From a young age, many of us are taught that it’s not nice to offend people, or the ever popular “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. While in your regular life these may be good marks for a well mannered demeanor; in your artistic life they hold you back. Now, I’m not saying you have to intentionally make a point to piss people off, because someone reading this is thinking it, but it's time to take a look at the big picture.
Throughout this blog I’ll use myself as an example where I can since the whole point of this is to share my thoughts about my creative mindset. There were times when I would mock up something and then get that sinking feeling, “This is probably too offensive” or “some friends and family probably wouldn’t like it”. Eventually, I learned that I needed to suppress that urge to revise or censor my work, and embrace my original idea in it's true form.
If you were walking though a forest on a nice calm trail and throughout your journey you picked some flowers along the way, you’d produce a nice bouquet when you arrived at your destination. This is playing it safe. Everyone can make that bouquet, pick the same flowers, and extract the same feelings.
“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
Be bold, take risks, and venture further into the forest. The forest is full of dangerous creatures and treacherous terrain that will make your journey difficult. Difficulty breeds determination and reinforces skills. Your journey into the unknown will bring you to things you otherwise could not see or discover from the road...your bouquet will be unique. When you reach your destination and present your arrangement some will hate it, or even tell you it isn’t as fragrant as the other bouquets, but your senses don’t lie.
Society has many feelings of what makes something beautiful, creative, or thought provoking. As an artist, if you can present your work to the public, and make people question their own standards then you are doing things right.
Always be yourself. Not everyone is going to like your work or support the same subject matter that you do. Never apologize for your work. Stand firm, close your eyes, and breathe in the fragrance of goddamn greatness.