Best chat yet and sooooo relevant to most people I think. 'Perfectionism is not about doing it perfectly, it's about never doing it perfectly enough' - This is me all over, never feeling good enough.
Each of these individuals has tremendous insights they’ve shared in their own endeavors; but the combination of the two is utterly brilliant. I’ve never been a person who regularly listens to podcasts - until now! I hope for MANY more of these brilliant exchanges in the future 🌟
Oh wow! What a great idea, 20.50 mins - Do a deliberately "BAD DRAWING" - It's only 'bad' if it isn't 'bad'! What an absolutely brilliant thought! I love it!
Danny, your reason to start drawing is exactly my reason. It really helps me with my anxiety but then I realized it is something I have a true passion for….great topic. Thank you both!
I love it! Sacrificial pancakes ❤ I will keep that image in my mind forever. When I hear my self talk going down the negative path, I remind myself of sacrificial pancakes.
Love the nature aspect of this conversation. If you read try An Immense World. - I’ve very recently come into art - I thought I came here because I eventually wanted to be heard - by showing - which is hard to do . Art is a conversation to me of everything - for me it tells you something -
Enjoyed that a lot....now I will do exactly what Danny did after the Podcast..... draw a square and find something to draw inside it ! Thank you Danny & John for your time ! Warmest regards Lorraine 🖍🎨😁
Allegedly, Mark Twain said "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Perfection is like that: it only happens in our minds. I just loved this session. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They give me the feeling of belonging to a pack.
I'm so glad this showed up in my UA-cam list. This is exactly the thing I need to hear - other people talking about exactly what I'm dealing with. Last year I started art school and got some work accomplished. I thought I had proved to myself I could do the work but this fear came back again. Listening to you both has made me realise its not going away but hearing others talk about it helps me to relax with it more and stop shaming myself over it. I really appreciate your straight forward honesty. I think I'll be listening to this video again, there's so much valuable info shared. Thankyou...
Thank you!!! I have a close family member that’s first response to every single drawing of mine is “your putting this on your website, right” No Then when someone asks if I am still drawing she tells everyone that I am just piddling around in my sketchbook ARGH!!! Consequently, I stopped sharing on instagram and facebook. I show no one. All the joy has been sucked out because now I have this voice that you are wasting your time and your not doing anything good Why do we let people wreck our fun???
i agree with John... If I have a few 'good' pics I hesitate to draw something 'ugly'... I often will draw on a scrap piece of paper and then get upset because it came out 'good' but now it's not in my sketchbook -- so I end up 'scrapbooking' the drawing into the sketchbook (scotch tape to the rescue!!! LOL)
Ha! I have the opposite problem. I end up with something good in my sketchbook and want to put it on a separate sheet to gift and, well, it isn't a pretty picture - as it were...
Thank you both. So grateful for this podcast. Your conversations are so interesting and thought provoking. I now sat down and drew two of the flowers, my husband gave me for valentine's day today. Yesterday I went for a walk and sketched a tree with a whole and a little water in the forest behind my house. So good for my soul.
About the fact that other people aren't really judging you or even thinking about you - as a kid, in school, I was teased unmercifully for simply wearing glasses and being skinny. Those voices that you hear every day as a child become internalized, and you end up judging yourself by those same standards and voices. And if you've looked around social media at all lately it has gotten so judgmental that you are vilified for saying sky is blue. It's like everybody's back in third grade. Although I must say artists are among the nicest people out there, as the two art groups that I belong to are extremely encouraging even to rank beginners. Ultimately the pleasure you get from immersing yourself in art should be a kind of lonely thing, especially at first, because the process is more important than the product, as you said. I really enjoyed this video, thank you so much for creating it.
The word games really crack me up. I'm still new and not sure who is John and who is Danny... "I get performance anxiety in front of art supplies," is a keeper.
So interesting listening to this podcast. Wonderfully candid, admitting one's vulnerability and fear. The tendency towards self-jepodisation is so well illustrated!! Thanks so much.
A W E S O M E !! ....just coming out of a hard couple of weeks of artist's block, imposter syndrome and basically just feeling really down. This was great to listen to and when I find myself in this situation again (which I have no doubt I will) I'll definitely be watching this again. Cheers guys 👍
I’m just really discovering SS for the first time and it couldn’t be more timely. I’m so glad I found this channel/podcast, etc. Danny, I started painting for the same reason you started drawing. Thank you for your example, amazing attitude, and inspiration. I’m starting in my late 40’s but nothing feels better to do. I don’t even care if I hate what I make. 😂 Thanks for all this amazing content you’re sharing with the world.
