One of the most important personal process lessons that I've learned in the past few years is the power of "make it ugly"...as in: "make some ugly, sloppy, unfinished art...and make it FAST".
I am addicted to perfection...to that heartbreaking, bone crushing drive to rework something over and over until my eyeballs are bleeding, my brain shuts down and I drop into fear and loathing. I do this to myself all the time...and can feel it coming. I have often been helpless to avoid it. This circumstance doesn't serve me well in my work. Learning how to apply the iteration and power of perfection and when to apply it has always been a struggle for me until I learned to "make it ugly" first.
I am a "crock-pot" artist - I have to cook for a while, slow simmer, as I finish my art. I attribute this to the fact (my own judgment) that I am not a natural artist. However, my superpower is that I can see something, know what is wrong with it immediately and devise a way to fix it. This means the sooner I can rough out my work the faster I can begin the slow cook process of perfecting it - the sooner I can see the parts that I want to perfect. Letting art sit for a while and coming back to it with fresh eyes is very important as I am often blinded by the immediate.
Making it "Ugly" is not a unique or new idea in art or any other endeavor. We sketch and draw seeking for ideas. Thumbnails and napkin sketches and so on, allow us to explore ideas freely. We make models, throw ugly pots, build prototypes and mockups and so on. All to flush out the ideas into the light.
Creating ideas at the speed of thought necessitates a certain detachment from the visual representation of the idea - the artwork. I need to let go of the outcome and simply love the process of creating. The art will be what it is in the end - when I abandon it and move on to the next idea. If I am so caught up in the drive to perfect the visual iconography of creative thought, to make something perfect right away - I slow down my creative process.
Writers do this in their rough draft process...often writing without editing until after the first draft is finished.
The work I produce evolves from initial concept - this evolution is a somewhat mystical artistic "thing" that is a wonderfully mysterious part of the creative process. When I begin something I don't know how it will finish. I do my best to visualize it with tools and techniques in order to guide my process and not get distracted from the vision I have seen in my mind. But then something happens along the way that I can describe as the "art knows what it wants to be" phenomenon.
My mentors have taught me that if I am struggling with a shot (in a film) - step back, listen to what it is saying and don't force my will on it. What "it" wants to be will reveal itself in context of the story. In this way, I am required to get out of the way and let the art evolve.
The process of perfecting art work also follows this path of mystical revelation. Perfection is based on the principled execution of basic techniques and elements. If basic perspective is flawed or wrong the final will likewise be flawed. If principles of color, composition or story telling and acting are not present or ill conceived then the end result will suffer. Some may say that this single minded focus on basics robs one of artistic freedom. I think that's hogwash...in order to break the basic rules one must master them beforehand. Otherwise the art is accidental and bereft of intention and commitment.
For me perfection is in the execution of the basics - genius is in the concept and the two coupled together yield art worthy of devotion.
but first: make it ugly - make it fast.
D_
