“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”
Pablo Picasso
I was confronted one day by a stranger that asked me why I was an artist and they were not. While I would enjoy saying that I had a ready answer to put them at ease the reality was they had taken me by surprise, invading my space, and I recoiled from them. Any onlooker would have been hard pressed to answer that question also. Both of us had a digital camera hanging from a strap around our necks and were wearing nondescript clothing. In fact the stranger was wearing a “photographers” vest which might have made someone feel the question could easily have been reversed.
Only in retrospect can I offer a response. Because you are asking that question. Most artists question the level or quality of their ability. Trust me personal critique is far more scathing then any formal critique I have been part of, but like mission impossible you have accepted the mission. You determine if you are an artist not some complicated checklist of qualifications.