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Dear Artist,

Do you trust your inner creation promptings? Enough that another person’s comments cannot throw you off track?

 

While I was working on a sentimental piece, I fumbled through my emotions and worked diligently to capture a pure essence of the subject. Even though I was really happy with a certain aspect of this piece when another person, with his own experience with my subject matter, told me that the colors were not right, I folded and changed the coloring.

 

But you know what happened? I lost the initial pure element that I was so happy with, and then worked and worked to get a forced new coloring that never was as good as the original piece. My inner promptings told me it was just right and yet I allowed another to influence my artist self.

 

Learn from my mistakes and trust your personal creation promptings! Go on your own instinct, if you like it, don’t change it just because someone else thinks you should. But if you already know that the piece needs more work in a certain area, then go ahead and listen to the advice. It’s the advice that goes against how you are feeling that needs to be squashed, before it leads you down an unwanted path.

 

Now that I have firmly expressed that artists should not be influenced by other people’s opinion consider this statement by Dr. K. Anders Ericsson: “You have to seek out situations where you get feedback [about your performance]. It's a myth that you get better when you just do the things you enjoy.” Getting feedback is part of creation and it is not always a bad thing. It’s usually what makes you into a better creator.

 

Today’s letter has a simple message. Don’t listen to other’s opinions when you are happy with a piece of art. Don’t change what already works. But do be willing to grow and become exactly what you are supposed to be by listening to your audience's comments and moving forward. Remember that not all feedback is bad, unless what’s being said is wrong of course.

 

Trust your artist self,

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Uncle Salvador