Artists Beware: 3 Dangers of Perfectionism

by David Finley

 My wife and I were conversing recently about the new path I was taking as a full time freelance artist. I filled her ear with how happy I was to be making art again, and how free I felt from the life we had been living just months before. 

 Eventually, the conversation progressed to the status of my online store, where I planned to sell prints and originals of my art. This wasn't the first time we had discussed the matter. So, I explained how I was making new art and as soon as I had a body of work I was happy with, my online shop would be born. For some reason my response didn't make sense to her. Why not open my store now with the work I already have and add better work as I go along?

 She was right. I had let perfectionism almost stop me from taking an important step toward my goals.

 So, my own battle with perfectionism came to my attention. It is something I was mildly aware of before, knowing even in my younger years I was my own worst critic. However, I never considered what perfectionism might be costing me as an artist and a creative professional.

 There is a bit of illusion perfectionism throws our way. It masquerades as quality control and encourages excellence. Because, while it keeps our standards escalating ever higher, perfectionism is the summit of a mountain we can never truly climb.

 

3 Dangers of Perfectionism

1. Perfectionism Will Cause You to Procrastinate

 As I said before, I wanted to have a perfect portfolio of all new work before I opened my shop online. Yet, if I had waited for my dream portfolio, I would have missed out on the prints I have sold since I opened my shop.

 It's not just my online shop either. There are so many shows, companies, and galleries that I have neglected sending my work to because I wanted things to be perfect first. That's not lazy, but it is a form of procrastination.

2. Perfectionism Will Lead to Frustration and Depression

As artists, we thrive on the melancholy. We love to stare at our own work, mentally dissecting and breaking it down. But, it is a dangerous preoccupation that can hinder your personal well being if left unchecked. 

 Perfectionism can spread to all areas of our life and rob of us our daily joy. As we sit and compare our lives and our work to others who seem far more successful, the depression only grows worse because we will never be as perfect as the ideals we see in other people.

3. Perfectionism Can Cause you to Miss Out on your Dreams

 I listened to an NPR interview with Paul McCartney recently where he was asked about the infancy of the Beatles, their musical influences, and what obstacles they faced writing songs like their favorite performers. He responded by saying he and the other Beatles didn't really consider the possibility they would never be able write songs exactly like their greatest inspirations. Mainly, they were enthusiastic about making music of their own that they liked, and worked vigorously to make it.

 Had they stopped to think about it more, it would have decreased their output dramatically.  Perfectionism might have kept one of the greatest bands in history from ever happening.

A Perfectionist No More... Well, Mostly

 Realizing how big a problem perfectionism can be has really helped me as an artist.  It is better to do than to have the perfect plan.

 Perfectionism has its place. There is nothing wrong with striving for excellence. There is nothing wrong with planning. Just don't allow it to stop you from doing what you love the most.

Thanks for reading, Scofflaws!

-Dave

Don't Let Me Down- The Importance of Telling the Truth With Your Art

by David Finley

Don't Let Me Down: John Lennon/ Beatles Tribute- by David Finley

"Don't Let Me Down
Don't Let Me Down
Don't Let Me Down
Don't Let Me Down"

-John Lennon

 Don't Let Me Down by the Beatles is one of my favorite songs of all time. It is a song armed with lyrics, both raw and incredibly powerful. The song is a desperate plea for love that won't end, and the naked anguish can be heard throughout the chorus.

  With it's lack of pretense, it penetrates emotional barriers, reaching a part of us that has been terribly hurt before, but took a chance on new love anyway. There's a deep truth that you can feel. For those of us who have been betrayed or hurt by love, we can identify with the pain. We too have been there. It's real.

 It's one of the reasons I am such a big John Lennon fan. Although he was quite controversial as a public figure, Lennon seemed to make himself vulnerable through his music in a way that he never would otherwise. In speaking about his own process as a poet and songwriter he said,

"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all. "

Speak the Truth

 Artists are communicators. We observe the world around us and the life within and document what we see. In this digital age, sometimes being clever or trendy is prized over truth in art, but it doesn't last.

