Combating the Fear of Failure (Part 1)

About safety nets and failing smartly

Dear Reader,

I the newsletter about getting projects done, I mentioned wanting to talk about the fear of failure. I think it is what holds a lot of artists back .
“I’ll mess up the colors/ lines/ the face/ the hands/the sketchbook” And we know that it is probable that the messing up will happen. We’ve experienced it a so often and it hurts and is frustrating when it happens to often, which then leads to being cautious and making sure that failure is less probable.
I know I have had all these fears and have over the years developed coping mechanisms. Some that served me well and others that maybe held me back in ways.

Creating safety nets

I know that one thing I like doing is creating some sort of safety net when unsure.
Like before coloring line art with watercolors I sometimes scan it. This way I feel like I can proceed and possibly mess up the line art and get a do over with the saved line art.

Safety line art scan

Or doing a quick digital color sketch before getting serious with the less familiar traditional colors:

Procreate color test

Drawing digitally in it self can be a safety net. You can edit it till it’s perfect.
This takes “forever”, since there is always something that you can still correct.
I remember repainting this face 24hour long, I kept being undecided about the light and basically painting back and forth and in circles. At the end I could not put my finger on what bothered me. I simply didn’t have the skill yet.

I was pretty new to lineless painting. I see so many problems in this painting, mainly contrast and color wise :D

I’m not saying this is bad. I think I learned a lot about rendering through the possibility of being able to test around to my hearts desire.
It is fine to prefer to drawing only digitally. I just want to impress that being able to change everything always can also be problematic when it springs from the need not to want to have to commit to something. It can make the process very slow.

Another safety net is practicing all the time. ”I need to get better before I do a finished painting. I’m not good enough yet.”

Please don’t stop practicing! Practice is great for when no inspiration is coming forth, but it can become a crutch for never risking anything by never trying to finish a painting.

Why is risk important?

Every time you risk something with a painting you become more confident.
“I can do this. I can overcome tricky situations and solve problems in a painting, I can fail and move on. “

Fail smartly and be fair to yourself

Constant failure is disappointing for sure but does one ever fail ALL THE WAY?

Well, it can happen if something is utterly beyond the current abilities, so knowing ones own abilities is important. What is my comfort zone, what isn’t.

A painting is composed of 100’s of little problems you either know or find solutions for. So it is possible to fail in some areas and succeed in others.
Try to acknowledge the elements that worked nicely instead of only focusing only on the mistakes.

Failing all the time will undermine the strongest motivation, which is why I advise to scale the amount of failure that can happen.

Currently I’m loving working with gouache but I started small and safe again, while I digitally work with more complex scenarios.
Just understanding the way the colors work is enough of a challenge and failure is possible at every step of the way. :D

Gouache on the left and Procreate on the right

Bit by bit I started doing more complex stuff and now 2-3 months later I felt confident to tackle a slightly bigger landscape and I’m still far from where I want to get. But I’m painting continuously and enjoying the thrill not committing the possible mistakes. Or when I do then try to correct them as far as I am capable.

Next week when I would like to talk about more strategies on failing and about reframing failure entirely <3

TUTORIAL: Week 9 from10

WEEKLY PRACTICE

This weeks weekly practice: Hands! Always important!
This weeks references

And here are some of your last weeks practices <3

Herman Iryna, Jana

Will you join me again this week? :D
If so tag me on Instagram. I will share some in my stories and here <3 #schmoescosyartclub

Love,
Schmoe<3