Judging won't help

You have an idea of your next piece of work. You plan, you organise, you think through the process and you get all your materials ready. You've been thinking about getting this painting completed for a while, and you're SO ready to start. You've made the time, you're excited and you can't wait to bring it to life! 

You begin.
You get to a certain point, you step back and you think 'hmm I'm not too sure about this anymore'. Then what happens is you fall into a downward spiral of negativity - putting yourself down, questioning your ability and your skills and asking yourself why you're doing this anyway. 

I have found over the years that one of the best things an artist can do is to suspend any and all judgement on their work. Granted, things are going to go wrong during the process (or at least feel like they are) but the key difference between successful creative people is their reaction to negative events. 

What has personally helped me is to interrupt my thought process when I feel like I am starting to form opinions on my work. Stepping back and looking at the reality of the situation helps a lot. Remembering that where your painting is right now can be dramatically different compared to when it is actually finished. That is the beauty of creating, you have the freedom to take it anywhere you like. The detail that you are mulling over at this moment most likely does not make up the entire project or painting - there are other elements to add and to work on so it plays against you to assess your work at it's current stage. Don't let your desire to produce something excellent override momentary failure. Attitude is more important than ability. 

This can be a difficult thing to do, but if you are gentle and accepting of your process you will get there in time. I personally aim to always finish a painting even if I think it's going awfully just because I'm curious to see where it'll take me. I'll also probably learn something by completing it and if I'm lucky I might even gain an idea for my next painting.

The truth is, we are each our own worst critic. Whenever my work in complete the flaws always scream out at me (this includes those times when I think I've done a decent job). This observation has proven to me that it is impossible for artists to look at their work objectively. Take any major artist that you know of, from Michelangelo to Da Vinci and Kandinsky to Pollock. These great creators did not paint thinking they were masters of their craft. It was in fact quite to opposite. They were continuously grappling with there insecurities and thoughts and some went on to hold these feelings throughout their entire lives. 

Believe it or not it's actually none of our business to judge or form opinions on our work. Our job whilst we are here is to create and that is our only job - it is not to assess, comment or criticise. We create to express ourselves and in order to do that successfully it is vital that we feel free. But it is not possible to feel free and judge at the same time. So try practicing suspending judgment during your next piece of work, it might make things that much easier and you may just enjoy your process that bit more! 

'Look. Art knows no prejudice, art knows no boundaries, art doesn't really have judgement in its purest form. So just go, just go.'
K.D.LANG

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