Accepting imperfection

acceptance-04I tend to be a perfectionist. I try NOT to be, but there is a part of me that naturally, unconsciously seeks it out. The hard part about being a perfectionist artist is to be willing to accept imperfections. Realistically, perfection is something that I can rarely achieve. And I actually find that I am often more drawn to the imperfection anyway. For instance, I frequently prefer a free-spirited, loosely drawn flower over the slavishly copied version.

Even in realistic portraits, there will always be elements, often the imperfections, that reveal the hand of the artist. These are usually the things that make the artwork interesting. So why is it so hard for me to relax and accept the imperfections? I’m working on it, of course. In fact, for the last ten years especially, I have be trying to work looser and more improvisationally. It’s funny that it is so hard for me to do that. Maybe it’s the result of working with precision computer drafting for seventeen years, or maybe it goes back even further than that.

acceptance-05I won’t bore you with nit-picking the parts I don’t like. Instead, I’ll tell you that I was thrilled when my normal Monday activities were canceled yesterday, so I practically had the whole day to paint. And, it’s nearly 3 PM on Tuesday right now, all my chores and responsibilities are complete, and I have the rest of the day and evening to finish painting this. It’s been so wonderful to have so many hours in a row to really concentrate on what I’m doing! My goal is to have the painting portion of this quilt complete before I go to bed tonight.


Comments

2 responses to “Accepting imperfection”

  1. I really know what you mean. I find I am always my own worse critic. I see faults that no one will ever see. I have found I have become more patient with myself the older I have got and the more I can see that art work is more beautiful with the imperfections. xxxxx

  2. And unless you tell me what is “wrong” I won’t know, so just keep it to yourself. And if you really wanted perfection, you would take a photograph and perfect it with photoshop. The hand of the artist makes the piece! Keep up the good work.