Creating our art can be a roller coaster ride of triumphs and frustrations, elation and discouragement, enthusiasm and self-doubt. We seem to be traveling this strange, unpredictable journey where we self-actualize both our potential and ourselves in partnership. As such, it asks for inner reflection and outward seeking which can certainly be fascinating, but it's also a bit overwhelming to be honest. Whatever this journey is about, and it's different for each of us, it never seems to end, does it? An endless, hidden trail that winds and dips always into unknown territory.
It can be helpful then to have a toolbox of handy advice to keep close to heart, guiding us on our curious journey and helping us stay centered and eager in our creativity. Just for that, I've been lucky to have picked up some great tidbits over the years from other artists, teachers, friends, and family, even random strangers. I've also learned some "art life hacks" that keep me going through the ups and downs of that emotional roller coaster. So I'd like to share all this hoping these morsels will feed you on your creative trail since we all need nurturing words to sustain us from time to time.
Ten Guides
Ten Guides
To start, I've gleaned ten core ideas from others that have kept me moving in the right direction. Truly, whenever I start to feel like I'm spinning my wheels or churning out junk, or even questioning why I'm doing any of this at all, I go back to these ten and re-absorb their wisdom. Hey, sometimes we have to backtrack a bit because it's easy to get a little lost in our meanderings. For that then, these ten dollops of insight are...
- Your pencil has an eraser—use it! It's okay to change your mind.
- Let things evolve. The piece will tell you what it wants—don't fight it.
- Never go part way. If anything you purposely neglect now will bug you five years from now, fix it.
- Know when to say "done." We only improve when we create lots and lots—and lots—of finished pieces.
- Anything can be made less intimidating. Simply envisioning things in familiar shapes, lines, and forms can do wonders.
- Start simple and then get more complex. Creating something is a progression—be patient, keep at it, and give the process "room to breath."
- Never be married to something. Everything we do should be open to change to forward the whole concept.
- Try to be kind to yourself. Allow yourself the foibles of the learning curve and the fact that every artist will periodically create bad pieces throughout their career. Give yourself permission to be human. Learn to forgive yourself.
- Protect your joy. Do anything it takes to preserve the visceral enjoyment of arting. Take a break if needed. Switch gears and create in a different way, even with different media and types of art. Just keep creating, whatever form that takes.
- Never rain on someone's parade. Each of us is creating our art on our own terms, at our own pace, with our own evolving Eye. And the will to create art can be a very fragile thing. So if we're kind to ourselves, be even kinder to others.
It's no surprise then that when we absorb this good advice, we tend to have an easier time on our creative journey. We essentially become more serene with our process, ourselves, and with others, and that's just as important as learning a new technique or refining our Eye.
Five Foundations
While I've been lucky enough to have learned the Ten Guides from others, I've also been able to solidify Five Foundations that work for me—and maybe they'll work for you, too. Now some I learned through observation, but others I absorbed from someone's role modeling. Curiously, role-modeling can be a powerful thing even if we don't see its effects right away. Some planted seeds just take more time to grow. So that said, the Five Foundations are...
- Always actively observe. You never know what you can pick up with open eyes, ears, heart, and mind because useful information can come from anywhere. Truly, sometimes the best lessons come at us sideways. And learning isn't always about technique. Our methods can only take us so far. Indeed, even if we used the very same tool or the very same media or the very same method as an esteemed artist, that doesn't mean we'll be producing the same caliber work. The truth is that the deeper learning is that which refines our Sight and our ability to Translate that into our media. What tools and media we use are important, of course, but they're only the means to express our Understanding.
- Mistakes aren't to be feared but embraced as teachers. It may be a cliche, but practice truly does make perfect. We have to do and redo, fail and fix, over and over and over and over again for even one bit of progress to be made. But don't become despondent if that progress doesn't happen where you wanted it—it was made, but sideways. The more we start and finish, the faster we grow even if that growth isn't always predictable. Just go with the flow and keep finishing. Also don't forget that every piece will always have ugly stages—so keep going. Trust the process, trust the references, trust yourself, and keep going. A lot about achieving the desired result is successful follow through, of going far enough in the process to achieve the effect you want. Curiously, there's such a thing as "underworked" just as there is "overworked."
