Permission to Be a Beginner

In this blog post, I want to share a quick message with you about how sometimes you need to give yourself permission to be a beginner in your art.

Today I took a local watercolor class. It was a ton of fun. I love to fill my creative well. A great way to fill your creative well is to take classes. I now have over 25 classes available to you at https://yourcreativeadventure.com/classes/.

I was sitting next to someone today and she said, “Shelley, I have an art studio with all the supplies I need, but I’m not creating.”

We talked about it and she said, “I want every piece that I create to be a finished, completed piece that I can frame.”

She’s expecting every piece to be a masterpiece.

And she’s stuck. She doesn’t feel that permission to create because she wants everything to be a masterpiece.

Have you ever felt that way? If so, just let me know in the comments. I know I have.

Creating Ugly Art

When I first started my art journey not even two years ago, I felt like my art looked like a kindergartner.

Yeah, a kindergartner.

Go back to my Instagram and look back to my beginning posts. They’re awful.

Sometimes we need to allow ourselves the permission to create ugly art.

Sometimes our art is not meant to post on Instagram or to share with anyone else. It’s for us. It’s for the joy of creating. It’s for the learning process.

I was talking to another friend recently this week and she was saying the same thing. She’s said, “Shelley, I bought all the supplies. I’ve watched your Skillshare classes. But I’m not doing it. I’m not creating.”

For her, I also think it’s that feeling of wanting it to be perfect.

Are any of you perfectionists? If so, just let me know in the comments.

I love this quote from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. She says, “Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough, that we should try again.”

Basically, perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It’s not about having a finished piece that you’re proud of. It’s actually bringing out the worst in you and saying you’re not good enough. You’ll never be good enough. Why even try?

Permission to Be a Beginner

You know what? If we don’t give ourselves permission to be a beginner and to try, we’ll never improve and be accomplished in any skill.

That’s what I had to do. I had to allow myself the permission to be a beginner.

Embrace the Artist in You

If you haven’t taken my class yet, it’s free. It’s called Embrace The Artist In You. You can take it for free at YourCreativeAdventure.com/Free.

It will take you through five different mindset shifts that I had to make when I was first creating art in order to continue creating. It’s a great place to start if you’re feeling stuck in this place.

Your Permission Slip

Today you may need to write yourself a permission slip. Actually take out a piece of paper or a note card and write “permission slip” on the top, and then write out, “I give myself permission to be a beginner in lettering,” or “I give myself permission to be a beginner in watercolor,” or whatever it is that you’re exploring in this wonderful world of art.

Allow yourself the permission and then start developing a daily time to create. Have a dedicated space. Even in the beginning, I just had a tiny little space, but I made sure there was a dedicated space so that I didn’t have to get out my stuff and put it away every time. Have a dedicated space, even if it’s just a little corner of your bedroom.

Then have time to create every day. Even if you’re just practicing your alphabet or your basic strokes with lettering, or even if you’re just taking some paint and putting it on there and watching it blend together. It’s so beautiful to watch watercolor.

Whatever it is, start developing a habit of creating.

I hope today that you will write out your permission slip, you will give yourself permission to be a beginner, you’ll give yourself permission to create ugly art.

Let the creative flow run through you.

No more blocks, no more stopping, no more having all the supplies and all the things and never creating.

It is time for you to create.

 

Watch the Video

Conclusion

I’m so excited to hear what is your Ah Ha! moment is from this video. Share in the comments below anything that hits you or where it is you’re struggling or where it is you’re blocked.

I would love to help you really get unblocked and see the creative person in you come to life.

 

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