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Being an artist is a struggle. Many artists are naturally introspective -- we're a little more in touch with our inner selves and how we feel/react to the things around us. And due to the personal nature of our work, we view our creation as an extension of ourselves, and rightfully so. There's nothing wrong with caring deeply about the work you create. But too often it leads the average artist to compare among ourselves.
LEARNING AND INSPIRATION
There's nothing wrong with learning from or admiring the work of others.
When I see Jin Kim's work, I just want to rub my face all over it while saying "my precioussss" in a Gollum voice. He inspires me to learn and improve. I see how fluid his work is, and I dream of achieving the same level of effortless beauty. Any artist you admire should push you to be inspired and to learn -- there's always room to grow. Finding the greats in your field should make you feel happy as you look at their work, and it should spur something inside of you that says "I'm gonna sit down and practice so I can be like them someday".
It's important to remember that you can't be them, but you can use them as role models to become the best artist that you can be. We don't need another Jin Kim, Dan Gerhartz, Jake Parker, or Brittney Lee. We need new, unique perspectives and skillsets that are inspired by them. These people are already making their mark on character visual development, fine art, comic art, and papercutting, respectively. I like character visdev, but I have a completely different perspective to offer from Jin Kim, full of my own influences that can reach a completely different audience.
COMPARISON
Teddy Roosevelt said that comparison is the thief of joy, and he's certainly right.
Due to life existing and proceeding in linear, baffling fashion, I've been cooped up in my house for the past several days with the quarantines. I graduated from college and now I'm trying to get into grad school. With all the quiet and lack of busyness and routine, I've had WAY too much time to think about my own life and how I'm perceived.
You'll recognize these questions:
1) Am I good enough (for X thing/for X people)?
2) Do people like me/my art?
3) Am I trying hard enough?
You could probably distill these questions into subpoint after subpoint, especially if you can't leave the house and you've been marinating in the questions like baby-back ribs in a crockpot. Sometimes having free time sucks.
HOW DO I CONQUER THESE PERSISTENT QUESTIONS?
In hindsight, I'm probably one of the least qualified people to answer this. I've had a weird history with self-worth, and right now this is one of my biggest struggles. But hopefully I can try to help you out! Let's look at them individually.
1) Am I good enough (for X thing/for X people)?
This is probably one of the most annoying questions your brain spits at you because "good enough" is SO subjective. Art itself is already subjective, and being "good enough" in the art realm is such a nebulous concept that I'd rather give myself a concussion than hear the quibbling again from my annoying brain. My current struggle is waiting to hear back from the Graduate Art Committee of the school I applied to. I have no idea who's on the committee, and I have no idea where I stand with these people since I have no idea who they are. I love not knowing what's going on! (I hope you catch the lethal amounts of sarcasm in that last statement.)
Am I good enough for grad school? Well, who knows? Who's to decide that? (Besides the admissions team, I mean.) To conquer the persistent nagging, I have to constantly remind myself of things people have said to me. I'm a screenshot and message hoarder because I like to go back and reread things people have said to me. I'd spoken to one of my teachers about applying to grad school, and one of the things they said to me was that they thought I would make a good teacher. I want to get my MFA to teach at a college level someday, and to hear it from someone I trusted and admired was just so overwhelmingly sweet that I got an instant toothache.
My point is this: it's okay to hold on to things people have told you. If that's what it takes to continue having faith to press forward, then use what you can. That's how I have to force my old habits of self-doubt to stop, and I have to replace the self-doubt with the repeating mantra that other people believe in me, even if I don't believe in me.
Another subpoint of the whole thing is "am I good enough for X people?" Let's face reality here: Anyone who shuns you because you're not "good enough" for their standards isn't worth being around -- they won't encourage you to grow for the right reasons. Trust me, I want to impress so many different people -- underclassmen, teachers, classmates, the people around me (and, of course, the grad school people). It's a constant struggle not to work for approval or praise. But the people worth being around will cheer you on regardless of where you are on your artistic and personal journeys -- they want you to succeed. They don't have a "reputation" for you to threaten.
2) Do people like me/my art?
Ah, another tough one! With the rise of social media creators, it's tempting to compare yourself to others of your "caliber" -- i.e., those in your grade, or artists you know, or artists you follow. It doesn't help that most social media platforms are based on a "likes" system. You're at the mercy of the algorithm and whether or not people hit that follow button (and if your followers like or share your work). I'll take the blame on this one; I use both my personal and art Instagram accounts to look at memes and very rarely to look at the posts my friends make -- it's a habit I'm trying to break.
It's very easy to lose track of how far you've come as an artist if you're only looking at yourself as compared to other social media users. And you could expand that to classmates or coworkers, too. It's very easy to feel inadequate. They say you should never be the smartest one in the room, which is generally good advice, but it gets very draining when you feel like you have to perform all the time.
When I start getting down on myself, I tend to go back through my old artwork to see where I've come from. If there's anyone that I recommend you to compare yourself to, compare with past-artist-you. If you're putting in the effort to improve, you'll always be better than you were yesterday. I've kept most of, if not all of, my work all the way back from when I was, like, five. My work is (naturally) better now post-grad than it was sixteen years ago (at least one would HOPE). It's a bit of a drastic comparison, but sometimes just having a good laugh about what your art used to look like is enough to snap you out of the funk.
3) Am I trying hard enough?
This is the ever-elusive standard -- enough. How hard is too hard? I covered this a bit in my post Art or Die. I won't rehash my entire post, but I'll leave you with this: Be better today than you were yesterday, and you will have succeeded in trying hard enough. And this isn't limited to getting better at art -- be a better person today than you were yesterday, and that's even more important than mastering anatomy or color theory or composition. Be the reason that someone smiles, and be the reason someone grows a little more.
TO SUM IT UP
I'll summarize my main points here.
1) Am I good enough (for X thing/for X people)?
a) Yes, you are! Take the time to remember what people have told you in the past -- read old emails, texts, or notes to remind yourself that you're worth it. You don't lose any inherent value based on other people's opinions. And if anyone sees you as less-than-human because you're not "good enough", go find people who'll treat you right.
2) Do people like me/my art?
a) I can't speak for other people, but it's more important that you like you and your art. Look back at your older work to remind yourself of that. Ultimately, you have to be pleased with your own work before you can seek approval or validation from someone else. You were given the passion and creativity for a reason, so use it!
3) Am I trying hard enough?
a) Are you better than you were before (artistically and personally)? Then yes, you're trying hard enough. It's a daily battle, not a one-time thing. Sometimes you'll slip backward, but you only fail if you stay there.