--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being an artist is two things. You…" description: "\"Being an artist is two things. You accumulate experience and time, and if you have something that's interesting, you have to be persistent. That's very..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/michael-c-mcmillen-17032_art_being-an-artist-is-two-things-you-accumu_1751747.jpg" --- # Being an artist is two things. You accumulate experience… ![“Being an artist is two things. You accumulate experience and time, and if you have something that's interesting, you have to be persistent. That's very important. There's nothing instant about it. It's a way of life, actually, where you choose to spend your life doing this activity called making…” quote by Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/michael-c-mcmillen-17032_art_being-an-artist-is-two-things-you-accumu_1751747.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/michael-c-mcmillen-17032_art_being-an-artist-is-two-things-you-accumu_1751747.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9f7/michael-c-mcmillen-17032_art_being-an-artist-is-two-things-you-accumu_1751747.jpg) > “Being an artist is two things. You accumulate experience and time, and if you have something that's interesting, you have to be persistent. That's very important. There's nothing instant about it. It's a way of life, actually, where you choose to spend your life doing this activity called making art.” [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating art requires long‑term dedication, continual learning, and perseverance; success is built over time, not instantly. **In simple terms:** Art needs time and persistence. Key Takeaway Commit to steady practice. Themes creativity discipline patience Mood reflective determined Type advice inspirational When to use this quote - studio work - personal projects - art education - career building Key Concepts Artistic development skill acquisition Questions to Reflect On - How do you sustain motivation during slow periods? - What habits help you keep improving? A Different Perspective Even with persistence, external factors like market demand can limit recognition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Being an artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-an-artist/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Making Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-art/) [Persistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persistent/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) [You choose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-choose/) ## Related quotes > [There's this privileged position of being an artist where you can do things on a more experimental nature simply to see what happens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-zittel/there-s-this-privileged-position-of-being-an-artist-where-you-can-do/) Andrea Zittel > [Why do we make records? Because we want to say something. Why are you in art? Because you want to say something. The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-stump/why-do-we-make-records-because-we-want-to-say-something-why-are-you/) [Patrick Stump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-stump/) > [Being an artist is a very long game. It is not a 10-year game. I hope I'll be around making art when I'm 80](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anish-kapoor/being-an-artist-is-a-very-long-game-it-is-not-a-10-year-game-i-hope-i/) [Anish Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anish-kapoor/) > [As much as I believe in the capacity for art to create change, and as much as being an artist is physically and emotionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek-shraya/as-much-as-i-believe-in-the-capacity-for-art-to-create-change-and-as/) [Vivek Shraya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek-shraya/) > [It's true that there are people who live the idea of being an artist, as opposed to the idea of making art,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/it-s-true-that-there-are-people-who-live-the-idea-of-being-an-artist/) [Daniel Alarcon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [As a kid, I wanted to be an inventor and realizing that being an artist is like being an inventor because you create problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/as-a-kid-i-wanted-to-be-an-inventor-and-realizing-that-being-an/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I think for an artist there are so many things to make pictures of now, that everyone else may be suffering, but at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-drooker/i-think-for-an-artist-there-are-so-many-things-to-make-pictures-of/) [Eric Drooker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-drooker/) > [I'm an artist because of how I do things, not because I'm trying to be one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-dream/i-m-an-artist-because-of-how-i-do-things-not-because-i-m-trying-to-be/) [The-Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-dream/) > [With music there's so many limbs and facets. Video and touring and merchandise and all those little things require attention. They're artist things but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devendra-banhart/with-music-there-s-so-many-limbs-and-facets-video-and-touring-and/) [Devendra Banhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devendra-banhart/) > [When you think, 'I want to be an artist,' there are a few things you think of, the first thing being: album.