This is a thread where you can decide to give advice to people of how they can become good artists/improve.
Here's something that I've learned on my path to becoming a skilled artist:
There's always going to be 4 types of people that can affect how you do as an artist.
1. The Competition
2. The Critics
3. The Friends
4. The Supportive Artists
The Competition
The Competition, or the more skilled artists, will greatly effect how you become a skilled artist. They can be both a motivation and a damper on your skills. The way you view affects how they can help/hinder your progress.
Say for example, you have a person that you feel is fantastic in artistic skill and ability. You can either view them as an enemy and become enraged in jealousy, or you can look at their art and begin to view them as something you can use to improve your own. I for one have experienced both. I have gotten jealous of a friend for being better than me at art, but I later began to get over it and look at other artists for inspiration. So, they can help and hinder you.
The Critics
I use this in the negative term. The Critic will decide your art is bad, or that they'll never think you're as good as others. They will tell you that your art is bad and harass you for that. Some are other artists that think you're not good enough, while others are those who have expectations, and you possibly don't view their requirements. Others are just complete jerks. Your best bet is to ignore them and to continue on progressing and getting better, no what the haters say.
The Friends
There will be people, your friends who tell you that you can become a good artist when you have enough effort and determination. They'll usually be very supportive to you and give you advice for your progression and give you logical and supportive criticism. They'll usually tell you to keep at it, no matter what others say, and they believe you can do it.
The Supportive Artists
These are the artists that help support you and push you to improve. They want you to get better because they know you have the capability to become a good artist, and they try to make sure you can be the best you can be.