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Stage one: Embrace the amateur in you - Before you even get started, there are five lessons you should take to heart.

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1. Don’t be embarrassed - Art is a vulnerable thing that comes from someone’s deepest, darkest insides, and is placed on a stage for people to judge relentlessly. But the truth is that art doesn’t have to make sense to everyone, or even be good to anyone.

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2. Tell your own story - If you’re worried about being boring or living up to others’ definitions of skill—don’t! Telling your own story the way you want to is the only way to deliver authentic art. But don’t feel entitled to an audience—you still have to earn that.

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3. Be a copycat - Imitating others’ work is a good place to start, but it’s important when you do it to visualize the possibility of making it your own. Saltz encourages you to imagine yourself entering a stadium filled with mediums, means, and materials, all of which you can choose to make your own.

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4. Art is not about understanding or mastery - Rather, it’s about the actual doing and experience of it. The quicker you forget about trying to be understood, the quicker you’ll get to making art that you love.

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5. Work, work, and work some more - Work will always lead to progress, and the only way to combat a mental block or fear is to work. Work is the best (and really only) way to combat fear.

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Stage two: How to get started - After you’ve got a good grip on those lessons, it’s time to get in the studio. And it’s time for some more lessons.

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6. Start with a pencil - Begin freely, with the knowledge that if you can write, you know how to draw.  Instead of thinking about good or bad, think about what feels pleasurable or strange. Carry a notebook with you and fill its pages, decorate everything you can, and then ask someone what they see in your markings. Next, draw the square foot in front of you in any way you see fit: this is your first masterpiece.

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7. Develop different ways to practice - For example, start with drawing people’s hands. Do it in public, do it in a mirror, but it should be something real, in front of you. As another exercise, Saltz suggests learning a new skill like sewing, making a clay pot, or pruning a tree.

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8. Redefine skill - There is no single definition of artistic skill, and though you could spend a lot of time learning to make art like the greats, your only real skill will be whatever you’re able to do differently. The time for mimicking is short.

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9. Imbue objects with meaning - The objects you craft should easily transmit ideas and feelings, without someone having to read text on a wall next to it. A good exercise Saltz suggests is creating a four-foot-tall totem pole of your life, including any materials you’d like, and it must be done in a week. Then, show it to someone and ask what they see without giving them any clues.

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10. Find your voice, and amplify it - If someone thinks your work is similar to someone else’s, instead of changing paths, do it again, a hundred times, and ask them again. If it’s the same response, try a new path. If you’re stuck, make a tree, chart, or diagram of your interests—visual, spiritual, sexual, leisure, food, places, etc—and in there you’ll find your voice.

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11. Listen to the crazy voices in your head - You’ve likely immersed yourself in the art of your idols, so much so that you have the ability to summon them in moments of much-needed inspiration. Saltz explains that the Beethoven in his head urges him to start with a bang, while the Barbara Kruger tells him to make a sentence punchy and aggressive.

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12. Know what you hate - Make a list of three artists whose work you despise, and five specific things about each artist that you dislike. Be honest in your analysis, and think about what you have in common with them.

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13. Scavenge - Many people worry that the age of originality has passed, but that’s just being lazy. Saltz suggests, akin to Andy Warhol, to look for things discarded or overlooked, disliked or forgotten styles of the past, and to work them into your own art again and again, and again.

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Stage three: Think like an artist - Being an artist isn’t just doing the work—it’s also about living as an artist. This is where things get really fun.

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14. Compare cats and dogs - Dogs, when called, will usually come right away, in direct communication with you. Cats, however, rarely act as simply. Instead, there’s something between you and them which makes them communicate indirectly. As Saltz says, "Artists are cats. (And they can’t be herded.)"

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15. Art is more than just something to be seen - Tours of white-walled galleries seem to be art's most popular purpose, though for almost its entire history, art has been an action—used for healing, prayer, protection, cursing. Think of a time when art moved you to tears, and write down six things about why it made you feel so strongly. Keep those things on a wall in your studio.

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16. Subject matter vs content - Learning the difference between the two is crucial. Subject matter is the first thing you see, while content is the abstract meaning hidden among the work’s context, the artist’s definition of skill, the intellectual or sensual surface, and the reasons behind each of the artist’s decisions. For example, the subject matter of Michelangelo’s 'David' is a standing man with a sling, but the content might be grace, beauty, physical awareness, vulnerability etc. Once you see the subject, stop seeing it.

