Let's dive right into it! Today, we're unraveling the myth of what a "real artist" looks like. Spoiler alert: they don’t exist! We chat about how that pesky image keeps so many of us from picking up a paintbrush or writing that next big hit. It’s all about recognizing that the artist stereotype is more smoke and mirrors than reality, and that it’s okay to not fit that mold. Trust me, you don’t need a beret or a dramatic backstory to claim your artist badge—just a willingness to create and express yourself is all you need! So, grab a snack, kick back, and let’s shake off those expectations together—because being yourself is the real masterpiece!

1. The Image of the “Real Artist”

1. Where the stereotype comes from (culture, media, art school narratives)
2. Why the “real artist” is always someone else
3. How this image quietly disqualifies everyday people

2. Suffering, Genius, and the Lie of Legitimacy

1. The belief that struggle equals authenticity
2. Why stability and responsibility get framed as creative disqualifiers
3. How pain becomes mistaken for proof

3. Comparison as a Creative Dead End

1. Why we compare our behind-the-scenes to someone else’s highlight reel
2. How age, career, and life stage fuel self-elimination
3. The myth that artists follow one path, timeline, or look

4. What Real Artists Actually Do

1. They show up imperfectly
2. They work inside real lives
3. They don’t wait to “feel like” artists first

5. Redefining “Real” on Your Own Terms

1. Letting go of performance
2. Making art without adopting an identity costume
3. Choosing presence over image

Takeaways:

1. The myth of the 'real artist' can seriously mess with your creative mojo, so let’s break it down.
2. We often think artists fit a certain mold, but the truth is anyone can claim that title, so why not you?
3. Believing you need to suffer to be creative is a load of nonsense; art can thrive in joy, too!
4. Stop comparing yourself to others; their journey isn’t yours, and your unique flair is what makes you an artist.
5. The image of what an artist should look like is mostly a myth, so let’s redefine it on our own terms!
6. Creating art isn’t about the berets or the angst; it’s about showing up and doing the work, imperfections and all.

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There's a picture most people carry in their head of what a real artist looked like.

They're younger, more talented, more confident.

Usually they're somebody else.

And if you don't match that image, you quietly disappoint yourself.

Well, in this episode, we're talking about where that myth comes from, why it keeps capable people stuck, and how it convinces you that you don't belong.

Because the truth is, the real artist isn't real.

And believing that myth might be the only thing keeping you from creating.

Hello, friend.

This is Timothy Keemo, Bryan, your head instigator for Create Art podcast, where I use my over 30 years of experience in the arts and education world to help you tame your inner critic and create more than you consume.

There's an idea that most people never question that a real artist looks a certain way.

And I used to believe that, too.

That's why we're all black and wore eyeliner and black eyeliner and black nail polish.

Black jackets with black hats.

People are fully committed to that look.

They're all in.

I know I was.

And they've been doing it forever.

And if your life doesn't match that image, then you're assuming you don't qualify.

But here's the thing.

Most people don't quit art because they fail.

They quit because they don't see themselves in the picture of who an artist is supposed to be, not what an artist really is.

We're going to dive into that here today.

All right, so let's start off with where that image of the real artist is coming from.

And I can look into my life.

And in high school, I was in orchestra.

I played tuba, and I was also in theater.

And those kids were all in black.

Fingernail polish, black jackets, eyeliner, the whole kit and caboodle.

You know, we sold into that image.

We bought into that image.

And then later on, I got influenced by Charles Bukowski.

I thought, well, I should be a drunk to be a real artist.

I should be a womanizer.

And that just never really fit me as a person.

Now, yeah, I do like to wear black clothes.

I like skulls.

Huge fan of skulls, because to me, they're always smiling.

But, you know, where did these stereotypes come from?

Well, for me, initially, they came in school.

In high school, I hung out with the art kids, and that was my popular crowd.

There was the jocks.

There was the, you know, nerds.

There was the art folk.

There was different little classifications.

There's different little cliques.

And I gravitated towards the artist side of it.

And the nerd side of it.

And we look in culture, you know, look at some of the best TV shows that are out there.

The nerds dress a certain way way the.

The cool kids dress a certain way, they talk a certain way.

I'm.

I'm thinking of, oh, gosh, can't think of the name of the TV show off my head.

