21/01/2023
Okay, not known what to say for new year for a while.
Been trying to think of something everyone can relate to for 2023.
And it kind of hit me while doing plein air in seaport. I drew a quick sketch of a boat there. The proportions and measurements were inaccurate, the geometry incorrect, and I had to squish the boat in and shorten it to fit it into the page.
To summarise the experience, it was a failure and it was not as perfect as I hoped it to be.
I then I got back home to work on my Bargue drawings, which works on your accuracy.
This style doesn’t have room for carless mistakes, you have to get everything to perfection as best you can.
With this experience I thought, we all have times when it feels like we will never be good enough.
I will never work up to perfection, no matter how much I try to because there is always something else to improve once we have reached that milestone. After finishing these off, I still see areas that are not perfect, I see flaws and mistakes and I worry that another knowledgeable artist who knows their stuff will see the mistakes that maybe others may not pick up on. I feel like a beginner still, inadequate and lesser than.
We all have times of perfectionism, where we always try to be better and maybe get so engrossed that we become workaholics, some maybe more than others!
The reality is, I will never be good enough, nor you, because I am always learning. Being open to improvement and staying humble is part of life.
So as we go into this year, try practicing to embrace your flaws and see mistakes as a stepladder to learn from.
We may have times where we feel lazy, tired, burnt out, or the opposite where we are so engrossed and overworked that the everyday practical side of living around us is forgotten as we work on and into the night. Whatever it is, take a short amount of time to highlight your strengths and qualities, and find areas where you can work at. Accept the flaws and be gentle with yourself, especially gentle, understanding that you are a human trying your best.