- "Comparison is the death of joy" says Mark Twain. He's absolutely right. Fight the urge to compare your work and accomplishments to others as it'll only cause a kind of death inside, a kind of grief. Frustration, envy, resentment—these are the things that poison our every well and leave us feeling defeated and cast aside. They deceive us and whisper lies in our ear that we're inadequate, untalented, unsung, and wasting our time. Yet time is always well spent being creative! And you're far more talented than you know and have far more potential than you suspect! So instead, be proud! Own it! You beat your own drum and march to your own tune, and no one in the entire Universe makes your music or even could if they tried. It's absolutely worth all your hard work, sacrifice, and enthusiasm. So do good work consistently and always seek improvement, and it'll all come together.
- You're only as good as the last piece you finished. In other words, try not to judge your abilities on work you did ten, five, even a year ago. They represent a very different situation in your life than the right here and now. So instead, gauge your abilities based on the piece you just finished right now, and then with your next piece, try to improve on that if you wish. And understand that improvement is incremental, and it comes in fits and starts. And even the tiniest improvement can lead to huge jumps forwards—you just never know. So keep reaching for that brass ring even if it seems relatively insignificant. And truth be told, breaking up our development into baby steps tends to create a friendlier framework for taking those big leaps anyway, so don't hesitate to deconstruct things a bit. Anyway, understand that our progression is always happening—even when we're not working—so what we create today is a much better read on our abilities than what we created yesterday. There's great hope in that, isn't there? So much potential! So don't short-change yourself by making assumptions based on past work.
- Find the still point in your heart and in your head to create your best work. Distraction is a funny thing...it saps our energies and causes us to stray from the moment, the critical here and now that's everything to an artist. What does this mean? It means that whatever your creative situation, learn to stay in the moment between yourself and your piece. Seek to quiet those voices that seep into our heads from social media. Put on music or a video that lends white noise to help you get into that groove. Put on noise-cancelling headphones if needed. Your creativity is your healer, your rejuvenator, your own personal headspace that's all yours. Do whatever it takes then to protect that zone because that's where you not only work best, but you feel best working. It's your sanctuary.
One Truth
Smoosh all that together and we have a pretty good "arting hack" to foster our creativity and even more importantly, for staying creative. Because it's so easy to just throw up our hands and be done with it, isn't it? To walk away to find some other diversion. Or perhaps it isn't. Perhaps this brand of creativity is stuck deep in our drive and so all our frustrations do is remind us of our perceived inadequacies. Either which way, disappointment, the kind we self-generate when we don't meet our own expectations, is always with us whether we're a beginner or a seasoned artist. That toxic brew of self-doubt, insecurity, deflation, stirred by those little unpleasant voices, will always try to poison us no matter how much we've achieved.
Yet at the same time, we're human, right? Why are these things that seem to drag us down framed in such a negative way then, as though they were enemies? They're a part of us, too. Maybe, instead, they're there to keep pushing us to reach our potential, to ask more of ourselves as a challenge to grow and explore. Think about it—without them, would we even work half as hard to stretch? If we were continually pleased with out work, where's the impetus to improve? In a sense, they're the grain of sand in our oyster, fashioning our skills—and ourselves—into a pearl. And that's the crux of it, isn't it? When we have to face our fears—pull them near and look them in the eye—we have to make peace with them, and we have to make peace with ourselves.
Because truly, we cannot war with ourselves if we hope to truly progress. It takes up too much mental energy that should be focused on other things. It's also emotionally painful and, if bad enough, can create a feedback loop that begins to associate creativity with negativity. But the problem isn't us per se. The issue is the nature of the learning curve, and that issue is the same for everyone. See, "learning curve" is a misnomer. It's not actually a smooth, steady curve. Boy, is that bogus! Instead, it's like a tangled up ball of yarn, unpredictably going up, down, sideways, backwards, squiggly weird, loopidy loop, criss cross, knots even!, twisty whisty, and any which way but straight forwards. What's more, there's a proverbial cat also batting that ball all over the place, pupils wide and tail whipping 'round. Creativity is chaos itself. What we literally do as we improve then is to wrestle ever more of that chaos into something more closely resembling what we envision. Our expectations and our abilities get closer and closer together.
