MAKING ART IS CHANCY

Okay. How many of you out there have ever put down your pencil, closed your computer and said, "That's it. I'm done." ??

Well, guess what?

IT'S JUST PART OF THE PROCESS.

Again, from ART & FEAR by David Bayles and Ted Orland

"Fear that your next work will fail is a normal, recurring and generally healthy part of the artmaking cycle… In the normal artistic cycle this just tells you that you’ve come full circle, back to that point where you need to begin cultivating the next new idea."

So. IT'S OKAY TO GET STUCK. It just means it's time to move on to the next thing.

And what if the next thing is so BIG, you feel completely overwhelmed?

THAT'S OKAY TOO.

"Vision is always ahead of execution – and it should be. Vision, Uncertainty, and Knowledge of Materials are inevitabilities that all artists must acknowledge and learn from: vision is always ahead of execution, knowledge of materials is your contact with reality, and uncertainty is a virtue."

Did you hear that, brain??? UNCERTAINTY IS A VIRTUE.

Also: "What’s really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy of how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way. Simply put, making art is chancy – it doesn’t mix well with predictability. Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all pervasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding."

PERFECTION, BEGONE!! Remember:

"What you need to know about the next piece is contained in the last piece. The place to learn about your materials is in the last use of your materials. The place to learn about your execution is in your execution. The best information about what you love is in your last contact with what you love. Put simply, your work is a guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work."

Want more? Buy the book!