The Drive for Perfectionism

How It Can Hold You Back

There’s no doubt about it. The drive for perfectionism (a disposition to regard anything short of perfection as unacceptable) has its pros and cons. If I’m doing a portrait, I want it to look just like my subject. After all, why would my client hire me to draw their fur baby if by the time I’m done, they don’t even recognize the animal? For me, my portraits have to be the spitting image of the critter I’m drawing…and not a strand of fur or whisker out of place. It’s what I’m known for. It’s what people expect of me. And, it’s what I expect of me.

But perfectionism can be a slippery, elusive slope. Perfectionism is after all, relative to the viewer. Not everyone sees things the same way. When dealing with color for example, not everyone’s color vision is the same, or falls into the standard color wheel realm. Other people’s sense of visual balance can be off kilter and some people just plain don’t see perspective and have no sense of it whatsoever.

Is your drive for perfectionism holding you back from trying new things?

Still, on one hand the drive for perfectionism can be that constant push to improve your skills. Improving yourself or your skills is a good thing, right? But what happens when perfectionism keeps you from letting loose, cutting loose, and having fun with your art? What about when perfectionism keeps you from trying something new because you’ve never done it and you know for a fact that it won’t be perfect? If that’s the case, then perfectionism has crossed the line and is now holding you back.

Is Perfectionism Holding You Back From Adding to Your Knowledge Base?

By never trying anything new, you’ll never have that experience to add to your knowledge base. If you never have it in your knowledge base, it will never be available as a possible solution for that unexpected project somewhere in your future. You never know. Question is…why limit yourself?

If you are so hung up on being perfect all of the time, stop. You don’t have to be perfect in everything you do. A lot of art happens by accident or by experimentation. Allow yourself the luxury! If you’re afraid of it not being perfect, change your terminology. Instead of calling it a work of art, call it an experiment. Experiments sometimes work and sometimes they don’t. If it does work, bonus for you! If it doesn’t, you’ve gained some valuable experience, knowledge, and insight. Guess what? That’s also a bonus for you!

So the next time you’re faced with the opportunity to do some silly artwork, or faced with a new medium, new technique, etc., go ahead and go for it. Repeat these words in your head like a mantra… “This is just an experiment.” Have fun, gain some new knowledge, and become a better artist overall.