But it's where four nerds get together.

One of them is dating a really hot gal who is, quote, unquote, stupid.

So we get this from the media all over the place.

We get it from our culture, too, here in the United States.

One, one of the biggest, best movies that are out there that really explores that is the Breakfast Club.

Now, I'm showing my age there.

That came out in the 80s.

Good old John Hughes is the director of that one.

But yeah, we got the.

The jock, the prissy person, the weirdo, the nerd, and we got the.

The rebel in all of that.

And quite frankly, one of the reasons why I started podcasting is because I wanted to be like Christian Slater in the movie Pump up the Volume.

Because I thought that was cool and that's what I should be doing.

But here's the thing.

The real artist is always somebody else.

And I look at myself at the ripe old age of 53 when I'm recording this, and, yeah, I go out to poetry readings on Friday nights.

I like to go to art galleries and bookstores and comic book stores and record stores.

I'm not a drinker, so I don't really go to the bars at all.

So am I an artist because of what I do and what I look like?

I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't think it's because of what I do and what I look like.

I think it's because I have claimed the title of artist, and that's what I do, is I do art.

But if I was still stuck back in my old thinking, I probably wouldn't be married.

I might be divorced a couple of times over.

I'd have a drinking problem or a drug problem, and maybe I'd have more hair.

Maybe I'd have less hair.

I don't know.

But if I bought into that, and if I still bought into that at 53, when I was 18, if I still bought into that mindset, I wouldn't have evolved into the person that I am today.

Who knows if I'd be doing podcasts?

Who knows if I'd be alive even.

So, this image of what an artist is, and it's something that I've been fighting for years and years and years.

This image is so ingrained in our society that when people hear, like, art therapy or something like that, that's kind of what got me into this podcast, is I was working with soldiers that were exiting the military and trying to find their next career in life, and they were all like, yeah, no, I don't want to be artsy fartsy thing.

I hate art therapy.

I'm not an artist.

Blah, blah, blah.

That's kind of what created this podcast.

And when they saw that I was an artist, they were like, well, wait a minute.

Tim's kind of cool like that.

You know some things about some stuff, and he's an artist.

Maybe I'll look into that.

It was a wonderful thing when that happened, when I was able to help them break what they thought an artist was supposed to be and look like and show them an artist can be anybody.

And that's what I want to share with you here today.

You're an artist.

You don't have to have a beret and smoke cigarettes and speak French.

It helps.

I'm kidding.

It doesn't help.

But you are an artist.

Not by what you wear, by about what you do with the title that you claim.

So let's dive into that image that a lot of us are used to seeing as an artist.

And that's the eternal is suffering.

They're on some sort of drugs or alcohol.

They're not reliable, but they're geniuses and they're quirky and they're very eclectic.

I hate that word, eclectic.

I really hate that word.

Just like the word surreal people.

Oh, that's weird.

That's so surreal.

Oh, it's a weird experience.

No, that's not what surrealism is all about.

So if.

If you buy into the whole thing that artists are always suffering, they're always geniuses, they always have something wrong with them, maybe a mental instability.

And you have none of those things, then you're going to say, well, I'm not an artist.

That's what artists have.

No, no.

Now, yeah, I do have the things that I suffer through, things that I struggle with.

Yeah, I'm kind of smart.

I don't know if I'm a genius level smart, but I'm kind of smart.

But that stuff doesn't define me as an artist.

It used to.

Oh, absolutely.

It used to.

I always used to think I couldn't write poetry unless I was suffering something, unless I was having a breakup or a breakdown or I had to be on alcohol or drugs to write a great poem.

That's not true at all.

I always thought I had to be suffering for my art.

No, no, no, no.

Not true at all.

Don't have to do that.

As a matter of fact, some of my best stuff has come from times when I've been happy with myself.

And part of it was, is I was using that anger that I had when I was younger, probably all the way up into my 40s, thinking, I have to have this.

I have to have this chip on my shoulder, otherwise I can't create.

That's not true at all.

It's not true at all.

You can create without a chip on your shoulder, without going through struggles.

I was teasing my stepson.

He, at one point, he wanted to be a rapper.

And I'm like, you don't know anything about rap.

You don't know anything about suffering and living in the hood and all that kind of stuff.