Fear: it is a thing! And the most interesting thing is that, as I have delved into art at this middle age, I am encouraged by how often my UA-cam teachers bring up this often heard issue. Watercolorist Peter Clark discussed fear in his recent Q & A and offered that the worst thing that can happen is that you lose a sheet of paper. Even though I took up watercolor, then sketching about a year ago simply because I *could* throw it away easily and not accumulate a bunch of things like knitted blankets or sculptures, it is still hard. Thanks for the podcast. I listen to it through the week while falling asleep. LOL! Both my conscious and subconscious mind are taking it in. :-)
The freedom of the flow is a big part of the pleasure. It doesn't always happen. I need a better relationship with fun. Sometimes I think I'm chasing fun in a not very enjoyable way.
Thank you for talking about this. I decided to teach myself to watercolor from UA-cam 2 years ago and I didn’t see any of this coming. The process became very painful and it didn’t help I’d joined a watercolor Facebook group which introduced its own set of pressures and problems. Next thing I knew the door to the cage slammed shut and I wasn’t able to get it open again for several months. Your story about your family renting you an art space reminded me of it. The wish to create never left now it was just tormenting me. I left the group. Once in awhile I’ve made a painting but then stopped again. I like most of what I make… I have no problem showing them to people… it’s just that voice in my head.. it ruins things. Recently I’ve felt inspired to learn to draw. Maybe I’d feel less overwhelmed. So each night for the last week I’ve been going thru drawing exercises, doing single line drawings (I like those) and sketching something with my left hand. I’ve been watching your videos… I think it’s helping me to pull me out of it…
At this stage, it is about time & survival. I know it takes a big commitment of time, time is resources. I'm not rich, don't own a home. I know how deep I will go into something. I experience anxiety at letting what society around me deems as practical concerns--what one allegedly should be on top of--slip. Risking "delinquency" also brings its own set of stigmas which, honestly, no one wants. So my fear surrounds feeling supported, feeling that I can afford dedicating the time, and thinking I do not want to approach any discipline in piecemeal fashion. I'm open to the idea that this fear represents dodging the work--however, my job is 12-14 hr days. Walking away cold (& wrangling that fear) seems the only way to afford myself a new skillset.
The topic of this conversation was interesting, insightful and relevant to my work and art. Today I just couldn’t absorb enough…will require a second listen and some ‘key phrase’ note taking for further contemplation. Thank you both for a great discussion.
Thank you for a very interesting and thought-provoking podcast. You two are wonderful together. Another point to ponder can occur when you think about all the artists you know and admire and every bit of their work that you've ever seen. I grew up around art and have never come across one artist who produced piece after piece that I liked or loved (one actually did come mighty close), although there are plenty of artists whose work I love in general. If you look at any artist's work, you'll inevitably find some drawings/paintings that you love, some that you like, and at least one that you dislike and often several. Not only that, but if you and several others list off your loves/likes/dislikes of various artists' works and compare notes, you'll likely see differences in the lists. Nobody does "perfect" work by their own standards or by anyone else's standards all the time and that's perfectly okay.
Before having children I thought about my childhood and what my parents did right and what I didn't like. One thing that bugged me was that they never really admitted to being wrong or making a mistake. So I chose not to repeat that behavior. I told my children I wasn't perfect, that i would make mistakes and that I would apologize to them when I messed up. I still feel bad about lying to them about the tooth fairy, Santa and the Easter bunny
David Hockney also said, "It's always now. It's the now that's eternal, actually." That is why I make art - it brings me more fully into the NOW. I love how you guys disagree so amicably! Can you teach that to our politicians?
Thank you for this. I feel this overwhelming fear, so great that it freezes me. In my case, the idea of achieving a result makes me feel paralysed. I've been trying to commercialise my illustration for ages, but every time I feel disappointed because even when I sell, I don't sell as much as I'd like to be able to live from my art. I also have this voice from my nuclear family that says artists starve to death, so I should do something more realistic. So here I am, in an office job, drawing in my spare time. I want to show my art and feel free without any guilt. Do you recommend some book or something?
Yes!!! "Getting lost" slipping away into another world where nothing else matters. That's IT!
It really is
Best chat yet and sooooo relevant to most people I think. 'Perfectionism is not about doing it perfectly, it's about never doing it perfectly enough' - This is me all over, never feeling good enough.
Each of these individuals has tremendous insights they’ve shared in their own endeavors; but the combination of the two is utterly brilliant. I’ve never been a person who regularly listens to podcasts - until now! I hope for MANY more of these brilliant exchanges in the future 🌟
We’ll be back next week!
danny changed my life
I am happy I revisited this again. It may be the 3rd or 4h time I’ve listened. It’s great! I like the little square idea.
Oh wow! What a great idea, 20.50 mins - Do a deliberately "BAD DRAWING" - It's only 'bad' if it isn't 'bad'! What an absolutely brilliant thought! I love it!
Danny, your reason to start drawing is exactly my reason. It really helps me with my anxiety but then I realized it is something I have a true passion for….great topic. Thank you both!
