I like to ask people I am mentoring to give me written feedback after a course. The things artists write are always a valuable compass and inspiration.

The other day, an artist interested in realistic drawing wrote: “Thank you for all the knowledge you shared with me, and thank you for believing in me from the very beginning.” The second part of her sentence inspired me to reflect upon it.

Why should you find a mentor who believes in you?

I’d define “a mentor who believes in you” first (the way I see it).

When a mentor who believes in you looks at you, among other things, she sees where your creativity and art skills are today. But she considers those only as a stage on your much longer creative journey. And her focus is just that – your creative journey as a whole.

So, a mentor who believes in you builds her method and decisions around your long-term creative interest.

At the same time, this more “holistic” approach makes her more empathic. That means she also understands how people’s personalities can get in the way of their creativity and can (and should) build ways to overcome this into her method.

Cause she believes in you, she makes your inner artist feel good about herself. And when your inner artist doesn’t feel threatened, she can open up, give her best, and party!!! (thrive is another word to put it;)

And last but not least – if you are a sensible creative soul, you may experience moments of doubt. And in a moment of doubt, when you are all over the floor (yes, we’ve all been there), you’d better have around someone who thinks you can make it. So you feel safe enough to get on your feet and go on.