Robaato's Corner

ENVY...

I get comments similar to this quite often:

“I envy your ability to do ________” or “I really envy your style and the way you’re able to capture ________ so well”.

Though I do readily accept those comments as compliments, it’s kind of a catch-22 because I believe that envying another’s skill isn’t helpful in the least.

Yeah, envy can fuel desires that help push ones to try harder and to advance at astronomical levels, but the negative aspects of envy outweighs these desires, in my honest opinion…

What envy, in its purest form, is: “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, qualities, or luck”.

So in essence, it all comes from having low self-esteem or a low-tolerance for what you’re capable of at the current moment. Having no will or determination in your own work can really push this resentful emotion. This isn’t a good quality (in my opinion) to have because it can very easily lead to unhappiness and discontent with your work. Though it may give you a motivational pick-me-up, that leads into a constant want to keep outdoing so-and-so and him-or-her. You’re then caught into this infinite loop of trying to 1-up the man or woman you envy so much.

After a while, you’re stuck hating on this person (either subconsciously or outright) because they’re still “outdoing” you; which then, in turn, makes you more unhappy and less creative.

Now going by the definition of the term, I possess the same thing you folks have: two hands (one used for drawing), a brain (to fill up with and store knowledge in), a seat (or ground if you draw on the floor sometimes like me), and a drawing utensil (be it a pencil, a pen, a Intuos, or a Cintiq). Quality is a WYSIWYG kinda thing; that brings into account of how much hard work you put into a piece of art. And luck… don’t even fool yourselves here. Luck has NOTHING at all to do with anything. So I don’t even bother with “you’re lucky” statements. It’s not fortuitous with what you bring to the table when learning to draw or paint or whatever (unless you’re just experimenting, that’s a different case), it’s the by-product of your diligence, determination, and effort. And those three are what sums up your skill or skill level.

Talent is nothing but a knack for catching on to things a bit easier and faster, but it’s not a special power. Those of higher talent rates still have to work hard. Think of it as being blessed by one of the divines in those Elder Scrolls games. You can have a warrior type dude excel in hand-to-hand and melee combat, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a beastly mage. It’ll just take longer for him to become one.

So therefore, that’s why I don’t agree with envying another’s abilities (well, unless you’re Adam Hughes. Let’s all envy that guy.)

What I’m saying is that I’m not the kinda material to be envying. You can continue to have those feelings if you like, but not for me. I’m no better than the next man. And what I can do, anyone can if they really put their mind and heart to it (knowledge and passion).