Case in point, recently I had the opportunity to help Mike Schikora, a country singer/songwriter, put together a one song video to be uploaded to YouTube for the Christmas season. One cold night, just a couple of weeks ago, we headed out to his barn where he keeps his 3 horses, and did a quick rendition of "O Holy Night". He wanted it impromptu, unrehearsed and rough and that's exactly what we got! It was so refreshing not to have everything planned out, to just go with the feeling of the night. We shot it, edited it, and then post it just a few days ago.
Check it out! http://youtu.be/v0IJ41aOD_4
So, where are you going with this you might ask? The fact that this video was unscripted, and unrehearsed kept me from over analyzing everything! As when I'm drawing, I over analyze EVERYTHING!! I'm extremely picky or what is sometimes referred to as... (insert dirty work), a perfectionist. This can be blessing or a curse, a negative or a positive. When everything is aligned just right and all is good with the world, beautiful things happen. But when it's not, I have to fight to see the project to completion or I'll just push it aside and ultimately forget about it. I have many unfinished drawings and many more made it only to the trash. I've really struggled to overcome this shortcoming and I'm getting better at it! I've worked hard to loosen up and not be so stiff and precise. I recently started working with pastels again and although messy, they force me to be what I've always resisted to be, an artist. To me an artist is free, spontaneous, unrestrained. That's the beauty of being an artist. There's no boundaries! Alas, there lies my biggest demon, my belief that everything I do, must be perfect, scripted, straight lined. If it's not..., it's trash. Well..., it's time to exercise those demons! If practice makes perfect, then PERFECT MAKES BORING!!!!
