Speculative fiction and art from Thea Dee
Transmissions from the Asylum
When someone criticizes your art, it can sting. But if you look closer, you may…
The pursuit of art, especially in this day of social media and wide feedback from followers, can be a roller coaster. Sometimes the feedback we get is frustrating. But with feedback comes opportunity. Instead of being discouraged by it, let’s set aside any objection we may feel about criticism and look for any nuggets we can use.
This article on “Why people like your doodles better than your finished works” is an excellent example of taking a piece of criticism and learning from it.
Speaking of David Mack (and don’t bother telling me you weren’t, because the point is that I’m speaking of him and you’re gonna love this), I made this thing a while back based on a fantastic piece of advice he’d given some art students.
If you’re an artist, a writer, any kind of creative, this is the kind of advice to take to heart. It’s all about showing up, doing the work, not caring what people think but showing them what you’ve got anyway. Not because your work is awesome but because it’s worth it and even if it doesn’t measure up to what you know it can be, the only path to that greatness is by doing the work of BEING the artist, the writer, the creative. Forever.
Yeah, so. Get right on that. ‘Cause I think you’d rock it.
P.S. You know who David Mack is, right? Author and artist of the Kabuki comics? Comic cover artist extraordinaire?
Follow David Mack on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook. Buy the Kabuki collection on Amazon.com. It’s a feast for your eyes.
Excerpt from the end of the video and words of wisdom from Benjamin Von Wong for us all:
The people you want to work with to achieve the best results are not the most qualified professionals or the ones with the best credentials or the most experience. But it is the people that have the most passion and that really, really want to be involved. If you work with individuals who are as passionate as you are about success, you can’t fail. You can only succeed.
The three-step key to success:
1. Do [stuff] that you love.
2. Work with people who love [stuff] that you do.
3. Make good [stuff].
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Well, you know what I mean.
Check out Von Wong’s blog for more about the underwater photoshoot or see him on Flickr or 500px.
Sometimes we’re doing just fine… until we sense we’re nearing the finish line.
Eager to begin writing, I sit down and start to daydream about the story. I write for a while. I stop.
The next day I do it again.
This goes on until the story is nearing the big climax at the end. I’ve worked out all the plot snags, and know exactly how it’s going to end. And then…
I slow down.
I drag my feet.
Suddenly I don’t want to write anymore.
I don’t have writer’s block.
I don’t have anything else more important pulling me away.
I’m not tired of the story.
I just don’t want it to end.
…is just as insidious.
(no wonder the arch-villain of star wars is named darth sidious. Ha!)
Although the reluctance to finish a project — and it sometimes shows up as a reluctance to begin — can parade behind many masks, at its heart it is fear. Don’t believe me? Check it:
“I don’t want to finish because…
What’s your reasons for not finishing? (comment below!)
Some fears are based in the reality of past experience.
Maybe you’ve had some harsh critiques.
Maybe you’re not a very good artist (or writer, or filmmaker, or…) Yet.
Maybe you’ve gone through dry spells without any ideas.
But i’d like to share a greater reality than the old news of the past:
The future holds endless potential for positive outcomes!
If your problem is that you’re not very skilled, then think of it this way: your current project is one step closer to mastery of your craft! Every time you practice your skills, you get better. And if you need 100 sketches under your belt before you can master human proportions, then you best get sketching (rather than dragging your feet)! If it’s true that most writers have 2000 pages of junk in their heads before they start writing well, then start typing, buster!
If the trouble has been negative reactions of others around you, get a better support group! Find other creatives who are both at your level of skill and beyond, and you’ll likely find kinder critiques. Then again, maybe nobody thinks you’re any good — you’ll just have to decide whether you believe them or your heart. But if you decide to believe your own creative passion, then don’t ever let the negative reactions of others stop you again. You made the decision to pursue it, so the time for entertaining doubts is over!
Regardless of the past problems, the future is always unwritten and waiting for your positive attitude to shape it into something beautiful.
It comes back to the natural cycle of the seed — sow a good seed, get a good harvest. What you put into life comes back to you. A negative expectation will shape the future into something ugly. A positive one will bring positive results. Sometimes there’s a delay (have you ever actually tried watching and waiting for a seed to sprout and grow? Have you ever planted a fruit tree from a seed? Sometimes it takes patience!), but if you have good seed in good soil and you keep feeding and watering it with good stuff, you’ll eventually get good fruit. It’s just the way the universe works!
Once you realize a fear is irrational (not based on anything that has ever really happened to you, completely unfounded), then I have a two-word solution:
Toss it.
If there’s a project you’ve started that you haven’t finished, take a look at your reasons. If there are legitimate reasons that require action to resolve (for example, you need some reference photos to finish a sketch or you need some research to finish a story), then go forth and take action! Make a list of what needs to be done to finish, and then tackle it one item at a time.
And if you discover that your reluctance to finish is based in fear (real or imagined), I recommend a hearty dose of optimism
(if you need any of that, I’ve got plenty to share)
And then a generous topical application of “just do it!” cream.
(repeat as needed)
Sometimes it feels like there’s all the time in the world… and then 20 years go by…
There’s always tomorrow.
Today I’d rather … Read a book … Watch TV … Go for a walk.
There’s no room on my desk for sketching, and I don’t feel like cleaning it right now.
I need to do more research before I start writing.
I’m too busy; I’ll have more time next week.
“Someday!”
The little demons who generate excuses not to start today never give up.
They never tire.
They never run out of ideas.
They never die.
Those alternately strident and whispering voices that insist there’s no need to start now, or that you can’t start now “because”…
And if you give them a place in your brain once, they’ll invite all their friends and take up permanent residence. It’s called “inertia”, and effectively it means that whatever you’re doing now you’ll tend to keep doing. If you’re in a habit of exercising your creativity, doing your art or music or writing, then that’s what you’ll naturally continue to do. But if you’ve made it a habit to listen to these voices of procrastination, then you will tend to continue.
It’s time for a creative exorcism! And it’s easier than you think.
If you’re reading this blog, then you’ve probably already decided that you want to pursue your creative passion. You already know that’s what you’re designed to do, it’s what you desire, it’s what you’re destined for. There’s no question about whether you should be doing this, now you’re just trying to do it day-to-day and reach your creative goals.
Assuming this is true, then the answer to every procrastinatory excuse is simple:
There’s no time like the present!
I will never have another “today”.
I will live today so that tomorrow I will have no regrets.
Time is precious. It is the one thing that you can never, ever get back once it is gone. It is a river that flows in one direction, and its water can never be retrieved once it goes downstream. Lost. Gone forever.
How will you spend today? Next week you could have a stack of drawings to show for your efforts, or you could have nothing. At the end of the year, you could have a novel written, or you could still be telling your friends “Someday”.
A thousand excuses may come and ten thousand may clamor for your attention, but there really isn’t anything that can stop you once you decide that you’re going to do it.
It’s an act of your will.
A decision.
And once you decide, do not hesitate and do not delay.
Just do it!
And then just keep doing it!
Once you’re on a creative roll, you’ll do exactly that: keep rolling along. Then you’ll have inertia working for you. You’ll be in a habit of sketching every day or writing every night, and that’s a beautiful thing.
I challenge you!
>throws down the proverbial gauntlet<
For 30 days, do your creative thing every day. Break the inertia of procrastination and establish a habit of creative production. Silence those voices, and every time you hear them again, tell them to shut up. You don’t have time to waste.
And don’t forget to enter a comment and share what you’ve done!