 Admittedly, there's nothing wrong with being clever as long as it's honest. If it's not true and doesn't carry the potential to connect with others, what have you or I as artists really accomplished? How have you reached within yourself to provide a reflection for others to see themselves in? How has your art made a difference in the lives of those who interact with it?

Sometimes What is Fantasy is Actually Reality

 In his book The Things They Carried, a memoir about Vietnam by Tim O'Brien, he often states,

"None of this actually happened, but all of it is true."

  I'm paraphrasing a bit on that quote, but he repeats it several times throughout the story. I was particularly taken with that idea that it would be possible to write something truer that didn't actually happen, than something that did. In O'Brien's case, he experienced the Vietnam war, and instead of describing the actual factual events, he tells us with various accounts what he emotionally experienced, instead. It made a book in a genera as gritty and raw as a war memoir connect that much more.

 Yet, truth is not really about genera, either. Tolkein wrote about genuine hope in the midst of despair in Lord of the Rings, Picasso reflected the horror by depicting bombs dropping on an innocent city with Guernica, and in Harry McClintock's Big Rock Candy Mountain, we see a hobo's desire to escape the hardship of life described in the ideals of a strange fantastic paradise. That's real art.

 It's when we are honest about what is inside us that a true connection begins to form. It's how we, as visual artists, writers, choreographers, musicians, actors and all types of artists make the most impact.

 Artists of all types, let me encourage you to speak your own unique truth. Being vulnerable poses the greatest risk, but yields a greater reward. It takes courage to speak out about something that we so deeply guard within ourselves. Speaking out invites criticism and derision, but it is worth speaking just the same.

 Your voice might be the reflection someone is waiting for to speak to them and heal them in a way nothing else can.

Thanks for reading, Scofflaws!

-Dave


 Oh yeah, and if you haven't heard the Beatles, Don't Let me Down, you can catch it on Youtube:

About the Art

 

Title: Don't Let Me Down: A John Lennon/ Beatles Tribute- by David Finley

Medium: Digital- Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop

 Being such a big Beatles fan, I've always wanted to do a piece of art in tribute to their music. This is the first of a series about songs written by the Band. With this song, I wanted to reflect the raw energy that came from his vocals, so I tried to imbue the piece with an active movement.

The Not So Great Commission

I have a love/ hate relationship with commissions.

On one hand, it is great to earn money with my art when I can while simultaneously giving someone a piece of art that they truly want. Yet, the flip side to commissions is that you often work with subject matter using techniques that you dislike. 

 For me, the worst is realistic portraits. I respect the genera and the skill it takes to achieve photo realistic likenesses with paint and brush, but, it isn't for me. It's too confining and rigid. When I do portraits it often involves mathematically gridding out a page and even with the grid, there is a process of working and reworking that, if I'm being completely honest, makes me want to set my canvas on fire I'm just not patient enough for.

Don't get me wrong, I have been fortunate enough to do some really fun commissions, even when they are portraits. Those clients understand the type of work I do and are commissioning me because of it. But, often a commission will be pregnant with a whole slew of aggravation.

I made a silly cartoon to illustrate the experience an artist undergoes in this kind of commission process:

And there you have it. A bad commission can cause all kinds of aggravation. Now I would like to say something to the clients and artists out there to try and mend this broken fence.

Clients: It helps to seek artists who do the type of work you are looking for. Creatives work best when they are interested in the project they are working on. Don't commission an abstract expressionist if you want them to paint a photorealistic photo of your daughter at her graduation.

Remember that art is labor and takes time. Also, art supplies can be very expensive so take both of those things into account when an artist quotes you a price. Good art of any type is worth paying for.

 Artists: For goodness sake, don't be afraid to say "no" to a project. Take projects that you will enjoy and that will empower you to do your best work. Take projects that will help you grow as an artist and that will help build your portfolio.

Don't lower your prices just to get a commission. Those almost always end up being the worst projects and usually end up costing more in labor than they are worth. Also, it's a good idea to at least get some kind of non-refundable deposit on the project, at the very least, to cover supply cost if the client backs out.

I understand that these rules must be broken when money is tight because we all have to eat, but otherwise, save yourself the grief. (note: I am guilty of breaking all of these rules at some point.)

So, in closing, I would just like to say...

...would anyone be interested in hiring me for a commission? :)