It’s almost Halloween, that time of year when we like to tell each other scary stories. Here are 5 scary things that frighten an artist. Well, they scare me, at least.
I’m not real big on horror movies. I watched way too many as a teenager, and they got too predictable. (I thought Scream was stupid. There, I said it.)

Detail from “Pilot of the Storm Who Leaves No Trace.” Acrylic on canvas.
The downside to having a creative imagination is that you imagine the worst thing that could happen. (In this time of COVID, I cough, and suddenly I see the entire process of getting sick and dying and all the things I’ve never done that I’ve wanted to do. I can go from fine to morose and back in about 23 seconds.)
While I’m cautiously optimistic about things like my health, there are things that scare an artist like me:
- Failure: what if I mess up and fail?
- Success: what if I’m so good that I succeed?
- What if nobody likes my art?
- What if everyone finds out I’m really not that creative?
- How do I price my work?
Sure, other artists might worry about running out of ideas or art supplies, but these are the things that I worry about. Maybe I operate on a sense of protecting my ego or something. I don’t really lie in bed worrying about things since I stay up late working on projects, or more likely, watching Netflix. I do worry about stuff with a vague sense of dread that gnaws at me. When I’m pressed, these are the things that I’ll name that bother me.
Let’s dig into what scares artists
Above, I gave you a list of the things that scare artists. Well, the things that scare me. Let’s dig in.
1. Fear of failure
Being a creative failure definitely scares artists. I think most people would argue that failure is one of the worst things that can happen. And in some ways, that’s true. Nobody wants to find themselves in financial ruin or responsible for getting other people in some sort of trouble. And I’d guess that most people don’t want to look like idiots, either. So rather than not risk messing up in front of people, it’s easier to stay home and watch Netflix.
But sometimes failure is a great teacher.
2. Fear of success
Personally, I think success is scarier than failure. With failure, I can hide it to some degree. Success stands out. I think I am afraid of achieving something and not being able to keep it up.
Or I’m afraid of getting so good at something it makes a lot of money, and I’ll get bored with it and it’ll be the only thing that makes me any money and I hate doing it.
3. Fear of rejection
This one is simple enough. What if people don’t like my art? Or if my art is no good? That I’ve been working hard for nothing? This ties in closely to the fear of failure.

“Pilot of the Storm Who Leaves No Trace.” Acrylic on canvas. Painted while blasting Led Zeppelin’s song “Kashmir” on repeat.
4. Fear of being found out
This is classic Impostor Syndrome — the feeling that you’re not good enough to do what you’re doing, that you’re just faking it and nobody knows it except you. Who are you to do this thing? Who am I to call myself an artist? Thing is, I’ve known I’m an artist since I was a kid. If 8-year-old Brad knew he was an artist, then 40-year-old Brad can be an artist. And creativity doesn’t just happen. The idea that it’s all based on talent is a limited view, a fixed mindset. If Leonardo da Vinci said he is always learning, then so can I.
5. Fear of pricing my art wrong
Pricing is one of the hardest things for an artist to do, in my experience. I’ve had to learn to not sell myself short. It’s hard to put a monetary value on something that gives you such joy and is so therapeutic. But I’ve learned to charge what I’m worth. I don’t want to overcharge, and I don’t want to under-charge, either. If I overcharge, I’ll lose my customer. If I under-charge, I cheat myself.
What to do about what scares me?
Of course, I think the best thing to do is take action. Action kills fear every time. It’s the unknown that scares us the most. When something is vague and undefined, it’s scary because it could be anything! Once you do something, it’s less scary the second time because you know what to expect.
What about you? What scares you the most?