Art and Fear

Tree Trimmers with a Bucket Truck

(by a 5 year old artist friend)

Remember when you were in Kindergarten and the task of drawing anything was pure joy?  Nothing daunted you in portraying the concepts you had in your head.  You charged into the project with confidence.   Now as an adult, you shrink from any kind of rendering and say the usual utterance, "I can't even draw a straight line!"  What happens along the way from childhood to adulthood that smothers and demolishes our creative endeavors?

For one thing, we become more self-conscious.  Suddenly we are no longer expressing ourselves freely, but are now aware that others are also creating and we start to compare our work with their work.  Alas...along comes the painful realization that maybe ours is not like theirs and is not "good enough"!  Ouch!  Away goes the pencil and paper, the crayons, the brush, the clay and we shut the door to that part of our lives.

Right now I am privileged to see mass production on a daily basis by the little five year old artist who portrayed the work above.  He is prolific!  Nothing daunts him.  If he gets an idea, off he runs to the well-stocked paper supply shelf.  Back at his table with head bent down, his hands are busy depicting the latest inspiration.  Then comes the jubilant and elaborate detailed account of what the drawing is all about.  It is precious to experience and inspires me in my art production.  My goal with my little artist friend is to keep the creative fires burning, to help him deal with creative works that disappoint him, to work with some that are fixable, and to keep moving on to the next work of art.  I hope he never loses that exuberance and confidence!

What are some tips that can help nudge you back onto the creative path?

1.  Recognize that everyone experiences insecurity and fear about what they create.  

2.  Just sit down and do something.  You are not going after a masterpiece.  You just want to create something that expresses what you are thinking or feeling about a subject.  Set a timer and draw for 15 minutes.  Do that every day for a week.  Keep a small sketchbook handy for those odd moments when you are waiting for something and capture a gesture or a leaf shape.  I was in a busy grocery store line that was slowly moving.  I whipped out my tiny sketchbook and quickly sketched the harried cashier.  

3.  Creativity involves a battle.  Steven Pressfield wrote his famous book encouraging artists called The War of Art.  He dealt with the issues of resistance in an artist's thinking to creating art work.  He said, "Creative work is a gift to the world and every being in it.  Don't cheat us of your contribution.  Give us what you've got."

Chris Orwig had this to say about creativity in his wonderful book, The Creative Fight:  

"The creative spark can easily get snuffed out.  It must be tended to like a campfire on a cold and rainy day.

"You have to go after [creativity] it to claim its prize.  Creativity requires a fight....it is about effort ...the secrets to becoming more creative are always accompanied by habit, practice, and work."

So grab your pen or pencil and join my 5 year old artist friend in the joys and wonder of freely creating.  And don't give me that "but I can't draw a straight line" excuse!  Straight lines are boring!  If you can write your name, you can learn to draw.  

Live bravely and beautifully!