I Will Take Up My Pencil

"In spite of everything, I shall rise again; I will take up my pencil, which I have forsaken in my great discouragement, and I will go on with my drawing."

―Vincent Van Gogh

There have been many times when I’ve felt discouraged as I seek to pursue my creative passions. Everywhere I look, negative voices seem to criticize my work, but I often find that the loudest and harshest critics tend to reside inside my own head. Here are three things I’ve learned to think about differently that allow me to continue picking up my pencil and moving forward.

Creating Bad Art

You may have heard the phrase "trust the process." It refers to those moments when what you are working on isn’t going well, with the idea being that you will eventually move past the "ugly" phase and create something amazing and beautiful. There are times when this happens, but in my experience, there are plenty of times when it doesn’t get better. The piece may never hang on anyone's wall, but rather rot at the bottom of a pile of paper, never to see the light of day. There’s nothing wrong with that. Every time I work on a creative project, I grow. It’s not always about the destination but the journey. (If you get the reference, you’re probably a nerd like me.)

Not Every Piece Has to Be a Masterpiece

There was a time when I assumed that every time I picked up a pencil or a brush, it could only be in service of a completed work. On some level, I expected each new piece to be the best thing I had ever created. This mindset was challenged in my first figure drawing class in art school. We were required to create dozens of sketches each week, many of them just quick gesture sketches (outlines of a figure's position). Before that class, I had never filled a single sketchbook, but suddenly, I was filling them every couple of weeks. My finished pieces began to improve from all the practice. I spent less time agonizing over every little detail in each drawing, which made the process much more enjoyable overall.

Take a Minute for Every Idea

Ideas come when I least expect them, sometimes when it’s the least convenient. I’ve found that I can’t always hold onto those ideas for long, especially when they

come in the middle of an unrelated project. I’m learning to take a moment to record

those ideas. It’s rare that I can’t step away for five minutes. Recording ideas not

only provides material for future projects but also helps keep current ones fresh and

motivating, even if I only take a short break.

Discouragement is part of the creative process. It’s disheartening when I find myself incapable of bringing the amazing things inside my head to life. But as I’ve come to accept that every project is a stepping stone to becoming a better artist, that practice leads to progress, and that all ideas are worth recording, I’ve found the motivation to keep picking up my pencil and continuing to draw.