And unfortunately, he listened to me on that.

I wish he wouldn't have, because again, showing my non genius moment there.

So you don't have to suffer for your art, okay?

You have to be there.

You have to be present for it.

And it's good if you can evolve it.

But as far as that whole suffering thing and cut off my ear for my art.

No, you don't have to do that.

That is something that somebody else, way down the annals of history decided, oh, that's what an artist is.

We all bought into it.

It's not what an artist is.

An artist is who you are and who I am.

And when we claim that title of artist, we're good to go.

We don't have to have all these other trappings around us.

We can just be us.

You can be you, I can be me, and the dude over there can be somebody else.

And we're all good like that, and we're all artists.

So the preconceived notion that you have, let's turn that off for a little bit and think about your art and what you're doing and where you're getting your inspiration from and how you're bettering yourself.

All right?

So kind of know where this image comes from.

We kind of know what this image is and how it doesn't really apply to each and every one of us.

So let's look at something else too.

Let's look at how we're comparing ourselves to other folks, to other real artists with huge, huge, huge quotation marks around that.

Huge quotation marks around that.

So why do we compare ourselves?

It's a human thing.

This person is at this level.

We want to get to that level.

We want to get to their same level.

So let's do everything that they do.

Well, the problem with that is, is that you haven't lived their life.

You haven't gone through what they've gone through.

If you read the biographies of a lot of these artists and you go, wow, they went through a lot.

I don't want to go through that.

That doesn't seem very appealing or attractive, especially for me.

I'm at 53, and I'm looking at what these young artists are doing.

Some of my favorites, Jimi Endrix, Morrison, these 26 and 27 club folks.

Charles Bukowski lived until what, 70s or 80s?

I don't want to go through that.

I'm good.

I got it.

I got the lesson, bought the T shirt.

Let's move on.

A lot of these artists went through a lot of bad things, a lot of struggles.

And you don't have to go through those struggles to be an artist.

You just claim it for yourself.

Because if you're going to compare yourself to these folks, it's not a true comparison because you're not living in the times that they're living.

You're not living in the locations that they're living.

None of that.

So you're going to turn out different from them.

You can be inspired by them.

You can take some of their ideas and mold it into your own.

But when.

If I take a look at my career versus Charles Bukowski's career or Philip K. Dick, who was one of my favorite writers in the world, and it was a speed freak, I don't need that.

I don't need that kind of.

Those kind of issues in my life.

I think he was married like two or three times and he had kids that you never saw or saw very little of.

I don't need that.

I. I like my.

I love my wife.

I love my kids.

They get on my nerves sometimes.

But that's just everybody.

And we don't need to compare ourselves with these folks.

We can take their ideas, we can be inspired by them.

But if we compare ourselves to these, we're never going to live up to what they are or what they were.

And here's a little secret.

Some of that is a myth.

Some of it didn't actually happen or didn't happen in the way that it's portrayed.

So we're trying to compare ourselves to an image of something that isn't even real.

Why do that?

Why don't just be who you Are be the type of artist that you are and be good with that.

It's a hard thing to accept.

It took me many, many years to accept it.

But just be happy with what you are and what you're doing and be happy with the title of artist and just go create some art.

It's an easy thing to say, it's a hard thing to do, but I think you can do it.

All right, so we've talked about where this artist image comes from.

Through media and through our culture, we've talked, we've defined a little bit of what that image is, and we've compared ourselves to other people and trying to be like them.

Be like Mike.

Don't be like Mike.

Be like who you are.

Tim's gonna be like Tim.

Don't be like Tim.

You know, I've already bought the T shirt on me.

I already know my story.

You don't need to be like me.

So that leaves us with the question, well, what does an artist really do?

Well, they show up, they create their art, which is what I'm doing here with you right now.

This is my art that I'm creating and you're experiencing it with me.

Sometimes I show up imperfectly and that's okay.

I'm a human being.

I'm not AI generated or anything like that.

I'm a human being.

I make mistakes.

I make beautiful mistakes.

Like Bob Ross says, we don't have mistakes.

We have happy accidents.

So you show up imperfectly, warts and all.

You show up and you do the work.

And an artist also works in their real life.

Now, you may have, like me, I have a 40 hour a week job and I'm a dad and I'm a husband and I have all the other stuff that I do.

