I used to love making art and creating things, but always had a hard time starting big projects, since I've always been afraid of failure and hyper-critical of my art... While the thought of never drawing again brings me to tears, I can't draw because... I don't love my art, I despise how little progress I've made, and I'm angry I can't motivate myself to start. What can I possibly do to start liking my art and make progress, even if it's not perfect?
There is a legend, at the art school that I graduated from. The legend of the pop can. It happened my freshman year, before I got quite so jaded to all the weird shit that happens at art schools. What happened was this: A (clearly empty) coke can was placed on a pedestal in a common area. It remained there for months. Was it art? It was on a pedestal, which is where art goes. But also, it was an empty pop can. Nobody had the moxie of this hero right away and so for a long time, it just stood there, a monument to the sheer apathy that comes from being asked ‘what IS art?’ three hundred and sixty thousand times. Years later, I discovered that the man behind the can was none other than one of my favorite drawing professors, a phenominal painter and printmaker who I respect highly, who also once spent ten minutes explaining isotropic space to my figure class, only to conclude that his favorite method of suggesting it on a 2D plane is by adding a flying saucer. When I asked him “why the pop can” he smiled, and I realized that it had been the funniest goddamn joke I’ve ever seen all along.
The point of my story is this: I’m not saying you shouldn’t take art seriously, but art is fucking ridiculous, ok? We are in an age in which art can be literally indistinguishable from trash. Why worry about making The Painting of the Century when you can paint people fighting Godzilla in a pastural landscape? Some further ideas and suggestions:
- Get a sketchbook. Fill it. The goal isn’t to draw pretty, the goal is to cover all those pages up. If you draw something you really hate, get some opaque paint and paint right over it. Just fill the book. Go fast, don’t look back.
- Accept Bob Ross as your guide. Seriously, when I get too panicky about art, I put on a mix of upbeat music and Joy of Painting videos, so that I have a musical soundtrack of Bob Ross gently reminding me that painting is fun and that all will be well.
- Redefine failure. In this case, the only wrong thing you could do is give up something you love that could bring you joy. Honestly, who cares if your drawings are Good or not? You have nothing to prove. - Sometimes, I think that we dislike our own creations the way that we dislike hearing recordings of our own voice. I don’t know where the knee-jerk hatred bred from recognition comes from, but it happens to most of us. All the artists that you love probably wish they made work more like their favorite artists. But we can only be ourselves, so learning to be gentle with yourself should be on your list.
- If the point is to enjoy yourself and have a nice time, and you are having a lovely time drawing, then all of your drawings are fulfilling their purpose, and are therefore exactly what they need to be. Draw a rad little stegosaurus. Laugh about his funny little kneecaps. Write him a silly speech bubble. He’s doing his best and so are you. Your best is enough.
Remember this above all: Your worth is not determined by how well you can draw. You are already great. Let yourself make something. Let yourself enjoy it. Put a pop can on a pedestal. Laugh about it.
-Evvy
