I dislike drawing in an isolated environment, and whenever I draw in public places I often get compliments on my artwork from strangers (some people have even gushed over them for several minutes) and since I’m a beginner, I tell them the truth – I use tutorials on YouTube as a guide for my drawings. Yesterday someone someone responded quickly: “Well, I’m not even that talented, I couldn’t even draw something by a guide. Everything would still be crooked.”

I want to accept these compliments without having to add an asterisk, but I feel like I’m being dishonest about my own skill level – some people have assumed that I’ve been an artist for years, when in fact I’ve only been drawing for 4 months. Your thoughts?