But I do my art within that framework.

I live in real life.

I'm there in the weeds with everybody in real life.

So I understand a lot of people's misgivings.

I understand where a lot of people are coming from, or at least I try to.

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

I'm working on it.

I'm not perfect at it, but I'm trying to.

I go over to a fast food place and grab food and I try to be polite to them.

Go see my doctors every so often.

Try to be polite to the nurses and the doctors because they poke me with stabby things.

Artists are in real life.

They're not in some far off castle.

They're not stuck in their studio and never seeing anybody.

And how dare you and all that kind of.

No, real artists are in real life, and they don't wait to feel like real artists in order to do what they're going to do.

I used to be of the opinion that I have to wait for this mystical and secretive inspiration thing to hit me, this little inspiration figure to hit me.

I don't do that anymore.

I'm going to paint.

I paint from when I write.

I'm right.

If I want to make music, I make music.

If I'm not going to do any of those things, I don't.

It's just the way it is.

I don't wait to feel like an artist.

I just do the work.

That's the secret.

A lot of people don't want to tell you.

They want to say, oh, you got to be inspired, and you got to wait for this certain feeling.

And.

And I used to be a part of that.

I used to be a part of that crew.

I'm not anymore.

You can create whenever you want.

Whenever you have the time to create, go create.

And do you want to do it for 10,000 hours and become a master at it?

Fine.

Great.

If that's not what you're interested in, just go out there and take an hour out of your day and create something.

Or maybe it's an hour a week or an hour or a month.

You have to deal with life, real life, and that's fine.

And there are some people that make their living by being an artist, and great for them.

Fantastic.

I want to learn from them and how they do it so that way I can do less of the mundane stuff and more of the artistic stuff.

But I think if I were in their shoes, it would be a job for me.

So I do want to learn the tricks and all that kind of good stuff, but I don't necessarily want to learn all the tricks and good stuff because I don't want it to turn into a job.

I want it to be enjoyable.

I want it to be something that I enjoy doing versus something that I have to do to make a paycheck.

That's for me, may not be for you.

Maybe you do want to just do art, and that's it.

You don't want to do anything else, Great, go for it.

But I have different responsibilities than you do, so that's why I feel the way I feel.

So don't wait to feel like an artist.

You're an artist.

Claim the title, go make something.

Put this podcast on pause and go do something.

And then tell me about it.

But that's what Real artists do.

They don't necessarily wear berets, they don't necessarily learn French, and they don't necessarily smoke cigarettes or drink wine or do all this other stuff.

They look like me.

They look like you.

That's what a real artist looks like.

All right, so in the last section here, we're going to be redefining real on your own terms.

And I'm a big fan of definitions.

I love definitions, and I love defining myself, and I love learning new, new words and all that.

But here's a point where you get to define what a real artist is for you.

You know, take a good long look at yourself, be really reflective on yourself, and think, what do I want?

Not what's pushed to me by movies and TV and podcasts and all that stuff.

What do I think an artist is?

How am I going to show up as an artist?

And we just let go of that performance thing, the.

The performative aspects of it, and just be us.

Just be you.

Just be me.

We don't need to perform it.

I was listening to a podcast a while ago.

Dave Jackson was talking about poets using the poet voice and how he hates that.

And that's something that really is a wedge for him to really getting into poetry because he's so used to us poets using the poet voice and that and this and that, and everything is dramatic.

Drop the drama, drop the acting, drop the performance.

When we see good acting, we see we have that connection with the person on the screen.

Or if you're seeing live theater, which I recommend, go see live theater, that person is really pouring their heart and soul into the performance that they're doing to the role that they're acting in.

And if they're really good at it, they've done a lot of study, they've done a lot of history, and they are able to bring that up, bring those emotions up and do that.

And that is an art form all into itself.

But what they don't do or what really bad actors do is they put on this big performance and you can't connect with the person.

Like, yeah, that doesn't happen in real life.

I. I am not a huge fan of musicals because I don't see people breaking out into song in the middle of the streets.

But it happens in musicals all the time.

Drop the performance.

Drop the pretense.

It's not necessary.

It divides people.

It's.

It's not necessary.

It's.

It may not be who you really are, if that's who you really are.

Okay, great.

That's who you really are.

