A few weeks ago, a lovely artist who’s taken lots of my classes emailed me telling me she’d been struggling with perfectionism and wondering whether I ever ‘get frustrated and frazzled’.

I wrote back to say that I definitely do! Then I explained a few tricks that help me move beyond it.

The lovely artist then suggested that it may help other artists if I wrote a blog post about it.

So here I am.

Perfectionism.

I first heard the term when I was nineteen and a college counsellor told me I was a perfectionist and see things as either black or white. At the time, I thought, “Ooh - how marvellous. A perfectionist. That must mean I have very high standards! What a great word to be associated with - it comes from the word ‘perfect’ which is a good thing!”

Obviously, by now I know that’s not quite what she meant and I’m still trying to find the comfortable middle ground, to know where to stop - or worse, where to begin, to just get on with something.

Being a perfectionist is the opposite of marvellous. Instead of creating perfection, it often means creating nothing - for fear of not being good enough. It’s a self-imposed trap and I bet you know what I’m talking about because it’s extremely common - especially in our creative world.

In my creative and business life, it looks like this…

I daydream and plan, imagining what I want to do.

I write a list of the fantastic things I imagined.

I picture myself breezing through that list.

I sit down to start doing stuff and...grind to a halt.

Why? Because I start listening to the prophet of doom - the unpleasant questions inside my head ...

Is this such a good idea in the first place?

Can I even do it? Do I have enough time or energy...or talent?

Will I accomplish what I set out to achieve by doing it?

Will it be as good as what other people have done?

Will it have been worth my time?

Will it be original enough, well-executed enough, professional enough?

Will it be beyond reproach - perfect?

By asking these questions, I’ve raised the stakes. I’m no longer just getting on with something. I’ve set myself up to do something amazing and if it’s anything less, I’m going to lose something important - time, sense of self-worth, status, even money. It’s a frightening prospect.

To mitigate the likelihood of things not working out, I set conditions. I must have a clean studio for this to work (get the vacuum out), I must be alert (start making coffee), I must have enough white gouache (pull up Amazon), I must find out what my friends think of my idea (click on messenger), I must get the boring stuff out of the way first (login to my accounting software) and so on and so on.

Three hours later, I’ve done nothing - except postpone the uncomfortable uncertainty, the self-doubt.

I’ve been trapped in this cycle over and over again and I’ve realised that the best way to actually get on with stuff is to lower the stakes, throttle that miserable voice…

..and just do anything...until it becomes something.

This applies to any project you’re contemplating but especially when it comes to creating art.

Below are six things I keep in mind in order to get on with stuff. Remember - the key thing is to lower the stakes...

Sit down and start somewhere. Anywhere. Think of it as time logged rather than (unrealistic) goal accomplished. Just show up.
Put your blinkers on. Keep your head down and don’t even acknowledge the competition (no scrolling through Instagram today!) - because it’s the fastest route to total inertia. You’re alright and the decisions you make are okay. Trust yourself. You don’t need to emulate anyone else.
Deliberately create something ‘valueless’. There’s nothing like having no plan and a blank sheet of expensive, cold-pressed paper for complete paralysis. Use cheaper paper and scruffy brushes and experiment. Try a new medium. You don’t always have to be working on a masterpiece for your portfolio. You can play around creating ‘low stakes’ art. Even if it never sees the light of day, it will have made you a better artist with fresher ideas and a broader repertoire.
Get accustomed to the idea of abandoning ship and just chucking stuff away. It’s alright if it didn’t work out. You’re still alive - you can do another one. That said, also get accustomed to the idea of working through the problems before you sling your artwork in the bin. Some of the best outcomes stem from making mistakes and either incorporating them into what you’re doing (serendipity) or finding ways to unravel or get around them. That process is creative and innovative in itself. Always getting it spot on leads to repetition and the dreaded ‘rut’.
Focus on the process rather than the outcome. Follow your curiosity, see where it leads you. You’ll make discoveries about what you can do and, more importantly, you’ll be motivated, asking yourself interesting questions and naturally seeking answers - rather than forcing yourself down the narrow path of creating a perfect, finished piece.
Have a loose plan. Set yourself mini-projects that stick to a theme. That way, when you sit down you won’t have to spend half an hour wondering what to create (and risk wandering off to water the plants). There are good ones on Instagram like #inktober, or the advent ones at Christmas or the #100days of... or my #birdsbutterfliesandblooms project. Or just pick your own. Keep it simple. Weirdly, the more tightly focused it is, the more you’ll be free to explore. The tightness of the project frees a chunk of your brain to focus on other aspects of creating. Let’s say your project is cats - you can focus on exploring different mediums. Or if it’s ink - you can focus on drawing different subject matter. Or if it’s geometrics - you can focus on trying different palettes that create different moods.

Good enough is showing up. Good enough is doing something ‘less than’ rather than nothing.

You’ll quickly find that the more you do, the more you do. All the small ‘low stakes’ things you create will inspire and motivate you, building your confidence and skills. You’ll also be building an image bank - an archive of material that you can use in the future.

I hope this helps.

This is a peek of my newest collection featuring a range of approaches to flower painting - and every one of them was a result of low stakes exploring!

If you want to know how to build a cohesive collection of work that impresses art directors, sign up for my online course, Create Collections. LAST CHANCE! Course starts Sept 14th. Details below.