something New
It’s always important to dip your toes into new mediums in order to express yourself in different ways. If there is one thing I learned from my partner, it’s that you don’t have to focus your skills into just one hobby. This world is so vast and there are so many cool things to try and to experience. So why do I have to JUST make T-shirts or JUST make Illustrations. Niching down does have it’s benefits but being free to make the art that YOU want also is beneficial.
Playing around with Graphic Design
This is one of my newest designs that’s live on the shop! This is one of my favorite designs. I wanted to practice my graphic design skills and also play around with the composition of my pieces. I’ve done logos in the past and also wondered if I could get into the graphic design field but learning all the ins and outs seemed a bit daunting for me. It always seemed like it was impossible to expand your skills without an apprenticeship or without going to school. But YouTube Academy is accessible and free (with the cost of watching a few ads) so why not start now? There are so many new things I want to try, even jobs I’ve been applying to. I don’t have a ton of on the job experience with these things but when you can’t get that experience through conventional ways, you have t pick up a book, watch a YouTube video, and build your skills!
Don’t take it too Seriously
When learning something new, I feel like when we aren’t great in the beginning, it can cause us to feel discouraged. We might not even want to pursue the new thing anymore. Here is something to think about that might just help you overcome this feeling. Think back to all the things you tried during your childhood. Maybe you enjoyed coloring, doing wheelies on your bike, or filming videos. Whatever you had as a hobby when you were younger, you didn’t start as a master. But it was fun to do those things anyways. Try and take a childlike approach to new things. Just because you are an adult or a teenager, doesn’t mean you are cringey for learning something new. Make a game out of this new hobby or skill. Try doing it everyday for 10 minutes. If you end up not enjoying the time working on this new task, then feel free to stop and try something else. But I’ve found that setting aside some time and trying something often leads to doing it for longer as you start to feel more comfortable. So don’t take this new skill so seriously, just let it flow and have some fun with it!
Criticism and Feedback
When you are building a skill, it’s important for others who are more advanced at that skill to look at your work and give you some critique on it. Why? Because I think it helps you see your flaws and improve. If you’re not already a harsh critique of yourself, or maybe you are but aren’t sure what you need to improve, I think this is a good way to go about doing so. You see, when I started animating as a kid. I knew I wasn’t the best, but I started posting on apps that would allow others to give me feedback on my work. There was one such website at the time called Newgrounds where Adobe Flash creators would post animations and games. They’d get feedback from peers and your content would be rated before it was placed on that platform. It always made me feel good to get a good score but I also learned to improve from the bad scores I obtained.
Now that I’m older, I know more ways to get in touch with others who are more skilled. Mostly thanks to the wonderful yet double edged sword of social media. If you guys don’t already know, I have a YouTube Channel called Mack’s Storybook. It’s where I show case my travels and experiences in this life. I also edit each and every one of those videos. Some of the videos, which I feel I have improved my editing skills with, I’ll post on a YouTube Discord server where my peers can tell me what to improve on and where my edit lacks flow or character. Though this discord does focus on many aspects of the YouTube economy, I do find it helpful when I want to pinpoint where my edit and filming is lacking.
If you’re looking for a place to find peers that can give you feedback on your work, I suggest following Youtubers that do something similar to what you are doing. Sometimes you can connect with others in the comments who are also working towards improving. Reddit is also a good one and you can sometimes find Discord servers that are like support groups for people learned to develop their craft!
Conclusion
Learning a new skills is hard but opening your mind up to all the cool things this world has to offer is so rewarding. Try picking up a skill from childhood that you still find interesting. I feel like tapping back into your inner child can really push you to do a lot of things. Then try doing this things for at least 10 minutes and day and if it develops into something you really enjoy, continue to expand on it! Work on getting better by asking for feedback from others more experienced. Try out YouTube Academy to help build your skill. Then once you feel content in your process, try something else, because trying something new is an ongoing process!
What is something you want to try? Leave it in the comment section below, and have a happy holiday season!