Because what a "learning curve" also doesn't address is how different aspects of our knowledge base and skillset will improve at different rates. Yanno...if there weren't enough fans on this fire, we have to add this one, too? Gah! But it's true. For example, what we see in our head may be very sophisticated, but our abilities with our tools, our media, our mental library, and our Translative skills just aren't up to snuff yet to fully realize that vision. What's the result? A big blob of WTH in front of us...aaaaaaaand then, of course, frustration, disappointment, deflation, insecurity...and those little voices again. If we don't recognize this for what it is—the unavoidable glitches in a learning curve—we're going to inevitably deduce that we're simply incapable, that what we're doing is a waste of our time and care. But going back to the Ten Guides and the Five Foundations, we remember that "Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts." Wise words from Winston Churchill. We must do and redo, fail and fix to fail and fix again, learn and relearn over and over and over in order to reach our expectations. And every little improvement—many of which we won't notice until after the fact—are cumulative and build on each other in a wonderful synergy of accelerated growth. There's no such thing as a "small improvement!" Each one is a huge leap forwards. Celebrate it! You did it! "Each horse is practice for the next," is great wisdom a dear friend told me years ago which I keenly remember as I start every new piece—and look back at every finished one. Honestly, knowing when to say "done" and having the courage to start a new piece is perhaps the single most important trait for an artist in this genre.
But if we can see that our hiccups are a learning curve eccentricity rather than a reflection of our innate abilities, perhaps we can keep all those voices from fanning something even worse inside us—fear. We're human beings. We have dualities. As such, our natures are torn between curiosity and fear...and fear usually wins if we aren't very careful with our assumptions and reactions. "Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi." "Fear is the mind-killer." Rudyard Kipling also observes, "Of all the liars of the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears." And, of course, from the little green man himself, "Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
Distill it then and it all comes down to fear—fear of our assumed inabilities, fear of failure, fear of getting stuck, fear of what other people will say, fear of biting off more than we can chew, fear of not being as good, and on and on. Fear can be a bottomless well it seems. But all the established artists have faced their fear, in all its forms, defiant against its many tactics, and have come out the other end singing. Yet fear is never conquered outright—it has to be fought again and again. This being the case, perhaps great artists aren't born but made through deliberate self-actualization only because it takes more than talent but also equal parts moxie and gumption. And each of us has far more of that than we may realize if we just believe in ourselves a little bit. Because here's the thing—we don't have to have this amazing confidence. We don't have to know what we're doing all the time, or even part of the time. And we don't have to see exactly where we're going every step of the way. We just have to believe in ourselves a little bit.
So that's the one, last Truth: believe in yourself, a little bit more every day. Luckily, the Ten Guides and the Five Foundations will help you on that journey. Practice them relentlessly and it'll become easier and easier to believe in yourself and trust in your potential. Now granted, that may seem totally incredulous when we're stumbling or totally screwing up on a piece. But the truth is that these moments usually herald a breakthrough, when our expectations and abilities are about to take one more step towards each other. Because we're struggling for a reason, right? If we didn't struggle, we'd still be operating with our old paradigms, yes? It's only when we're about to jump to a new one that our skills start to itch! So trust in yourself and forge ahead, full steam! If needed, seek other inputs through new research, new references, even critique from trusted sources. Just keep moving forwards.
You'll also probably find a greater composure and serenity in your work when practicing these ideas. "Like water off a duck's back" is a quip I often say because I like the idea of our stresses rolling right off us, unable to gain a grip. Really, it helps to eliminate as much stress as possible from our studio life because serenity works to generate the Zone that lets our creativity resonate at its best frequencies. It's like the sound-proofing that keeps the noise of the world out. But serenity isn't necessarily a product of great confidence—it's a product of complete acceptance. Acceptance of being human—that mistakes will be made, but we can fix them and learn from them. Acceptance that patience and work are the way towards merging our expectations with our abilities. Acceptance that not everyone will like our work, and that's okay. Acceptance that everyone is on a different learning curve and that's a good thing. Acceptance that our fears are part of us, but also a part that needs careful management and even more kindness. Acceptance of all the things we cannot control because learning happens in its own time and pace. Acceptance that no artist can produce perfection. Only Nature can do that. All we can do is our level best at that moment, and that's all we can ask of ourselves—and that's more than enough. And above all, accept that you and what you create are worthwhile even when you feel the most despondent and alone. It may be really hard to believe at that moment, but trust me—it's true.
Put it all together then, and that's a pretty good map for blazing your own trails on your own terms! And maybe over time, you can discover your own guides. Each of us represents a unique experience, so it's likely you'll find new pathways unique to yours. There's no wrong way! There's only your way and if that way feeds your good vibes, that's the best way there is! Happy trails!
"The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval." ~Denis Waitley
