Everyone has that one person they look up to. It might be someone famous, or someone who is close to you. You can have many role models especially in the art community: famous artists whose work you enjoy, street artists you find videos of on the internet, or even a close relative who shares the same artistic interests as you. No matter who it is, the important thing is to have someone who can be a goal you want to reach someday. There will always be something to learn from someone else.

My nana is one among many artists whom I learn from. Though she claims she is still a beginner, she has had so many unique experiences with different mediums of art that I have still not experienced at my age. She takes classes at the local library and it is always interesting to share our art knowledge with each other since she is the only other actively artistic person in my family.

In the art world, you cannot survive by yourself. There will always be people who can critique your work, or help make it thrive. Though we are both learning, my nana and I share each bit of information whether it is something she learned in a library class, or something I learned at college. You can always look up to famous artists for inspiration, but most of them you will never be able to meet in person. That’s why it’s important to not only have long dead artists as role models, but also the people around you: a classmate, a teacher, a family member, a friend.

Though it may be difficult to look up to people you know you may never come close to surpassing, it is important to learn everything you can from these people. Maybe you like a person’s brush strokes, or their use of color and shading, or even the way they create their work. Whatever it may be, there is a lot to be learned from the people around us.

Artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Degas, or Monet are great people to look up to, but let us not forget to look at the people around us that are the modern day artists creating sculptures and designs out of unimaginable materials. We can look into the past for references, inspiration, and techniques, but there are also so many people who may be sitting next to you that can be a great influence on your art as well, just as my nana is to me, and I am to her.