"When a painter talks about her 'work' she could be talking about two different things: There's the artwork, the finished piece, framed and hung on a gallery wall, and then there's the art work , all the day-to-day stuff that goes on behind the scenes in her studio: looking for inspiration, getting an idea, applying oil to a canvas, etc. There's 'painting' the noun, and there's 'painting' the verb."
The process is important. The more we focus on the process the better the product. If we are too impatient in wanting just a finished product, it will undoubtedly lack quality for sure, but even more so, it will lack depth and content. Austin, the author of the above mentioned book, also talks about how, as artists, we must accept the reality of CRAP. We must accept that until we finally produce something of real value we might have to make a lot of crappy art. Sometimes crappy art is even crucial to the process of finding our way, to knowing what it is we want to create, to refining and editing and clarifying. If we sit down, determined to create a masterpiece right away, effortlessly and swiftly, we run the risk of experiencing creative paralysis....'cause who can do that? Who can create a masterpiece the first time around???
The way our creative mind works best is to brainstorm. Just start! On a scrap piece of paper, NOT on a $40 canvas that you cannot afford to ruin with crappy art. Just draw! Or paint whatever pops into your mind! Put it down on the paper. Make yourself sign a paper, where you promise yourself that while you create the first few rough drafts, no censoring, criticizing or editing is allowed. Once you have it all there on the paper, then you can arrange, rearrange, sort, keep and toss. It's like panning for gold in a river. You're not going to find the gold right away. There is going to be a lot, a lot of gravel and rocks too.
To find out more about the awesome Austin Kleon check out his website www.austin kleon.com
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