Artist Motivation with Ira Cross

“The middle is where you learn.” The beginning is where you get the ball rolling. The end is where you celebrate. The middle is the hard part people often want to avoid. But you only figure out what a thing is while you’re doing it. You may have had an idea of what it may be at the start. But you still have to work through it and do the work. Even now as I’m doing this, I’m figuring it out. That i...

“Please don’t lose your own voice to the volume of other people’s negativity.” — Tony Weaver Jr. Worry about yourself. Worry About yourself. People often think of the perception that other people have of them. What you don’t realize is that other people’s perception of you is none of your business. If you have created something that you are proud of and feel good about, Great! That means it’s a go...

“We must abandon all hope for a better past.” Read that again because I bet you heard it wrong. Focusing on the past will never change it. The only thing it does is hurt your present and give you a future that you don’t want. There’s this saying that some may find corny, but it’s true. “The present is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” Focusing on the past is like trying to hold sand in...

“Everyone is perfect without comparison.” When you feel like your work or art isn’t good enough, what makes you feel that way? Is it because it’s ineffective? Is it incomplete? These are logical reasons as to why your work isn’t good enough. However, these usually aren’t reasons we think something isn’t good enough. Usually we compare it to something or someone. We think, “this isn’t as good as so...

“There’s no deadline to your dreams.” Dreams don’t have deadlines, but goals do. I do love this quote because it’s a reminder that you’re never too old or late to accomplish your dreams. And it’s a reminder not to rush. However, why wait? Why sit and think how things could be for you. What’s stopping you. No seriously, think. Write it out. Reflect. What. Is Stopping. You. Once you figure out what...

“Keep working even when no one is seeing you win.” We as human beings often need some form of validation. Usually, we feel it has to come from an outside source. Someone HAS to see us accomplish something. “Pics or it didn’t happen!” In my not so gentle opinion, that’s b******t. If you were there when you made something dope, it happened. If you worked to finish that painting over the course of a...

“Art is so important because it can get us to places that we can't get to any other way.” – Andrew Garfield Anything that is considered to be art by anyone helps take you somewhere. Sometimes it’s to a place you’ve never imagined. Sometimes it’s to a very familiar place. Art has the ability to speak to people of different languages and cultures. It has the ability to make you feel and think. Art c...

“Find your cookie dough.” – Father Bronques Everyone who loves cookies loves cookie dough. If they say otherwise, they’re lying to you or clearly don’t remember their childhood correctly. When it comes to cookie dough, there’s just something about the taste. The texture. The experience of being able to have the cookies before everyone else. Sometimes you end up eating a whole tub of cookie dough....

“You can only believe in what you don’t know.” I know this quote can sound confusing. Or even insulting in a way. But think of it this way, if there is something you know, then you can share indisputable proof that that thing exists. No one can argue against it. If when you describe something people want more proof of its existence, then that means what you’re describing is something you believe i...

“Make what you like and they’ll eat it how they want to or they won’t eat it at all.” — Erykah Badu Make what you want. They’ll either love it, hate it, or have no feelings. But you’ll have done what you wanted. Make what moves you. They’ll either love it, hate it, or have no feelings. But you’ll have done something that made you feel how you wanted. Make what you feel. They’ll either love it, hat...

“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” – Chuck Close You’ve got a lot to do today. So you wake up. Get out of bed. Brush your teeth. Take a shower. BAM! It hits you! Right in the shower. No. Not the cold water. An idea. That idea didn’t hit you in bed where you were resting and comfortable. It shot to you while you were in motion. Similarly, you don’t get into...

“Every kick’s a boost.” Rue McClanahan’s mother after being turned down and told she’d never work on television Rejections happen. Setbacks happen. Losses happen. When rejections happen, they aren’t a bad thing. They are just a “no”. You put in the effort and made something happen and someone else told you “no”. Now what? Take that “no” and learn from it. Take that “no” and move forward. That “no”...

“An artist discovers his genius the day he dares not to please.” – André Malraux Who are you trying to please? Why are you trying to please them? What do you gain by trying to please these people or this person? What do you lose? If it’s someone else that you are working to please, that means your happiness and success are extrinsic. Meaning it comes from outside of you. Ultimately, that means the...

“Don’t wait for inspiration, act first – that’s when the magic happens.” – Robert Rodriguez So many people in creative spaces sometimes feel like they have to earn the opportunity to create. Nope. Just get up and go do the thing. Stop waiting for permission from people that aren’t going to give it to you. You feel moved to paint something? Get the paint. Get the canvas. Go paint. You feel moved to...

"The funny thing about acting is that whenever you feel like you're done with it, something else pops up." – Julianne Moore The work may finish, but the craft is never done. There’s always something to prepare so you can sling shot yourself forward. You always have the ability to set yourself up for success. The craft is never completed. There’s no completion to growth. There’s no end to learning....

"Learn to act truthfully in imaginary circumstances.” – Sanford Meisner Too often creatives, especially actors in my experience, get really into the complicated parts of acting. Sometimes I’m included in this. The details I’m talking about aren’t ones that enhance anything. I’m talking about the ones that debilitate you. The ones that keep you in your head and not in the moment. But let’s put it t...

“You are the one you’re waiting for.” – Ben Mathes You know that moment you imagine that everything will be alright. That moment when you don’t have to worry about struggling to pay bills. That moment where you’ll be in the perfect shape. That moment where your debt is all paid off. That moment where you can just wake up and be happy and content. No one is coming to make that moment happen for you...

“You’ve got to take certain risks, because my priority is in acting not in movie stardom.” – Gary Sinise This is a craft for me. I don’t see another career path or even going back to being in an elementary classroom. This isn’t some way for me to chase fame. I’m not doing this to become rich. I care about acting as an art form. Which means I cherish it as such. That also means I have respect for o...

“Stay afraid but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to want to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” – Carrie Fisher People have asked me where I get my confidence from. For years I couldn’t answer that without sounding arrogant. I would say things like: I just am or I don’t know why aren’t you confident in yourself. Those things weren’t to...

“I’m an artist. Artists don’t need permission to work.” – Chadwick Boseman  3 reasons this resonates with me: * The first sentence alone, is a statement.  * Be an artist.  * You don’t have to have paints and canvas and brushes.  * You don’t have to always have an amazing ground breaking prolific idea.  * Just be an artist. * Just be. * I personally like to break rules, so waiting for permission to...

“I love acting because it’s a bit of an escape. It gives you the ability to reinvent yourself.” –Hayden Christensen  Becoming a character is something I was told by a man I consider to be my big brother in acting. It was like a light bulb or, even better, a lightening strike in my mind. The concept of becoming is different than just acting.  Acting in this sense is just going through the motions a...

“Acting is really about having the courage to fail in front of others.” – Adam Driver If you think you can’t, you won’t. Have confidence in yourself! Know that you can and you will so often people think the worst and wonder why the worst happens. You attract what you feel and think. If you think about the consequences of how you’ll be perceived, you’re already negatively effecting your work. If th...

This is my first piece of writing that I wanted to share with everyone here. I created this newsletter/subscription/blog to share my insight and art with others, to help people be their greatest selves. I plan to keep all of my writing straight forward and concise. I don’t plan to write anything crazy long, because I want to make my writing accessible to anyone with a quick minute to get a quick p...