Mess Ups and Self-Doubt

Yesterday, my junior-high art class worked on preliminary practice drawings in their sketchbooks before starting on their final project using weighted line and pattern. I noticed one student kept working in her sketchbook, but wouldn’t move on to the final project.

“I’m afraid I’ll mess up,” she explained.

I thinks she was a little shocked when I replied, “You will mess up.”

So I explained that everyone in the class, including me, will mess up. I make mistakes every day in my art (along with a few other areas of my life). These projects are made by the human hand, not a machine. There will be imperfections. We can fix many of them, but the mess ups are there for us to learn something. If we aren’t making mistakes, we’re not pushing ourselves and we’re not learning anything new. So let’s go ahead and make our mistakes and get them out of the way. 

“If you’re not “messing up”, you’re not trying hard enough.”

That doesn’t mean we rush through without considering design and craftsmanship. We should always try our best. But, no matter how hard we try to make that next brilliant thing, many times it will fail. If we fail enough, we will improve.

I write this because I am in the middle of struggles in my own art. The final piece never quite works out the way I had hoped. Occasionally, I’m satisfied with something enough to post it on Instagram. But of course no one sees the failed sketches and paintings in the trash. I look back at my art and cringe as I see all the mistakes. But for some reason, I love the process of making art. It’s therapeutic, expressive, and yes, sometimes painful. 

It's scary to put out art out there -- to expose ourselves and open our work to criticism. Everyone can see the flaws and imperfections. But if we don't ever complete something and occasionally share it, what's the purpose? 

I'm glad to say my student finally worked through her doubts and fears and started on her project.

Here’s hoping the rest of us can do the same.

A stack of  my drawings you'll never see on Instagram.