But.

But if that's not who you really are, why add that difficulty to your life?

It's not needed.

It's not going to sell you more paintings or sell you more books.

A lot of these people have this myth.

A lot of these celebrities have this myth around them.

And in the long term, it doesn't do them well, because later on they just get tired of it and they let it drop.

And then people see who they really are and they're like, oh, that's cool, or, ooh, don't really like that.

So let go of that performance.

You don't need to put on a costume for this.

You don't have to have a beret.

You don't have to smoke cigarettes or put on eyeliner or fingernail polish.

You don't have to do all.

Any of that.

You really don't just make your art.

Just go and make your art.

It's not.

Unless it's performance art, where you need to wear a costume or something like that or that's part of the whole thing.

Fine, great.

But apart from that, there's no need for that.

Be present when you're creating your art, and when you're out there talking about it, be present with the person that's asking you about your art, about ready to buy your art.

You don't need to put on these false errors because if they see that, they may walk away.

They may go, yeah, no, this guy's a phony.

And then what are you doing?

Then you're not selling your art.

And if that's something that you want to do, people are not going to buy from people that they don't think are being.

I guess the word I'm looking for there is being real with them being who they are.

People are not going to go for that.

Now, we may go for the fantastical just to escape reality and all that kind of good jazz from time to time, but for the consistent, for the long term, people aren't going to go for that.

Don't be phony with it.

Be who you are.

You are enough.

You're claiming the title of artist.

You're enough.

You're good.

Done.

End of story.

Let's see the art.

Let's see what you're doing.

Pretty easy.

Not.

Not difficult.

Easy to say.

Difficult to do.

And it can take you years and years and years to figure that out for yourself.

Hopefully it doesn't.

It took me years.

Hopefully it takes you less time.

Again, don't be like, Tim, I've already bought the T shirt on, Tim.

Don't do it.

All right, so thank you so much for listening to this podcast on your app of choice or watching the podcast on YouTube.

Definitely appreciate that.

My closing thought to you is this.

The myth of the real artist keeps moving that finish line.

You never get there.

It's always being somebody else, always later.

It's always out of reach.

It keeps moving and you never become the artist that you actually are.

You don't need to look like an artist to be one.

You don't need to suffer to qualify to be an artist.

Not my resume anyways.

You don't need to live up to a picture that wasn't real.

You're comparing yourself to a famous author, painter or whatnot.

That picture is probably not too real.

There's some myth that goes around that.

So you're comparing yourself to something that isn't even there.

What you need to do is you need to create anyways just as you are and just know that that is enough.

That's what I want to leave you with here today.

Again, thank you so much for listening and watching.

Definitely appreciate it.

If somebody that needs to hear this or see this, feel free to share it with them.

And if you'd like to get in contact with me, hit me up timothyartpodcast.com so where I answer my emails at and you can give me critiques of the show.

Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of.

And you can ask to be on the show too.

If you have thoughts and ideas about what I'm saying.

Definitely reach out to me.

Love to have you on the show even if you disagree with me.

Come on the show.

Let's talk it out.

Let's.

Let's find out if I'm wrong at something.

So I always like to learn.

That's my huge thing.

And again, share it with a friend too.

It's a free gift that you can give a friend that may be wearing a little too much eyeliner or black fingernail polish or beret that doesn't fit quite right.

It's not quite black enough.

Definitely shoot it on over to them.

And speaking about sharing this podcast with others, I run another one called Find a Podcast about and that's where I help my listeners there find their next binge worthy podcast by outsmarting the algorithm.

Find it at findapodcastabout xyz and also I run my own business.

It's called TKB Podcast Studio and that's where I help my clients lead through the noise with quiet professionalism, teach people how to do podcasting just like I do.

Hit me up with that website is tkb podcast studio dot com.

All right, that's all I got for you today.

Want you to go out there, tame that inner critic, because I know it's telling you to put on the nail polish and the eyeliner.

Create more than you consume.

Go out there and make some art for somebody you love yourself.

I'll talk to you next time.

And if you're gonna put on the eyeliner and all that kind of stuff, make sure you take it off at night, okay?

Make sure you take it off at night.

Otherwise you're gonna get those eye boogers, and nobody wants those.

No eye boogers for you.

Talk to you next time.