LOVED this whole conversation. Time well-spent for me this morning.
My goal in art is to make my soul happy 💕
John killed it this episode thanks for the vulnerability in your words.
I love it! Sacrificial pancakes ❤ I will keep that image in my mind forever. When I hear my self talk going down the negative path, I remind myself of sacrificial pancakes.
‘“That’s the most horse I will ever do…” I can relate. 🐴 Thanks for sharing. 🎨🌺💛
Love that!
Fantastic podcast
Love the nature aspect of this conversation. If you read try An Immense World. - I’ve very recently come into art - I thought I came here because I eventually wanted to be heard - by showing - which is hard to do . Art is a conversation to me of everything - for me it tells you something -
Enjoyed that a lot....now I will do exactly what Danny did after the Podcast..... draw a square and find something to draw inside it ! Thank you Danny & John for your time ! Warmest regards Lorraine 🖍🎨😁
Allegedly, Mark Twain said "I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened." Perfection is like that: it only happens in our minds. I just loved this session. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They give me the feeling of belonging to a pack.
Thanks for sharing!
I'm so glad this showed up in my UA-cam list. This is exactly the thing I need to hear - other people talking about exactly what I'm dealing with. Last year I started art school and got some work accomplished. I thought I had proved to myself I could do the work but this fear came back again. Listening to you both has made me realise its not going away but hearing others talk about it helps me to relax with it more and stop shaming myself over it. I really appreciate your straight forward honesty. I think I'll be listening to this video again, there's so much valuable info shared. Thankyou...
Thank you!!! I have a close family member that’s first response to every single drawing of mine is “your putting this on your website, right”
No
Then when someone asks if I am still drawing she tells everyone that I am just piddling around in my sketchbook
ARGH!!!
Consequently, I stopped sharing on instagram and facebook. I show no one. All the joy has been sucked out because now I have this voice that you are wasting your time and your not doing anything good
Why do we let people wreck our fun???
i agree with John... If I have a few 'good' pics I hesitate to draw something 'ugly'... I often will draw on a scrap piece of paper and then get upset because it came out 'good' but now it's not in my sketchbook -- so I end up 'scrapbooking' the drawing into the sketchbook (scotch tape to the rescue!!! LOL)
Ha! I have the opposite problem. I end up with something good in my sketchbook and want to put it on a separate sheet to gift and, well, it isn't a pretty picture - as it were...
So many pearls of wisdom here. I definitely see art as therapy for me. Play therapy. Great discussion.
Thank you both. So grateful for this podcast. Your conversations are so interesting and thought provoking. I now sat down and drew two of the flowers, my husband gave me for valentine's day today. Yesterday I went for a walk and sketched a tree with a whole and a little water in the forest behind my house. So good for my soul.
Wonderful!
Giving this talk some love even a year after it happened 😍thanks for your friendship that produces this valuable work
Brilliantly insightful and very helpful, thank you
About the fact that other people aren't really judging you or even thinking about you - as a kid, in school, I was teased unmercifully for simply wearing glasses and being skinny. Those voices that you hear every day as a child become internalized, and you end up judging yourself by those same standards and voices. And if you've looked around social media at all lately it has gotten so judgmental that you are vilified for saying sky is blue. It's like everybody's back in third grade. Although I must say artists are among the nicest people out there, as the two art groups that I belong to are extremely encouraging even to rank beginners. Ultimately the pleasure you get from immersing yourself in art should be a kind of lonely thing, especially at first, because the process is more important than the product, as you said. I really enjoyed this video, thank you so much for creating it.
Thank you
The word games really crack me up. I'm still new and not sure who is John and who is Danny...
"I get performance anxiety in front of art supplies," is a keeper.
So interesting listening to this podcast. Wonderfully candid, admitting one's vulnerability and fear. The tendency towards self-jepodisation is so well illustrated!! Thanks so much.
A W E S O M E !! ....just coming out of a hard couple of weeks of artist's block, imposter syndrome and basically just feeling really down. This was great to listen to and when I find myself in this situation again (which I have no doubt I will) I'll definitely be watching this again. Cheers guys 👍
I’m just really discovering SS for the first time and it couldn’t be more timely. I’m so glad I found this channel/podcast, etc. Danny, I started painting for the same reason you started drawing. Thank you for your example, amazing attitude, and inspiration. I’m starting in my late 40’s but nothing feels better to do. I don’t even care if I hate what I make. 😂 Thanks for all this amazing content you’re sharing with the world.
So great. Thank you both. Very helpful. 🙏🏼
Glad it was helpful!
It was really helpfull and just in the right time. Thanks for sharing.
Honest and insightful discussion, thank you!
Fear: it is a thing! And the most interesting thing is that, as I have delved into art at this middle age, I am encouraged by how often my UA-cam teachers bring up this often heard issue. Watercolorist Peter Clark discussed fear in his recent Q & A and offered that the worst thing that can happen is that you lose a sheet of paper.
