Look at your old art with confidence
I think we need to stop looking at art we've made in the past with shame and frustration, and instead look at it as part of the journey. If you remove that part of your journey, you remove all subsequent progress that has gotten you where you are today. You can't have your current day success and progress without first having gone and done that work that you feel so conflicted about now. I am able to grow because I am able to look at my old work as a source of inspiration instead of "OMG I never wanna see this again." I can see where I struggled, how I learned to fix that mistake, and how I honed my skills. I can see all the steps I took to get here. There's so much value in that.
What is so shameful about growing? And trying the things you tried back then? I can't see shame in that. For years, my mom had all my old work everywhere. Anyone who came in the house could see it. That absolutely did not bother me. I am able to answer questions and teach art because I value that journey and those pieces that didn't quite work out but still contain a very deep fountain of knowledge within them. I can say, "Hey, this is a common thing artists struggle with in their journey. Here's an example of when I did it. Here's how you fix that mindset and do it better." It's that relatability and that humanity that helps us all learn. We all make mistakes. Every single one of us. But they are not failures. Every one of those mistakes also carries a small win... Or maybe even a big one. We hurriedly try to bury those things that show progress, not realizing that progress is actually a really ugly and complex process. It's a metamorphosis. You just have to decide to redirect your energy to see it.
Comments
Post a Comment