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raye/when-you-think-i-want-to-be-an-artist-there-are-a-few-things-you/) [Raye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raye/) > [As an artist, you take things from your environment, and there's going to be a style coming out of your environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-white/as-an-artist-you-take-things-from-your-environment-and-there-s-going/) [Jack White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-white/) > [When you get to know an artist, you find out the things that have peeved them over the years, and it's generally the stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-ramone/when-you-get-to-know-an-artist-you-find-out-the-things-that-have/) [Phil Ramone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-ramone/) > [I'm a painter, I'm an artist. I take things too far sometimes. I really need some comfort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damian-loeb/i-m-a-painter-i-m-an-artist-i-take-things-too-far-sometimes-i-really/) [Damian Loeb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damian-loeb/) > [An artist can show things that other people are terrified of expressing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bourgeois/an-artist-can-show-things-that-other-people-are-terrified-of/) [Louise Bourgeois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bourgeois/) > [I'm from the pre-Pro Tools era where you had to meet up with the artist and go over things if you wanted to record…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-premier/i-m-from-the-pre-pro-tools-era-where-you-had-to-meet-up-with-the/) [DJ Premier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-premier/) ## More by Michael C. McMillen > [I think good art has good concept behind it. Nothing can always articulate fully the way a Ph.D. candidate can articulate their thesis, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-think-good-art-has-good-concept-behind-it-nothing-can-always/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I want to create objects that will stimulate the viewer in ways that I am stimulated by these objects. Now that's an ideal situation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-want-to-create-objects-that-will-stimulate-the-viewer-in-ways-that/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I love the idea of engaging the object, whether it be architecture or a piece of good graphic design, or a good painting, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-love-the-idea-of-engaging-the-object-whether-it-be-architecture-or/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I think we all have a tendency to have things. Even, I've noticed, people on the street collect things. So I think there's some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-think-we-all-have-a-tendency-to-have-things-even-i-ve-noticed/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [One nice thing about L.A. is that you can work here in privacy, but that also works against you because you can get forgotten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/one-nice-thing-about-l-a-is-that-you-can-work-here-in-privacy-but/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [The idea of flux, kind of constant change, whether it be our sense of time or geological time or cosmic time. It's always there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/the-idea-of-flux-kind-of-constant-change-whether-it-be-our-sense-of/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I always thought that art that is produced somehow has to reflect the zeitgeist or the ambiance and the time and the history in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-always-thought-that-art-that-is-produced-somehow-has-to-reflect-the/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [In a lot of ways, L.A. has always been kind of colonized or marginalized by New York. It still goes on to this day,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/in-a-lot-of-ways-l-a-has-always-been-kind-of-colonized-or/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [As a kid, I wanted to be an inventor and realizing that being an artist is like being an inventor because you create problems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/as-a-kid-i-wanted-to-be-an-inventor-and-realizing-that-being-an/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I happen to like regionalism, whatever that means. I like the idea of art that somehow specifically reflects some aspect of a community or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-happen-to-like-regionalism-whatever-that-means-i-like-the-idea-of/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [That's what I like about the idea of the aesthetic experience, the idea of both enjoying looking at works of art and how they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/that-s-what-i-like-about-the-idea-of-the-aesthetic-experience-the/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [For me, my work is pretty much a lot of my identity. I mean I live to work, basically. With money I'm able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/for-me-my-work-is-pretty-much-a-lot-of-my-identity-i-mean-i-live-to/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I've always seen L.A. as a giant kind of laboratory for ideas in a caldron for concepts where you can try anything you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-ve-always-seen-l-a-as-a-giant-kind-of-laboratory-for-ideas-in-a/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [I don't refer to myself as a sculptor, but I use the word "visual artist." I prefer that, because that leaves the medium wide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/i-don-t-refer-to-myself-as-a-sculptor-but-i-use-the-word-visual/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) > [L.A. has a lot of tackiness to it, but at the same time, in that funny kind of fantasy pretentiousness, it's unpretentious because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mcmillen/l-a-has-a-lot-of-tackiness-to-it-but-at-the-same-time-in-that-funny/) [Michael C. McMillen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) [Explore all 38 Michael C. McMillen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mcmillen/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Being an artist is two things. 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