The Ugly Stage of Every Artwork

Last week in my kids art classes I was teaching watercolour. More specifically, we painted a lizard with watercolour.

Here is one of those lizardsNow before I go too far into this story, I should tell you I had previously used these special paints I’d deemed “better” for the kids. I had this delusional idea that semi-wet watercolours would be great for kids. Basically, these are paints that are a sort of paste and never really dry, but you get really vibrant colours so it seemed like a good idea at the time. Keep in mind these kids are young enough to not understand that scooping concentrated paint with a brush and mashing it into the page isn’t actually how you use watercolour; water being the operative part of the word. Now imagine you’re in a classroom with 25 5-10 year-olds and you’ve just given them the go-ahead to paint (or mash) their carefully-drawn lizards with semi-wet watercolours meant for a more developed brain. Now you can kind of see where I went wrong. And to be clear, it’s not that I hadn’t thought of this. I just made the amateur mistake of thinking I could just explain not to do the mashing thing and it would suddenly be a thing of the past. Fast forward to last week when I finally gave up on my dreams and purchases 12 sets of fully dry watercolour paints. Here we were, painting our lizards and happily digging away into the paints, with the kids soon realizing their digging techniques were no match for my new paints! And then the kids started to realize that with less paint comes the need for layers. Watercolour is a special medium in that you need to layer your colours. It is transparent and requires layering wet upon dry before you can really start to see your picture take shape. I’ve spent a great deal of time explaining to kids that art is a process and sometimes there is an ugly stage. But before I could reiterate this, the crying started. I mean, I get that it can be disappointing when you spend 45 minutes drawing a lizard and it looks…well…ugly. But I tell them it’s part of the process and we just keep going!

So that brings me to this weekend. I had started this painting last week in a burst of inspiration and quickly realized the green shorts were looking pretty ugly themselves. I took a break but I was determined to finish the painting whether it remained ugly or not.

Here is the "ugly" stage I was struggling withThe moral of the story is that there is often an ugly stage to the work we do, whether its visual or not. And it can be so ugly we want to throw it aside and start something new and fresh, but if we just hold on and keep building, believing the base we build is strong enough for something to blossom, we might just end up with something beautiful. ​ Or, as I tell the kids, you can throw it out when I’m not looking. 😂

Motivation and Creativity

Have you ever found yourself scrolling on your phone or watching Netflix knowing full well you should be somewhere else doing something more important? Maybe you’re not feeling 100% but the guilt rings in the same. You still need to take the dog out or clean up the house. I’m talking about those days that you COULD get away with doing nothing, but you know you’ll be kicking yourself later.

I am that person EVERY Saturday (I am writing this on Sunday). To the point where I don’t make plans on Saturdays unless it’s after 5 PM. And to be clear it’s not that I do nothing every Saturday, but I’m almost always not doing the thing I should be doing.

I am a big list maker, which sometimes helps. I love lists, I use them every day multiple times a day. One could say I only do things if they’re on a list. I’ll even tell myself I don’t have to fold laundry because it’s not on the list (nor will it ever be…).

Why am I talking about this?

Because lists and guilt are my main sources of motivation. Sure, the prospect of selling some art or having a clean house is lovely, but the guilt is doing most of the heavy lifting for me. And yes, before you say anything, I am realizing how unhealthy this is.

If I’ve learned anything in the last year since I started my spic colourful painting journey, it’s that guild and creativity are foes and the perfect way to kill creative motivation is to feel guilty for not getting something done.

I am telling you this because whether you’re an artist or not, we are all creative in different ways. We use creativity for so much of our lives and whether you realize it or not, when your creativity is dwindling, you feel it in so many ways.

So, the next time you’re feeling frustrated with yourself about procrastinating something just remember that your creative motivation is more likely to come back to you when you are kind to yourself. We all need rest; we all need a chance to let our brains naturally come back to the work we need to do.

You will know when it’s time to stop the procrastinating and get to work and when that time comes, you must trust you’ll make the right decision and put the procrastination aside!

Also, don’t underestimate the power of rewarding yourself with a snack.

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Thanks for tuning in! See you next week!

My kid could do that...

Whether you're an artist or not, I'm sure you've heard it before.

It's a classic.

But I want to talk about this a little bit with you.

Firstly, I've taught A LOT of kids over the years and no, your kid can't do that.

But secondly, and more important, art is about more than just what you see in the moment.

Did you know the average amount of time a person looks at a painting in an art gallery is 17 seconds. That's not even long enough to heat up a cup of cold coffee in the microwave.

Now imagine spending your working life, let's say 30 years (a dream!), studying art, the in-depth meanings of the most famous paintings on the planet, and then creating and developing your own drawing and painting and colour-mixing skills, and learning how to use the principles of art to the point where you understand HOW they can impact a viewer and then...

they look at it for 17 seconds!!!!!

Then they walk away. They might as well be screaming "NEXT!" while shoving popcorn into their mouths.

If we aren't even willing to spend more than 20 seconds looking at a piece of artwork, how can we expect to feel or understand anything about it? How can anyone expect to "get" it?!

As I'm sure you've noticed, I am very passionate about helping people appreciate and understand art better.

That's why I've created this free guide to help you explore ways to connect and interpret abstract art the next time you're in a gallery.

Get it here

To give you a preview of what you'll find in the guide, I'll keep this rant going.

The MAIN difference between a professional artist's abstract art and the art of a small child is the PLANNING. The child does not plan. The child scribbles impulsively, choosing colours based on arbitrary conditions without any real logic around it (i.e. my mom wore a red shirt today so I'll use the blue crayon).

Professional artists learn and plan and test and try. We create artworks that fail, and we figure out why they fail. And trust me, a failure of an artwork has nothing to do with how it looks and everything to do with how it is experienced.

For more, just go look at the guide! I am much more eloquent in the guide. I think.

Don't worry, there is no catch! Except that I'd love if you could forward this email to someone you know who you think might be interested in my free guide. It's even good for kids! I speak kid most of the time. MOST of the time.