Embracing imperfection

A dodgy dingo and more (im)perfect art pieces

Five years ago I wouldn’t have shared this with you.

I wouldn’t have shared this with anyone.

But because of that fear I wouldn’t have created any of this in the first place, and more importantly, I wouldn’t have created the art that I do love either.

Instead, here I am now, sharing some of my latest art pieces – the ones I don’t love – to show that sometimes we’re going to create things we don’t like. But these crappy pieces, these ‘mistakes’, are all just a part of the process of creation and getting better as an artist.

I learn something with each new piece so I can move forward and improve.

So, with a deep breath, here goes:

Dodgy dingo card for my husband’s birthday (I’ll create a better one next time!)

Jumping into the pool sketch

Sadness/pain that never quite got there

Some fun art Mister 4 demanded of me one day with only one colour allowed

Unfinished black cockatoo – the proportions aren’t quite right

That wasn’t so hard, was it?

I’m always trying to analyse when, how, and why I stopped fearing imperfection, but it’s hard to pinpoint.

I think it was a combination of different things that built up until I got to the point where trying triumphed over the fear of f*cking up.

I became a mother.

I lost my father.

Time felt like it was running out.

One simple, and perhaps less emotional, but big thing is access. Being able to access courses, webinars, tutorials from the comfort of my own home has been huge.

That wasn’t possible when I was a kid and teen, but it’s clearly the best way for me to learn. I don’t always do well in a room full of other people, but being able to learn online and grow in relative privacy works for me.

Having that time to grow and learn on my own has led to an increase in confidence so that now I can share these far from perfect pieces and not feel so ashamed. Maybe I’m hiding a little behind a screen here, but I’m still putting myself and my art out there in ways I never would have before.

---

Our mistakes, our imperfections are the things that make us human and the things that add authenticity to our art too.

Feel free to add some of your imperfect art below, whether it be writing, drawing, painting or something else, but no pressure!

---

I’m going to end on a piece I do love. Still imperfect because nothing can ever be truly perfect, but a piece I’m proud of. I sketched it while watching the verdict of a trial in Australia recently. It was a full-on two plus hours of explanation before the result, and though it was the deserved outcome, it was tense leading up to it.

So I sketched these flowers while I watched/listened and now I feel like they represent a moment in time that felt big with many of us feeling relief in the end.

Flowers sketched and coloured in pencil

---

This is number 2 of 24 essays/posts I’ll be sharing as part of the challenge created by

Claire Venusover at Sparkle on Substack. You can read more about the challenge here.

---

For the month of April it’s 90% off paid subscription plans, so you can show your support for under $10 a year. My content is all free but your monetary support, if possible, is a huge help. Click on the button below to check it all out.

---

I acknowledge the Darkinyung people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which I live and work, and I pay my respects to the Elders past and present.