This article is by Clint Watson, former art gallery owner/director/salesperson and founder of FineArtViews. You should follow Clint on Twitter here.
An artist came into my gallery years ago to present his portfolio and was flabbergasted when we weren't interested representing him.
"But I've got 30 years experience!" he protested.[1]
Here's the thing: "How" is more important than "How Long" [2]
Yes, yes I know all about Malcom Gladwell and the
10,000 hours.
But practice hours are not all created equally.
The old saying "Practice Makes Perfect" is
wrong - it should be, "
Perfect Practice Makes Perfect." Otherwise you'll just spend 10,000 hours "perfecting" your bad technique.
I should know, I play guitar well enough to impress my friends at parties, but now that I've reached a point where I truly want to improve, it's difficult to overcome bad techniques and shortcuts I learned when I was younger (and spent hours in garage bands "burning" neural pathways that reinforced bad techniques into my brain).
As you create your art, make sure you're trying to learn from each work. Strive to improve. Learn from the masters. [3]
Two rules of thumb so you'll know if you're on the right track:
1. You feel less confident over time that you can ever be great [4]
If you're feeling a bit down because you realize that you're not all that good and there's just so much more to learn - that's a good sign. You've passed the "
Moment of Hope" and you aren't just "going through the motions" but are actually improving.
2. When you look at past works, you're a tad embarrassed.
Sincerely,
Clint Watson
Software Craftsman and Art Fanatic
[1] "30 Years" doesn't tell anyone anything. That could mean "1 painting a year for 30 years," which would only be 30 paintings. A dedicated plein air painter could do that in 30 days. The flabbergasted artist was actually a lady, but every time I write "he" or "her" on the Internet, someone of the opposite sex invariable complains about it and I really hate writing "he/she." So now I've suggested that it can and does happen to both sexes :-).
[2] Obviously, the time to develop your "chops" must be put in - it just must be real learning time, not "going through the motions." I'm certainly not suggesting that perfect practice gets anyone out of the 10,000 hours. I am suggesting that the 10,000 hours can be wasted.
[3] There are more resources than ever to learn. Take workshops with current master artists. Learn from great books. Visit museums and study the past masters. Ask artists you respect for honest critiques. Be willing to accept tough criticism.
[4] This phenomenon is known as the
Dunning-Kruger effect. Essentially it states that incompetent people overrate their abilities while highly skilled people underrate their abilities. "In the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." - Bertrand Russell
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