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Preparing or Avoiding? The Artist’s Struggle with Action
🕑 Added 2025-03-11 16:38:28 +0000 UTCRecently I've been studying fine art, especially contemporary art, and I've been exposed to some interesting ideas, like art not made to be understood but to be experienced. So while I dived more and more into the traditional art world—its business, politics, market, and artists—I felt an increasing need to participate, to try out some ideas mixed with the ordinary, digital, canvases, and oil paintings.
But then I noticed that this motivation to act came from a false confidence based on my experience in a different art medium, an industrial type, not very in tune with what I've seen so far in galleries or art history. An arrogant reaction that can be misleading.
One can make the case that art is whatever you want it to be, as long as [insert argument to move forward]. But I’ve encountered this false confidence before—the Dunning-Kruger effect—in which one feels capable of winning a war without ever stepping onto the battlefield. This kind of behavior has been useful in the past, but time has taught me that pausing to study and think critically before making key movements significantly reduces the chances of failure.
This leads me to the question: "Am I chasing thoughts to avoid painting?" The answer is, I don't know, as I'd like to be prepared with some understanding beyond the technical. So a more useful question for you might be: how does one know if one is preparing or avoiding?
I think preparation reduces uncertainty through actions that move you closer to execution, while avoidance maintains uncertainty by replacing execution with endless adjustments. Since we don't know if these "adjustments" are necessary at some capacity of the process, here's a clearer example of these situations:
Preparation has a clear objective. Avoidance keeps the goal vague.
Preparing: Studying one artist or theme "good enough" to paint or draw, most times with no clear certainty.
Avoiding: Studying one artist or theme for long periods of time with no technical execution, hiding behind unclear reasons and indescribable feelings.
Preparation faces the problem. Avoidance circles around it.
Preparing: Warming up before a drawing, which is most of the time necessary.
Avoiding: Waiting for the right time to warm up, which is most of the time unrelated to the act itself.
Preparation creates real progress. Avoidance creates the illusion of progress.
Preparing: Sketching daily to improve composition skills.
Avoiding: Watching tutorials about sketching for months but never putting pencil to paper.
Now, these examples are still vague in my opinion, but a good rule of thumb would be to ask, "How much time of preparation is necessary before it becomes avoidance?" Different tasks require more time than others, but look for references, read about others' experiences, ask others how much time they spent on the goal you pursue, and question assumptions. Whatever time it takes for you might vary depending on your strategy and skills as an individual.
So how do I plan to deal with this endeavor? By understanding, because that's what I feel I lack now. Am I wrong, just making excuses? Well, to be honest, I've never painted on a physical canvas and I have no idea what to do after, so there's no doubt I need to do my homework—at least for a week—before "killing" that canvas, haha.
But what about you? How will you take that first step fear is keeping you from?
Comments
Ramon Nuñez
It's very useful to be able to describe your problem to some degree. I understand if you need some time to evaluate your priorities after a failure, but don’t let thoughts blind you to the fact that many problems get solved by acting—irrational small steps towards whatever makes sense to you. Action builds up your courage once more. I've noticed these walls we build are useful as a sort of self-defense mechanism, but the downside is that these 'feelings' don’t always reflect the true danger; instead, they reflect potential danger (anxiety), preventing you from acting in the world out of an illusion. Supposing that you will fail, at least have some fun while you try.
Stephanie Decuir
I appreciate your conclusions, and I think I've experienced a sense of avoidance since participating in a big contest for pitching a short film. Since then, I've found myself overthinking my goals and projects, but I never take action due to a fear of failure and the uncertainty that comes with it. This has led to frustration and a lack of creative output. I also struggle with overplanning, which can hinder my progress. I'm uncertain about how to overcome this issue. Additionally, I think about other things I would like to explore, which keeps me busy but doesn't yield much in terms of results. I believe this behavior is a response to boredom and a way of avoiding the uncomfortable feelings associated with learning.
