Underneath every masterpiece is a shit ton of agony. The struggle of trying to create something and it not going right, then trying something else, then giving up, then trying again. You keep creating with no end in sight, and after a pile of paintings has accumulated in the corner, you still feel like you have nothing to show for all that effort. So, you sign up for a class or workshop, or you visit a museum searching for inspiration, or you take a vacation and try not to think about art. Maybe you’ll get a new perspective and suddenly know what to do, and it magically works out. But then you don’t know how to re-create that breakthrough.
That’s because most artists in the modern era think art is about breaking rules. Which is true, in a sense. But you gotta learn the rules to break the rules. All the rebels—Jackson Pollock, Richard Diebenkorn, Judy Chicago, Damien Hirst, etc—they all started in the same art classes as everyone else. Drawing, painting, color theory, values, learn your medium. Then you know what rules you want to break, and how. Or you stick to a tradition and make it your own.
An early drawing by Jackson Pollock
You only get to your masterpiece(s) by slogging through the shit. You practice that shape over and over until you can do it with your eyes closed. By training your hand, you practice it so much that it becomes unconscious. Then you train some more.
"Landscape with Steer," another early Jackson Pollock, as he tried out Siqueros' style
Until you dream about it at night and wake up at 3 am with the perfect new approach. That unique way of doing things that no one has ever thought of before. You’ve been doing and going and drawing and painting and hating everything until one day the thing is there, and you don’t even know how it got there. You cut away the excess marble to reach David.
"Convergence" by Jackson Pollock--part of his mature stage of work
Creativity isn’t about controlling the outcome. It’s about practicing and practicing until you don’t have to control it anymore. You reach flow. Muse energy comes through you because you don’t have to think anymore. It’s automatic. You know how to draw the thing. You let your hand move how it moves. Then shit comes out that you didn’t expect. That you actually even like.
"Portrait and a Dream" by Jackson Pollock, a later piece that deviated from his signature drip painting technique. Who knows what he might've done if he hadn't died of his alcoholism soon after?
Masterpieces only come about through a lot of hard work.
You do it by doing it.
You get there by getting there.
You learn the rules so you know how to break the rules. Then you learn some more.
Art Heals
I love David Brian Smith's luminous paintings. They're packed with stuff, like the way a child would see a world that is populated with magic. I haven't seen one in person yet, but I imagine I could stare at it for hours. The endless patterns weave together to create meditative studies of a fantastic, spiritual place.
2. Do you sense you have some creative masterpiece inside that’s dying to get out? Get access to the program that helps you develop and complete a brilliant series of work that you’re proud to display. Hit reply with the word "Series" and I'll send you more info.
3. Not sure where to begin? Feeling shy, insecure, doubting your path? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and I’ll ask you the single most important question to help you become the artist you’ve always wanted to be.
