A short while ago, a student shared with me their desire to be—not good, but great at art making. We spent a considerable amount of time in the span of several weeks discussing the theoretical aspects of art making. We discussed types of lines, composition arrangements, mediums, visual principles of organization, and many others. In the meantime, given their harsh self criticism, I kept imagining their work to be subpar and lacking a certain sophistication. Given the discussions we were having and their need for classification or categorization, my expectation for seeing a certain caliber in their work slowly vanished. Still I did not hold a particular picture of their work. Simply in their sharing I observed hunger, insecurity, and judgement.
The conversations allowed to me to think about what, in the past had been and what currently is, important to me when it comes to art making. My priorities have changed. I am not sure when exactly they changed. At the moment, my strong preference is to stay back and do art. Both in Paris and Italy, I made choices to see a little less and spend time in my sketchbook. I did not feel left out or mourned not seeing more. Of course there is a lot to see and if possible one can stay out the entire 24 hours sightseeing and exploring. But, I could not. Once I spent a considerable time out, I yearned to come back to my room and draw or paint. I was compelled.
Decades ago, the idea of not going out was unthinkable to me. The thought of sitting still to draw slowly weakened during my late teenage years all the way to great part of my adulthood. Things balanced out a bit for a while. Until I found dancing and once again, two immersive avenues were in tension for me: art making and dancing. This had to be reigned in but not without much, much effort since my thesis depended on it. There were other factors too but those are for another post.
Today I crave time to work and I dig it out. It is hard for some to understand this need. Many invitations are sometimes turned down because secretly, all I want to do is work on my art. Do not worry, I do spend a lot of time looking, exploring, reading, watching, and definitely talking. My mind does not lack intellectual stimulation.
During the conversations with my student, I found myself sharing points that had become guiding principles in my art making practice. I thought I’d collect them here.
Time: a little is better than nothing
We are all at different stages in our lives. Thus, the amount of time we are willing or can dedicate to the one thing we want to excel varies. That said, a little time is better than nothing. No one gets better at something by doing nothing except perhaps getting better at nothing. One question my student asked was related to how much time is enough. I can’t answer that. However, I do know that the value of concentrated time even if it is 15 minutes does wonders in progressing on a project. I remember taking the Metra in Chicago. I had no WiFi to rely on and that one hour of zero distractions did wonders for me. It was amazing.
Trust the process
The anxiety for achieving something—whether it is getting better at X, getting married, having a companion, getting a better job, you name it—is sometimes a treacherous and deceiving partner. The truth is that the process will get ugly, the output will look worse than when we started for a while, and we will spend a lot of time cursing our lack of progress. It is akin to being in the middle of the ocean after leaving the shore. Both the shore and the destination are out of sight and all we see is, well, ocean. (I know you are doubting this metaphor because I never get on a cruise. But, for the record, I have taken some cruises and I vomit like a baby. I love the ocean but hate the cruises). The cruise must continue until it reaches its destination. All you can do is trust that process and keep at it.
When I started lettering there were times that what I did was well, subpar compared to others who I admired. I do not cure my Instagram feed. If you scroll enough, you will see earlier pieces that are not and were not eloquent. But, I kept at it. Same happened with typography. I sucked. Literally sucked. But I kept practicing and studying. I would take any opportunity to practice. The process is as important as the destination because it will take you where you’d want to be.
Reflection
Not much is learned or will be learned if we do not step back to look at the work from the distance. I actually make my students print, trim, and pin on the wall but upside down. The amount of “oooooh!, ahhhhh!, wow, yeah, I see that” is outstanding. Simply by changing the context in which we look at a problem, we get insight and gain perspective.
Distance is always a good, good thing. This is true for art making, design, and even relationships. One can’t look at what is staring us at the face until we step back. That distance invites reflection be it about the colors used, the types of lines, the way we hold a pencil or a brush, etc.. Reflection is so critical that I make my students write one at the end of every project. No, it is not about their feelings or endless complaining. I want to know what exactly did they learned in their own words.
Getting better at something or making progress in a project does not need to be difficult. The truth is that we make time for what it’s important to us. We all have the same amount of time. But, unless there is a crisis in our lives that takes over, how and where we spend our time is a choice. Be it a quarter of an hour or several hours is really not the point. The point is to make deposits in that account even when they are small.
I had a colleague when I was a junior high school teacher who decided to go to law school after all day teaching. He had a family and a busy life. I asked him if he did not think it was going to take him a long time to become a lawyer, to graduate. He said the quote below and I use it and share it with others when needed:
You are going to get old anyway. Might as well get old doing what you like.
Since then, that became one of my mantras because it is true. We live our lives with such a hurry and need to do things as quickly as possible. But we would not trust a doctor who became a doctor overnight. It is not possible to be a skilled or a wise one without the time spent on it. We understand that. But why don’t we understand it when it comes to things we want to accomplish?
Love,
Alma