Unlock Your Creative Potential: 3 Pieces of Art Advice You Need to Hear
None of them are to practice.
This is my second article on this topic you can find the first one below vvv
Just Do It
Ready for some expert advice from none other than Walt Stanchfield, the real deal!
After serving in WWII, he did tons of outstanding work for Disney and even educated many of the greats we admire today. And now, his wisdom lives on through his famous quote:
“We all have 10,000 bad drawings in us. The sooner we get them out the better.” — Walt Stanchfield
But there’s more to this quote than meets the eye. It’s not just about the importance of practice, but also about taking action and accepting that you’ll never feel fully ready. For any foreign skill that you want to master, you have to dive in and embrace the fact that you’ll make mistakes along the way, and that’s okay.
This exercise is about building mental toughness. If you can’t make bad drawings how will you make good ones? Everyone’s talents run out eventually.
Learning to take the good with the bad is the only way to grow. This quote is about opening the sketchbook in the first place. It isn’t about motivation; it’s about determination. Just put pen on paper and make it. It doesn’t have to be good. It doesn’t have to be a study or a work of art. Just make something. Something you’re uncomfortable with, a bad drawing. Let the creativity flow and make it natural. No perfection is necessary. Experience separates an artist that makes an exceptional piece 1 out of 100 times and an artist that makes an incredible piece 1 out of 5 times. So get those bad drawings out of you. 10,000 drawings can be done in a month or a year, all it takes is effort. Solidify yourself against criticism and your pessimistic thoughts and work. Live in your art and be creative.
Don’t Erase
Now, for my second piece of advice: practice without erasing. Why, you ask? For starters, it’ll preserve your paper from wear and tear. But more importantly, it’ll help you build line confidence, one of an artist's most important skills. You’ll learn to trust your lines and gain control over them by practicing without erasing them. And by keeping the momentum going, you’ll make progress toward your goals.
A messy sketchbook is the sign of an experienced artist. No one will see your sketchbook, so create unabashedly. The Pinterest pictures of those perfect crisp sketchbooks are a lie. No one worth their salt started like that. Make a mess and build your confidence. Erasers are only necessary for final pieces; put them away when you sketch. If you don’t like how something looks, draw over it with a darker pencil line or start a new page. Don’t get in the habit of CTRL+Z all over your sketchbook. Keep it loose and free.
Believing You Can Is Half of The Skill
“More To Do With Belief Rather Than Talent And Ability.”
The final piece of advice has to do with this TED talk. It is the fact that believing that you can’t do it is exactly what is holding you back from doing it. Everyone has the capacity to learn whatever they want. All it comes down to is determination and passion for your craft.
Nearly every child creates without shame over their skill and ability. They have no expectations from society. Capture that freedom. There is an expectation that at a certain age, you must have achieved proficiency in the art to be an artist. That isn’t a lie. Anyone can start at any age.
The belief that you can’t draw stems from societal pressures. You can’t let that affect you. Picking up the pencil to learn a new skill already puts you ahead of the people who say, “I can’t draw." On that note, I hope you have a wonderful day and a great time drawing.
