WEEK 24 - Don’t let perfectionism stop your progress.
Hey there, thanks for joining us for Week 24 of HOMwork 2020!
This week, I want to revisit one of the very first HOMwork prompts I ever released because I realized it’s super relevant right now.
The topic: perfectionism.
In our creative work, it makes us doubt if our work is any good. It holds us back from sharing our work publicly. It makes us feel small for how little we know…when instead we could focus on being energized by how much we want to know someday.
But in reality, we know that the only way to get better at any kind of art is to practice it consistently. Reading about it, taking classes on it and finding community around it doesn’t hurt either.
We’ll be bad at first. We’ll mess up, mostly in private but maybe in public too. But our desire to be better at it someday usually outweighs our fear of doing it imperfectly. We refuse to let perfectionism prevent us from progressing!
This concept applies to any area of life we want to improve on, whether that’s growing a business, becoming a good cook, learning a new language or fighting racism.
I wrote this assignment about lettering & creativity in early 2018, and I hope it serves as a reminder that sustained practice + dedication will inevitably lead to growth (even if it feels like you’re not making much of a dent right now)
Before my lettering journey began, I'd never been much of a perfectionist. However, once I dove deeper into the detailed world of lettering and started to discover other incredible artists out there, I started becoming much more critical of my work.
Criticism that leads to growth & improvement is a good and necessary part of the creative process. However, oftentimes it's easy to become our own harshest critics, causing us to fixate on imperfections and stuff our work into desk drawers, never to be seen by anyone else.
Logically, we know the formula to building a following around our artwork is pretty simple: make good work + publish that work where people can see it. We also know that our bottom desk drawer probably doesn't classify as a "place where people can see our work". So how do we break the cycle?
Whenever I catch myself being too critical of my own work nowadays, I like to remind myself of this old artwork from October 2012:
It was one of the first pieces I ever lettered & published online, and I very clearly remember how I felt about posting it:
"THIS IS THE BEST THING I'VE EVER MADE. I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED."- Lauren Hom, lettering newbie, age 21
You and I both know that it isn't the best thing I've ever made, but at the time, it sure felt like it. Because I wasn't "in" the lettering world yet, I had no inhibitions about sharing work that wasn't perfect.
Knowing what I know now, I can actually point out everything that's wrong with it:
As imperfect as my lettering was, I posted it. And then I lettered some more imperfect pieces and posted them too. This was the start of Daily Dishonesty, my collection of lettered white lies that ended up going viral, landing me a book deal, and kick starting my lettering career into what it is today.
Imagine if I had let the fear of my lettering not being "perfect" stop me from sharing it? I probably wouldn't be writing you this email right now (gasp!)
Here's my revised piece
Your assignment: Find an early piece of artwork of yours and recreate it using the skills you have now.
I want you to choose an old piece that you remember being really proud of at the time, but when you look at it now, you're a little grossed out. I think that looking back at old work and kinda hating it is a good thing because it means your taste & skills have improved as an artist!
Post your "before" and "after" artwork to Instagram with the hashtag #HOMwork2020 and tag me @homsweethom because I’ll be sharing some of my favorites on my Stories! I'd suggest placing them side by side in an image (like I did at the top of this email) or posting individual images in an Instagram gallery.
Caption idea: write about what you know now vs. then. Share a few stories of things that have helped you grow as an artist since you created the old piece, and tell us what you hope to accomplish in that amount of time from today.
The goal of this week's exercise is to learn how to embrace your past (not try to hide it) and to take a moment to appreciate how much you've grown in the time since you created the old artwork.
Remember: once your skills have improved, it's really difficult to go back to the way you used to draw. I encourage you to appreciate your past work, enjoy the process of creating your current work, and most importantly get excited for how your future work will evolve.
x Lauren
P.S. If you're feeling nervous about sharing your old work, don't be. Here's a piece from my high school portfolio to make you feel better.
P.P.S. Did you know it’s been THREE (!!!) months since Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her own home where she was asleep and unarmed? And no charges have been brought and no arrests have been made? Click here to take action & demand justice for her!
