Yesterday in one of my classes there was a little guy who was stuck in the loop of feeling he wasn't drawing well enough to draw the idea he was going to build in clay. He came in mentally wrapped as tight as a drum telling me that he is terrible at art and couldn't do anything. He froze. My heart is broken for this particular fella as he is a very talented artist when he can jump the hurdle of self-disrespect. He struggled all class trying to get a few ideas on the paper. It wasn't his ability to draw holding him back, it was his mental inflexibility with his own feelings about himself that got in the way.
I think sometimes as adult artists we might sometimes feel this way and not even know it. We learn to bury it over the years, and exist in a happy, comfortable place where our skills and beliefs about our abilities are not challenged. It isn't a problem unless the artist sees it as one, however. If a creative adult wants to make art the same way for their entire life they can happily do so. Many artists, though, keep reaching for the rings that keep moving a few steps ahead of them, just out of reach. We look, and expect, growth. Expression. Translation of feeling and vision into material object. Getting "it" out there. I have taken difficult moments in my life and through drawing (and creating other things) I have challenged and reversed the negative energy and made tangible meaning of it all.
Drawing is so wonderful for this as it is a limited investment of time and materials. The ogre of potential waste isn't sitting on an artist's shoulder watching every line. It can be a doodle or a masterpiece. It can be private or shared. It can be an experiment, a reactive experience, or even a zentangle (and if you know me you know how I feel about these!) All it takes is a little motivation, self acceptance, and permission to let one's creative cow out of the barn to see where it goes. While a drawing might be made by you, it isn't you, and if you give yourself permission to fail a bit, or a lot, the results might just surprise you.
What will you make today?