I’ve had so much fun playing with photos on my cell phone, you knew it was only a matter of time before they fully worked their way into my journal.
I have to admit — I was at a loss for a bit. I could cut them up, make collage fodder from them. Color around them, doodle with pens (I’m doodling all the time, now). But that was stuff I’ve seen before. In the sea of mixed-media, I wanted to do something different, something I hadn’t seen before. And if this has, well, I haven’t seen it!
One of the big things to happen for me recently is Art Acceptance.
What is Art Acceptance? It’s two-fold:
1. The creation of art that you find aesthetically lovely and pleasing, that brings you joy, happiness, and pride when you share it with others.
2. Allowing yourself to create without the fear of creating Bad Art, and thus holding yourself back in fear of the blank page and enjoying the process for the joy and lessons it has to teach you.
(I made this up, by the way, as a major chunk of my Personal Philosophy on art.)
A lot of people ask me how to find their personal style, or become comfortable with their art, or find their way in general. I get that at least three times a Q&A, and have been working on an answer for that.
It may take me awhile.
Because the answer is to do more art. I worried about it. A lot. It’s a phase, like the tricky adolescence we all go through, trying to find our place in the world as we transition from child to adult. And just like adolescence, we have to go through it in order to find our way.
Art Acceptance comes later in your art life. It’s that place when you finally create artwork you love most of the time (no, no one creates art they’re in love with all the time; it’s impossible). More than that, you have the confidence that your intuition and abilities will lead you to lovable art. Striving for perfect or awesome art isn’t the aim anymore — learning and honing your talent is. You want to try something new in order to improve what you love doing, not to create a stunning end-piece.
Art Acceptance is an awesome place. You admit you’re still learning but have found your stride.
You’ll get there,
if you keep showing up.
The images from this post come from the journal spread I created for tonight's episode of Journaling Deep. At 14 pages, it's my longest yet, and a double issue. And each costs you $2.50 a week. Considering the 7 hours I put into each one, that's a steal!