Tag Archives: visual art

Practice is not for Perfection

Almost everyone grew up hearing this mantra, “Parctice makes perfect!” It was drilled into our heads by parents, teachers, and clergy with good intentions. They wanted us to do well in life. The saying was meant to reinforce the values of self-discipline, determination, hard work, and persistance. Nothing wrong with that.

Perfection is an Outdated Concept

However, every upside has a downside. This concept also gave us an unreachable goal because there’s no such thing as the “imagined” perfection we percieve. From the moment we are born until the moment we die (and perhaps beyond) we are capable of learning, growth, and development in some way. So what is this mythical idea of perfection anyway?

You might think that getting it right, not making mistakes, being at the top of your class is perfection. Someone else might think that being recognised and earning a good income in their field, be it science, art, law, or music, requires perfection. Another person might drive themself to extremes in their personal or social life because of their subconscious perfectionsit expectations of themself.

Personally, I’ve always felt it was more of a spiritual mandate, but that can create unrealistic expectations as well. There’s nothing wrong with trying to be the best that we can be. However, perfectionsism as an ingrained thought pattern can cause excess stress and even prevent us from achieving our goals.

So let’s see what practice is really about…

Practice Makes Learning Possible

Regular practice creates a container for learning, inspiration and flow. If you don’t take out your art supplies you won’t learn to use them (no matter how many YouTube tutorials you watch). But if you go to your art-space and just start doing something you will learn and become more proficient in some way. If you make effort with an open and curious mind you will be surprised! Yes, unexpected and interesting things will happen, and that leads to more inspiration and the flow state that every artist desires.

Practice exercises the muscles of self-discipline, self-determination, and focus. As a child you might have felt bored to tears practicing the scales on the piano until they were engrained into your psyche. But this is what laid the foundation for all your future musical development. Eventually the amount of practice we put into something allows it to become second nature. This is good, as long as the patterns we learn don’t stop us from learning more. Practice should always help us learn, grow or become more aware in some way.

Finding Your Happy Place

The most important thing about practice often gets overlooked. It’s not just about drilling a skill into our mind/body framework. The practice needs to generate happiness and joy which makes you want to do it more! Some people feel joy from learning, others feel happy when a job is done well. Still others feel joy from a novel experience, and some feel the most joy when their senses are stimulated. We are all different, so it’s important to investigate how practicing can make you feel good.

Things to Consider

What lights you up when you practice something you want to be good at?
What about practice deters or distracts you?
What makes you feel energized?
What makes you bored?
What leaves you feeling satisfied?

The Process is the Purpose

Many things happen in the brain when we actively engage in creative processes. People who are highly creative have unique neuron connectivity that causes them to be able to think outside the box. On the other hand, people who tend to not think creatively have more repetitive thought patterns. Their neurons tend to connect in similar ways most of the time. High creativity is associated with a wider variety of random connectivity throughout the brain.

This means that being creative can engage your whole brain, and that’s why doing creative activities reduces stress. But don’t worry if you get stuck in thought loops and habitual ways of being; we all do. Fortunately, due to brain plasticity we can learn to be more creative.

Art Practices Can Activate the Whole Brain

Making art activates a variety of neural networks, including a relaxed reflective state, focused attention, and pleasure. It can help you be more present, and it can allow you to enter “the Zone”. This is a “flow state,” where you lose your sense of self and time.

This is especially true the more spontanious and open your creative process is. The more you use your intuition, imagination, allow possibilities, and disengage from expectations about the outcome, the more you will be activating your whole brain. A creative process that utilizes your whole body and a variety of media is even better for engaging the whole brain.

When the whole brain is activated we enhance our ability to learn, become receptive to new inspiration, and are better able to solve problems. This type of art making process activates the reward center, and that’s why it makes us feel good. If you over-think the process and get discouraged it means your left-brain has taken over. It’s best to engage in the art process like a child who’s just playing around with the materials and having fun!

Discovery, joy, and happiness is key

This is your only guideline for knowing when your art process is activating your whole brain and helping you evolve. The process should be enjoyable even if the final artwork is not! No one creates a masterpiece in one go. It doesn’t matter if you never create a masterpiece or sell a piece of art. The purpose of making art for self development is to unlock your subconscious mind so you can learn and grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Creative expression is about personal evolution. When you love the process, you will eventually develop art you love and others will be drawn to it as well.

Links to whole brain art exercises:

Intuitive Collage
Intuitive Painting
Scribble & Doodle Play
Meditative Nature Drawing
Gelli Printing

Mixed Media Collage

Mixed media is exactly what it sounds like: using more than one type of media to creat a piece of art. So, you might be doing a painting in acrylic and decide to add some line work with oil pastels or ink. Or maybe you have some tissue paper painted with black and white shapes and you decide those will add contrast in your design. There are a lot of possibilities with mixed media.

Collage has many possibilities too but it’s not always mixed media. You can create a collage just with photos, or just with paper, or you can use a variety of art media, textiles, or found objects. Now we’re talking endless possibilities.

Limits Can Be Helpful

When I create I like to give myself a few limits because it allows intuitive flow by reducing decision making. So when creating this mixed media collage I started with a simple line drawing. Then I cut up Gelli prints that I had previously made into the shapes of the leaves (or half the leaf) of this plant.

At a certian point I decided not to use Gelli prints for the whole image, but to paint the other half of the leaves with acrylic paint. When the collage of the plant was done I realized it needed a background other than white paper, so I cut it out from the white paper. I created a soft wispy watercolor background and after it dried I glued the collaged plant onto it.

Creative pace and processing

None of these decisions were planned out ahead of time because I believe that reponding to each stage of the work is the best way to let the creative juices flow.

  1. I responded to the line drawing with Gelli prints.
  2. I responded to the Gelli prints with acrylic paint.
  3. I responded to the finished plant image with a watercolor background and finishing touches.

Although it sounds quite simple, and it is… I didn’t do it all in one session. I do things a little at a time over a period of days, sometimes weeks, giving myself time between each session to observe, feel, and process what I’m creating. I let it talk to me so I can respond.

Some people may process faster and do things quickly and that’s fine. Everyone’s different and I allow myself to go at my own pace because that’s what works for me.

Some things to consider:

Are you a slow or fast processor?
Do you prefer to plan things out or work spontaniously?
Do you start with a fixed idea or are you open to possibilities?
Can you be flexible with expectations and outcomes?
Will you allow yourself time to enjoy the process?