Love isn't the only thing that's blind...

I think my mind is still on how we grow as artists.  This week I’m thinking about the role critique plays because I know next week I’m going to be getting some feedback from my illustration critique group on the latest storyboard* and characters I submitted to them.   You’d think I was dreading hearing a long list of things that are wrong with my images, but I’m not.  I’m dancing impatiently on my toes because I can’t wait for their feedback.  You see, love isn’t the only thing that’s blind.

Art is blind too.  Specifically, artists are blind.  We get so involved in the artwork that we are working on, that we quit noticing things.  A line is a little crooked or the colors are too dark and we can’t tell because the image in our heads blends with the image our paintbrush created.   Or, sometimes it’s the opposite that happens.  We are so involved in the artwork that we can’t see it as anything other than our very imperfect creation.  Like when you have a speck of dust in your eye—it doesn’t matter what beautiful vision is in front of you.  All you pay attention to is that-which-is-wrong. 

If there were a magical pair of glasses that solved this problem, they would sell like hotcakes in every single art store and online.  But glasses don’t help.  Luckily there are other things that do!

Setting the painting or artwork aside for several hours or several days helps. 

I have a tendency to hate the artworks I create when I first create them.  After a few days, however, I kind of “forget” that they are mine and start appreciating them just as artworks.   I start noticing the bright colors or the lovely composition and the wonky lines and flaws just become stylistic choices.  Alternatively, sometimes I set a picture that’s in progress aside and when I come back to it I see immediately the solution when before all I had was the nagging feeling that something was wrong. 

Using a mirror to “flip” the image helps.

I was chatting on Skype with overseas family while I worked on this tree image.  To their confusion, I kept excusing myself so I could run the painting into the other room.  Why?  Because the other room had a large mirror where I could easily see the mirror image of the tree branches.  My eyes wouldn’t tell me where the balance was off or which branches were too thin, but the mirror would.  I’m learning how to use some digital art tools, and the program I’m using the most will flip an image in just two stylus clicks.  No mirror required for the high-tech!

External feedback from other people (critiques and helpful comments).

A lot of people will look at your artwork and say things like, “Oh, that’s beautiful” or “You’re so talented.”  Those people are good fuel to keep you going…but sometimes you need someone who, when you ask them to, will just tell you like it is in a specific, helpful way:  “The face is too round,” “Don’t you think that looks too light?”,  “Have you considered making her hand bigger?”, or “She looks a bit angry, don’t you think?”  I treasure the people who I know will be honest with me when I request it, because they let me “see” my artwork when I’m blind to what’s going on—of course, that doesn’t mean I always act on what they say!

Squinting or using one eye.

There are a lot of artists who do this.  I don’t really.  It doesn’t tend to help me.   But it should be on the list because sometimes you don’t have time, a mirror, or other people…when that happens, you’ve got to have something in your tool-bag to fall back on!

When you see "talent", look behind it for some of these techniques for avoiding art-blindness.  They’ll be there.  And, to watch the process in action, check out this video about a first grader drawing a butterfly.  There’s a metamorphosis so dramatic you might as well be watching the caterpillar itself change.  If you have friends who think they can’t draw or you yourself think you can’t draw, watch it thinking, “That could be me.”  Go ahead.  It’s only six minutes.  

It's called Austin's Butterfly:  Building Excellence in Student Work and is by Expeditionary Learning. Watch it on YouTube or, if you prefer, here's the same video on Vimeo.  

_____________________________ 

*If you‘ve ever watched the special features of an animated film, you might have seen a storyboard there since they are used extensively in animation to plan out the movie.  Since mine are for picture books, I just do one sketch per page (although I will group two pages together when they share an illustration and you can see both pages at the same time…this is called a “spread” because the illustration spreads across the pages).  It lets me see the whole book at once so I can make sure the illustrations have variety.   Here's an example of one I posted on my Facebook page a while back.