Even though I took up watercolor, then sketching about a year ago simply because I *could* throw it away easily and not accumulate a bunch of things like knitted blankets or sculptures, it is still hard.
Thanks for the podcast. I listen to it through the week while falling asleep. LOL! Both my conscious and subconscious mind are taking it in. :-)
The freedom of the flow is a big part of the pleasure. It doesn't always happen. I need a better relationship with fun. Sometimes I think I'm chasing fun in a not very enjoyable way.
Thank you for talking about this. I decided to teach myself to watercolor from UA-cam 2 years ago and I didn’t see any of this coming. The process became very painful and it didn’t help I’d joined a watercolor Facebook group which introduced its own set of pressures and problems. Next thing I knew the door to the cage slammed shut and I wasn’t able to get it open again for several months. Your story about your family renting you an art space reminded me of it. The wish to create never left now it was just tormenting me. I left the group. Once in awhile I’ve made a painting but then stopped again. I like most of what I make… I have no problem showing them to people… it’s just that voice in my head.. it ruins things. Recently I’ve felt inspired to learn to draw. Maybe I’d feel less overwhelmed. So each night for the last week I’ve been going thru drawing exercises, doing single line drawings (I like those) and sketching something with my left hand. I’ve been watching your videos… I think it’s helping me to pull me out of it…
Glad you're enjoying the videos!
So good, so wise! Helpful.
At this stage, it is about time & survival. I know it takes a big commitment of time, time is resources.
I'm not rich, don't own a home. I know how deep I will go into something. I experience anxiety at letting what society around me deems as practical concerns--what one allegedly should be on top of--slip.
Risking "delinquency" also brings its own set of stigmas which, honestly, no one wants.
So my fear surrounds feeling supported, feeling that I can afford dedicating the time, and thinking I do not want to approach any discipline in piecemeal fashion.
I'm open to the idea that this fear represents dodging the work--however, my job is 12-14 hr days. Walking away cold (& wrangling that fear) seems the only way to afford myself a new skillset.
The topic of this conversation was interesting, insightful and relevant to my work and art. Today I just couldn’t absorb enough…will require a second listen and some ‘key phrase’ note taking for further contemplation. Thank you both for a great discussion.
Wonderful!
Thank you for a very interesting and thought-provoking podcast. You two are wonderful together.
Another point to ponder can occur when you think about all the artists you know and admire and every bit of their work that you've ever seen. I grew up around art and have never come across one artist who produced piece after piece that I liked or loved (one actually did come mighty close), although there are plenty of artists whose work I love in general.
If you look at any artist's work, you'll inevitably find some drawings/paintings that you love, some that you like, and at least one that you dislike and often several. Not only that, but if you and several others list off your loves/likes/dislikes of various artists' works and compare notes, you'll likely see differences in the lists. Nobody does "perfect" work by their own standards or by anyone else's standards all the time and that's perfectly okay.
Before having children I thought about my childhood and what my parents did right and what I didn't like. One thing that bugged me was that they never really admitted to being wrong or making a mistake. So I chose not to repeat that behavior. I told my children I wasn't perfect, that i would make mistakes and that I would apologize to them when I messed up. I still feel bad about lying to them about the tooth fairy, Santa and the Easter bunny
whereas once upon a time I was broken, art makes me whole.
Just what I needed to hear. Maybe I can create something today.
David Hockney also said, "It's always now. It's the now that's eternal, actually." That is why I make art - it brings me more fully into the NOW. I love how you guys disagree so amicably! Can you teach that to our politicians?
Thank you !🌝
I am forever my own judge dredd
If people judge us ‘the beginner artist -‘ as we judge ourselves - the ‘we’ know we are doomed as an ‘artist’.This is our fear …
Thank you for this. I feel this overwhelming fear, so great that it freezes me. In my case, the idea of achieving a result makes me feel paralysed. I've been trying to commercialise my illustration for ages, but every time I feel disappointed because even when I sell, I don't sell as much as I'd like to be able to live from my art. I also have this voice from my nuclear family that says artists starve to death, so I should do something more realistic. So here I am, in an office job, drawing in my spare time. I want to show my art and feel free without any guilt. Do you recommend some book or something?
Off to make some sacrificial pancakes! ❤️ It!
Being present with nature and your memories and the things you love?
My sketchbook is my journey.
What is the difference between a journal and a sketchbook? I’ve never had a journal but I have always had a sketchbook.
We call a sketchbook with Nature entries a Nature Journal. Not just sketches but writings and observations like a Field Journal or Log.
I've made a couple of videos that could be helpful:
ua-cam.com/video/mWRki37iOzg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/_AnikVUrNP0/v-deo.html
Read ART and FEAR