A long time ago (in a galaxy far away) I used to watch a particular video series on YouTube. The bloke who made it was an amateur who did it in his spare time. It really showed in the early episodes; in many of them you could see where he was groping around, tripping over the software, and generally learning the ins and outs of the craft. But he improved quickly, and by the end of the series he was producing a show that was really quite good. Then, after he finished, he announced that he would be starting a new project that was considerably different from what he had been doing before.
… But nothing ever appeared.
A year or more later, he posted a video explaining what had happened. He'd been working on starting the new project, but so far hadn't been able to get it up to the standards of quality that he now expected of himself. He talked about how, if he'd been so worried about quality when he first started, he never would have produced anything at all. If he hadn't allowed himself to make stuff that sucked, he never would have gotten good enough to make stuff that didn't. What he needed to do now was once again give himself …
… permission to suck.
Sadly, he never managed it; but for some reason, this idea has stuck with me. Today, I decided to look and see if that video was still online. What I found was that the phrase "permission to suck" is not uncommon on the interwebs. Apparently there are a lot of people out there who subscribe to this concept … or some permutation of it. I think the one I saw that I like best is this:
"Attempting greatness is a great way to ensure your own failure. Just try to suck a little less every day."
…
I've decided to start speed drawing/painting … with my left hand.
Thanks to Squib for the inspiration. I know the symbol on the headphones is backwards. This happened because I constantly flip the image as I go. It's a technique that makes "wonkyness" in the image easier to spot. Beeing a speed-run though, I'm not allowed to go back and fix anything up once it's exported. This rule is actually very important if you think about it.
Right now, I'm aiming for one a week; but I'd eventually like to ramp it up to one a day.
4 comments :
Hang on, you did that left handed? It's a real drawing with a texta or something? It's amazing
All drawings on this blog are going to be done left handed, and finished in a single sitting, with an enforced time-limit.
This is an attempt to side-step self-expectation and get over stage-fright.
I use a Wacom tablet for drawing.
Permission to suck. I like it. Because really, who gives a shit? I suppose it's different if you are putting your work up here, to doing a shitty first draft or second, third, fourth draft, that no one sees. But we can be too hard on ourselves and forget that process is involved and crafting. I think it's a great idea, squib is a genius but we knew that. If it gets you over the 'stage fright' then well and good. And I like that idea of side-stepping self-expectation, cause our own selves are the ones who are hardest, on our own selves. Does that make sense?
Unfortunately, yes, it makes perfect sense. In point of fact, the (obvious) answer to your question, "Who gives a shit?", is (apparently) me — and me alone. Hopefully this will allow me to get over that.
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