Roll With the Mistakes
I used to be a perfectionist when it came to art. I’d hyper-fixate on any mistake and in most cases, would throw an entire piece away if it didn’t measure up to my standards. But, I’m slowly learning to not sweat the mistakes and how to turn them into something good.
Here’s a great example of a painting that I would’ve tossed into the trash before it was finished because of a goof up.
You might be looking at this and think, “I don’t see anything really wrong with it.” Well, here’s the reference photo.
First, I really messed up the location of the house on the left. And second, I messed up downward back angle of that house’s roof. So that’s when I said, the heck with it. We’re going to make an adjustment and it’ll be fine.
To “fix” the errant line, I added another stringy thing on the other side to make it look like it was intentional.
The end result is a pretty nice little sketch.
The thing about most of these mistakes is that the people you share the piece with won’t ever know you made them. Now, if the perspective is way off, yeah, they’ll probably notice. But these little things, nah!
So, I hope this helps if you’re a perfectionist. Relax. It’s art. You’re going to make mistakes and starting over every time isn’t helping; it’s just adding to your stress. And remember you don’t have to be a slave to the photo reference; it’s just a reference. You can make changes—intentional and unintentional—and still come away with a lovely little piece of work.
Happy sketching!
