A real artist is one who produces art, plain and simple.
One cannot measure an artist by success; how many paintings did Van Gogh sell in his lifetime?
One cannot measure an artist by critical acclaim; Delacroix's "Massacre At Chios" was villified in its day, as was Duchamp's "Nude Descending A Staircase", etc.
One cannot measure an artist on perception of talent; there is no strict definition of what constitutes talent.
The only definition I give to art is that it is a measure of communication. It is the communication of emotion. An artist is one who aspires to communicate emotion.
That's a real artist, and that is what you are, my friend.
