“Be willing to look stupid”
This is the hardest advice to take! But, that doesn’t change its importance. Loved this entire post.
Thanks Rhonda for your kind words and I agree that being willing to look stupid is certainly the hardest part. Luckily for me I’ve had so much practice at it ;)
Thank goodness I keep a journal to write my thoughts down, otherwise I wouldn’t get an ounce of sleep!
Part of my problem (and I have many) is that I now have so many little notebooks running around the house that I can’t ever remember what notebook has what in it anymore. Sadly, I now appear to need an organizational system for all of these little notebooks
Small and bigger Moleskine-Notebooks everywhere, I found the big one on my bedside table the best. It contains un-organised subjects and mostly it takes a whole coffee intoxicated daytime hour to read what I had written in the dark, but it is the only way, I get to know what ‘a great idea’ had come to me…..whilst everyone in the house was fast asleep. Thank you for another amazing article!
Being willing to look stupid is the hardest part I think, but so important. It is that vulnerability that makes what we are sharing meaningful.
You’re absolutely right Joyelle, it’s the vulnerability that makes the work worth sharing in the first place
The best advice I ever got as an artist fell well in line with “don’t be afraid to look stupid”–it was to stop doing only the things that I already did well. Performing art, visual art all the way down to the mundanity of our personal lives, it’s easier (safer) to keep doing the things we al,ready do well. We cook the same dishes, wear the same clothes, give the same gifts, read the same books, paint the same paintings, and even when we choose to go a *little* outside our boundaries, we trends towards status quo. You can get ever more technically proficient doing the same thing over and over again with only very minor tweaks, but you won’t really GROW. To do that, you have to be willing to fall down, start over, leap off the path and try something utterly ridiculous. It’ll probably fail, but in the failing, you’ll find the next idea.
It seems like it’s that willingness to fall down that makes the difference. Obviously we won’t necessarily fall down and fail every time we try, but you’re right we don’t have the luxury of knowing in advance.
To me at least the willingness to “look stupid” is about removing the fragile ego from the creative process as much as possible. This of course is far easier said than done because the human ego has developed a remarkable survival system. It doesn’t give up easily and always seems to be there fanning the flames of self doubt.
great post :) the looking stupid bit… sigh……… but its part of it :)
Thanks Mimu for the kind words! It’s always great to hear from you my friend :)
Yeah, awkward artist, lol! Really identify with that one, haha! :) But from awkwardness to awesome, right?
I think you’re right, “from awkwardness to awesome ” would make a great creative motto!
You have to keep at it every day do something, make something. The best artists never stop, probably only a quarter of what they create is great art. It is because they are willing to fail (look stupid) and because they put in the miles (pen / brush miles) that they are great.
A very interesting article, I totally related to it. Thank you
Thanks Ashar and I agree with you that the best artists are the ones who just keep at it and never stop creating something. It may not be great, or even very good at times, but it’s a stepping stone to the next canvas, the next book, or the next song. It’s not about looking back and trying to judge what you’ve done, it’s about finding a way to grow into what you will become.
Great post yet again, Drew! That sums up the best advice, right there.
The only trouble I have is the interpretation of steal. There’s something magical in the looking, taking notes, and recording, just shy of taking a photo of someone’s work, that stays with you as a germ of an idea for your own work. The transformation becomes part of the process. Maybe “steal” is just too loaded a word, and I shudder to think of it taken literally. Borrow? Infer? Just my editorial voice in my head, which I try to shush whenever I hear it! :)
You’re absolutely right Liz, “steal” is definitely a loaded word and one that almost all of us creative types naturally shy away from. After all, nobody wants to be accused of stealing something — “borrowing” maybe, “inspired by” sure, but not stealing. It just sounds wrong. The sad truth is that I’m just a sucker for catchy alliteration so I needed something that started with the letter “S” ;)
Easily one of the best articles I’ve read in a very long time. I seem to have a penchant for ensuring I’m always at that “awkward stage”!
I have just entered your website and I love it. It is inspiring :) I’m always afraid to fail and look stupid but without making mistakes we are stuck in our comfort zone and we never progress. Creativity is observing and connecting the dots (as Steve Jobs said), steeling/borrowing inspiration from others is part of it!
An excellent read! I’ve always seen that quote of Picasso’s and never truly understood it until now! You explained everything so well! :)
Thank you
Being stupid, I hate giving speach just because of the fear of being stupid. Some of my old paints are so silly, I never showed anyone too scared of, oh you know….
The other day I decided that I was going to do something silly, I went to work wearing complete opposite colored socks. That turned to be quite fun, I noticed that some people saw it but did not have the heart to tell me, others just had a blast with me.
Feeling stupid is probably the most important step of noticing things as they are, we can embrace it and have lots of new feelings with it, or reject and live locked in a box of conformity.
Thank you for your article, loved it.
Cheers all.
Thanks so much Shirlei for stopping by and reading them :) I really appreciate it!
Hi there,
Thank you for this article – I’ve just come across your website and love the reassurance it has given me in just a few moments of reading.
I am a secondary and primary teacher, but have decided to begin my own small art school (with quality classes, not craft) aimed at our community without the high costs involved in tertiary education. It is becoming my passion to provide people of all sorts with quality fine arts education for hobby purposes or for more serious endeavors as exhibiting artists. I am re-igniting my own arts practice after having left it for 5 years or so as I was busy teaching.
I am passionate for teaching and I have always researched, looked to other artists/art pieces for inspiration, borrowed techniques. Recently I have been looking into Copyright laws here in Australia as my students use other artists’ works to learn from. My aim is to run an educational business (although not recognised by the government as educational) which of course requires inspiration – however, I have found myself disillusioned by the masses of laws surrounding Copyright and the egos and sensitivities (or insecurities??) of so many artists out there. My knowledge of post-modernism and appropriation doesn’t have a leg to stand on. I have always thought that we learn from others – artists don’t develop in isolation of each other, otherwise we wouldn’t have art movements/styles.
Thank you for reminding me of Picasso’s comment “bad artists copy, but great artists steal.” It has put a few things in perspective for me.
Looking stupid is a personal achievement….and being proud to say I have a go at art and I share it with the world…
If you go through life free of mistakes you fail to invent or make any serious contribution to the world.