Hey everybody,
The past few days, I've been thinking about my own struggles with art.
Art used to be so much easier when I was younger. I used to channel all my creativity, energy, and emotion into my illustrations, (Given, they used to be crude magic marker drawings... and I was six,) but something changed since then. I suppose it's something that happens a lot as people get older, but I didn't really see it for myself in this context until recently.
Somewhere along the way, art stopped being fun.
In place of spontaneity, creativity, and excitement, came perfectionism, competitiveness, and scrutiny.
For the longest time, whenever I'd drawn or painted, the primary thing that came up was, "this isn't right," "that doesn't look good," "I'll never be good enough."
I became so caught up in what other people might think. I stopped seeing the good in my work, and all I saw was the bad.
I have had so many great ideas for projects and illustrations. The majority of them have never been realized, primarily because I've been too intimidated to even start.
In that light, essentially no matter what I do, it's already destined to be a failure before I even make a single mark on canvas.
I really got the impact of that last night, and in discovering that, I realized I had two choices: I could remain resigned and say, "this is just how it is now," or I could try something new.
I chose to do something new.
From now on, every day before I even pick up a pen/pencil/stylus, I will say, "I'm committed to having fun today."
Just in speaking that, the persistent weight on my shoulders is lifted, and all of a sudden, I want to make art again.
If any of you are dealing with similar issues, give it a try, and let me know what happens.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
-Mike
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