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17. See as much as you can - By see, Saltz means steal. While critics look at the big picture of pieces, artists get up close to a work, inspecting its textures and details, gleaning as much as they can to use in their work, either for what to do or what not to do—both are equally as useful. As he says, "Great art is often the enemy of the good; it doesn’t leave you enough room to steal."

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18. All art holds identity - No matter what it is, art will always be a confession by the artist. In addition, don’t worry about being political enough. Mark Rothko made fuzzy squares during World War II and he still brings people to tears.

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19. All art was once contemporary - It’s strange because it’s so obvious, and yet it’s so easy to forget once we categorize artists to their time: artists always created for and in reaction to their time. It will help your own art by becoming more open and understanding to everything you see.

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Stage four: Entering the art world - So you’ve found your voice, concentrated your skill, and created your art. Now what? Well, now you grapple with other people’s opinions.

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20. Accept that you will probably be poor - While the art world is loud about the glitz and glamour, the reality is that much less than 1% of artists have their works sold for all those millions. When you feel under-recognized and underpaid, remember that that’s not why you’re doing this.

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21. Define success - Instead of financial success or personal happiness, Saltz suggests that success should be measured in time, or rather how much time you have to work. And not just any work, but the work that you love. The more time you have, the more successful you are.

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22. You only need a few people to make a career - You need one good and honest dealer who really believes in your art, around six collectors who understand and buy your work from time to time, three critics of your generation who seem to get what you’re doing, and one or two curators to put you in shows. That’s it! 

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23. Learn to write - Artist’s statements are a part of the job, and Saltz advises to keep it simple. Don’t use convoluted language, and don’t quote other artists’ theories. Write the same way you speak, be clear and to the point, and don’t be pretentious. To practice, write an artist’s statement about one of your pieces, give it to someone unfamiliar with your work, and ask them what they think your work looks like.

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Stage five: Surviving the art world - There’s a lot of ugliness in the art world, manifesting both in the community and within yourself, as comes with vulnerability. But there are ways to cope.

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24. Join and protect your gang - Spend as much time as you can with other artists around your age, go to any events where artists will be present, seek out their comfort, support, and protection. Always protect the weakest artist in your gang, because you’re likely the weakest artist in another member’s eyes. In person is preferred, but online works too!

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25. Learn to deal with rejection - Every great artist has been rejected, some numerous times. Monet was rejected for years from the Paris Salon exhibitions, and Stephen King’s 'Carrie' was rejected 30 times. Use your rejections as something to prove wrong, but also consider the grain of truth in each criticism.

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26. Envy is the enemy - Do not give it any energy, because it will erode your mind and inhibit progress while you’re busy dwelling on things other people have and turning bitter. The world is slanted in some people’s favor, yes, but pitying yourself will get you nowhere. It will take you backwards, in fact. The best antidote to envy is to work harder.

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27. You’re allowed to have a family - Years of gender inequality has spurred the unwritten rule that having children isn’t good for your career, particularly for women, but that’s no longer the case, and hasn’t been for men for years. Sure, it means having less space, time, and money, but artists are actually well-equipped to live in strenuous times among madness, and to produce intense moments of transformative love and beauty all the while.

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Stage six: Attain galactic brain - This is where you grow!

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28. What you do and don’t like are equally important - Never write a whole kind of art off, because you never know when a work might catch your attention. Additionally, never pronounce any medium dead—who are you to be the undertaker?

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29. Art is a way of knowing yourself - Never let anyone make you think that art is optional. "It is no more or less important than philosophy, religion, economics, or psychology."

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30. You do not own the meaning of your art - Borrowing from Roberta Smith, co-chief art critic of The New York Times (and his wife), Saltz urges you to remember that any art can be used by anyone in any way that works for them, and that’s okay.

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31. All art is subjective - Just because the whole world seems to adore an artist and you don’t get it, it doesn’t mean you’re dumb. You can also see a piece twice and it can feel different. That is to say, art, while remaining static, has the eternal ability to change.

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32. Welcome vulnerability - While it feels uncomfortable and manifests in ways that may startle you, you must not be afraid to fail, to put things that seem silly out into the world, and to welcome the possibility that you will be judged.

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33. Be delusional - You are the best at finding all the logical and reasonable reasons why you stink at your work, why you’ll never make it, and why nothing you make will ever matter. You tell yourself you’re faking it, or that you’re doing it all for the wrong reasons. These are the demons. Saltz says let them be for a half hour, then stop and say out loud, "Yeah, but I’m a f***ing genius." That’s all you need, because you are.

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