Why You Should Let Yourself Create Bad Art (It's A Good Thing)

Hello there and welcome back to my blog. Today I’m letting myself do something I think every artist should allow themselves to do…make art without any expectations.

I’m giving myself permission today to make a bad painting, and to be honest it feels so freeing in a way. I’m not nervous to paint. I’m not worried about the outcome. I’m not intending to share this with anyone…well except for you and only if I want to. So if you’re reading this now, I decided I’m okay sharing what I painted with you - click here for today’s vlog or the video is up above.

I feel like there’s so much pressure on us artists to make art that is good enough for social media, shows and galleries, or to sell. And I’ve learned over the years that it is unhealthy for us to feel that pressure. It hinders our creativity and joy for the creating process.

I’ve especially felt pressure on my artwork when I started to learn acrylic painting a few months ago. To be honest, I’m quite unhappy with the state of my artwork right now. But there’s a saying that helps me overcome this, and it’s this: the faster you paint all the bad paintings, the faster you can get to the good ones.

I tell myself this affirmation each morning: I enjoy knowing that the faster I paint all the bad paintings, the faster I can get to the good ones.

So today is all about creating a bad acrylic painting because that means I’m closer to getting to my good acrylic paintings. 

I want to remind you that it’s good to create bad art, and when I say bad art I mean art that you’re not happy with. Art that you know you could do better next time. In fact I believe it’s the bad art we create that transforms us the most. That challenges us the most. 

If we’re always happy with what we create, then we’re staying in our comfort zone and not growing. If we love every artwork we make, we aren’t challenging ourselves enough.

And maybe that’s okay for some artists. Maybe you want to stay in your comfort zone and that’s okay. But for me, I want to grow my skills. I want to become a better artist for myself. Creating art is my purpose, my passion. 

For me, creating art is a lifetime journey. I feel like if I’m always creating what’s comfortable and what I know I like, I’ll get bored. My art will get stale and I won’t grow in my skills.

I challenge you to spend a day letting yourself make bad art. Spend a day making art with no expectations. Have you done this before? Or will you? Comment below. I'd love to know!