Doing Away With These Three Words
Just - Only - Little
Belittling
I find myself, and others, using these words before describing something they’ve created…
“It’s just…”
“It’s only…”
“It’s a little…”
We’re prefacing our explanation with small words to give the viewer a heads up that we don’t think our art is any good. Or maybe we’re afraid (anticipating) that they won’t think it’s any good so we beat them to it, expressing how we might agree so they no longer have to make that judgement.
It makes sense, we’re protecting ourselves. But at the same time, we’re also selling ourselves short. (And I know I am guilty of this… I promise I’m working on it.) The more we indicate to ourselves we don’t believe in our abilities or our art, the more our subconscious believes it, too.
The next time you’re going to describe something you’ve made, let’s try removing words like just, only, and little, and try one of the following instead?
“It’s ___.”
“It’s a ___.”
“I made a ___.”
“I wrote ___.”
“I created ___.”
Etc.
Practice it now (out loud) with the thing you made most recently.
How does it feel when you say it without any minimizing additions? Does it boost your confidence? How do you feel about that piece now?
And if the other person makes their own judgement and doesn’t like it? That’s fine. Did you like it? Not really? That’s fine too. You made something and that’s amazing.
Comparison
I recently subscribed to two art magazines. I love them. Mostly when I look at them I get inspired, but sometimes (ok, often…) I also get really intimidated. These people are brilliant. They have been studying art for many years. Wow, they are so talented. Their art is so far beyond mine. Even if I dedicate 100 years to my art it’ll never be this good. My thoughts spiral and do more harm than good.
I will try to keep reminding myself:
My art is mostly for me. It helps me process and express. It helps me keep learning, and it’s fun.
My art is also for others. Maybe for beauty, but maybe simply to inspire creativity. To evoke thoughts, ideas, and musings. To share. To connect. To encourage others to pick up the creative thing they’ve been meaning to start, or get back to.
Stay honest, stay genuine. Do it your own way - there was already a Rembrandt, a Monet, a Kahlo, a Warhol, etc. But this is the one time there will be a Lana K. How does her art come from the self, onto the page or into the world? Be her. Do that, and those that are meant to connect with it, will do so.
Though I’m focusing mostly on painting, sketching, and photography for myself, I am referring to all kinds of art and creativity in my attempts to get people to “follow their art.” If your creative focus is elsewhere, I hope that I’ll still be able to provide encouragement and community for you, too - anything to help you carve out time and space for your art!
A Few More Sketchbook Journal Pages
A very wise friend and mentor shared with me at our last meeting: In our art, let’s also remember to have fun.
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Coming up for members of Follow Your Art…
March 12th ART TOGETHER zoom call for members1
M-art-ch Bingo (An informal month of self-guided prompts to get you doing something creative every day! Or at least, as many days as you can - which, let’s be honest - will probably be more days than you’d make time for otherwise… Info coming to Members soon.)
Community, accountability, and art sharing in the Substack chat!
Know someone else who is looking to make more time for their creativity?
What do you struggle with more? Making time for art, or showing people art you’ve made?
Most sincerely,
Lana K.
“Members” are paid subscribers to Follow Your Art. Free subscribers will also get access to lots of art posts throughout the month. We’d love for you to join the community so you can dive in deeper and get additional prompts to spark your imagination and create time and space for your art/creative practice. Details for the upcoming zoom call are provided in the community chat, and on the Members’ Resource Page (coming soon).
I just belatedly came across this Feb post. I just wanted to say, isn't "belittling" a great descriptive word from another era? And yes, we are all guilty of belittling our own work, often in anticipation of others' reactions. It's a shame because we all secretly have an affection for our own work, even the work that is not at ALL what we intended or approve of. It's like a signature: it may be messy or illegible, but it's a one-and-only and all yours.