Are you passionate about your art form; and yet, have another one calling to you?
If so, you might be a crossover creative.
Crossover
A point or place of crossing from one side to the other.
The process of achieving success in a different field or style.
Perhaps you’re a writer who longs to dabble in watercolors.
Maybe you’re a watercolor artist who longs to write.
Or you could be a musician who wants to dance.
I call us multiple-faceted types, crossover creatives.
Just because you might not have mastered a second art form doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dabble just for the enjoyment!
Here’s some hinderances and helps:
Perfectionism: The enemy of art. The push to be perfect paralyzes. Growth is the goal not perfection. Try a new art form even if the results end up disappointing.
Time: Your primary art form might feel all-consuming, so the idea of dabbling in another discourages exploration. You can devote more time to your mainline while trying something new a little at a time.
Instruction: Learning can occur in bite-size chunks and not only in full-length courses. Start small with YouTube videos that demonstrate the process. This is how I learned to paint portraits. I focused on one aspect of the face at a time and watched YouTube instructional videos by other portrait artists.
Return to a former art love: Did you paint in the past? Sculpt? Garden? Write? What artistic love did you leave behind that you feel tugging at you to try again?
I often hear creatives mention former artistic exploration with a sigh, “I used to paint as a child and loved it. I don’t know why I can’t seem to pursue it again.”
“I want to write again. Writing helped me to process my pain.”
My classical guitar haunts me from the corner of my art room. I took folk and classical lessons as a middle schooler, wrote songs, and played my songs as a young adult, and then let my guitar gather dust. Why? I’ve got a dozen different excuses, but if I’m honest, perfectionism is the culprit. I want to be better than I am with very little practice.
My neglected guitar!
Lack of motivation: The tug is there but during the day-to-day, you feel unmotivated. Perhaps this new art form is not right for you right now. Set the desire aside and see whether it gains momentum in your soul. Not everything that appeals to our artistic interests is right during busy seasons of life.
If you find yourself pulled in multiple-artistic directions, you also might be a creative eclectic:
“We are artistic types who thrive on sampling many art forms not as a living but as a lifestyle… We dabble in multiple mediums, thriving on a little bit of this and that…”
“The creative eclectic must learn that flowing within the currents of creativity means moving with emerging desires.”
JoDee Luna Art 