From Art to the Moon!
Crossing your invisible finish line
Greetings, Explorers!
Trying to keep things short this week, so I thought I’d share some quick thoughts on what I’ve been drawing and watching over the last couple of weeks.
To procrastinate—ahem, did I say “procrastinate”?— I meant, to warm up for some commissions I need to do, I revisited this drawing of Makima I made during the Drawtober challenge last month.
This image took me a long time to figure out. (Longer than I hoped.) As you can see from the earlier versions I made, the character needed a lot of work with form, anatomy, line art, and all the rest. After working on it this last week, it still isn’t perfect, but I feel like I can close the book on this one.
However, I thought it may be of value to show the progression as a reminder to other artists: if you have the will and the patience, you can always do more and push your work further.
In my art, there is an invisible finish line I am always working against. I never know exactly where that line will end up being, but it always falls somewhere in between my loftiest aspirations and the peak of my existing skill set. For me, identifying that finish line is a gut feeling and reaching it is often a game of talent vs stamina.
While I am proud of the skills I have developed from studying and creating pictures like this over the years, it is also worth noting that, like many artists, I do still get frustrated with my abilities. It takes me a lot of time and energy to do things I know artists more practiced and talented than myself are able to achieve in less time.
I always struggle with trying to get my pieces to a place where they fulfill that vision I want to see. I get exhausted. My hands start to ache. I start cursing at little mistakes. Yet even when I think there is no way I will be able to ever get it right, knowing that finish line is there somewhere gives me motivation to keep moving forward.
My point is this:
What other artists can do should be irrelevant to your own artistic satisfaction. Your art should be there to satisfy your standards, not someone else’s.
You should absolutely allow other artists to inspire you and teach you, but if you are an artist or being creative in any way—whether it is cooking, woodwork, bodybuilding, or whatever—you should never let the skills of others dissuade you from trying to reach your own invisible finish line.
Even if the best place your current skill set allows you to get is far behind that of your heroes, you will find tremendous satisfaction in reaching your personal finish line because it is your finish line. You will know when you reach it because you will feel fulfilled with the result. It may not be perfect, but you will look back knowing you didn’t stop halfway up the mountain. You will have finished the race against yourself.
Sterling
“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.”
-Kurt Vonnegut
Reviews and Recommends:
For All Mankind
Format: TV Series
Producer: Ronald D. Moore
Where to watch: Apple TV
This show recently started its fourth season, but I am just now catching up. It is great drama for historical fiction fans, and you can read more about my thoughts here:
Sterling Martin is a writer, artist, and designer living in Chicago, IL. His background includes drawing, writing, theatre, teaching, improv & sketch comedy, and whatever else he can get his hands on to be creative. You can find him on the internet at:
Instagram: @sterfest.art (but it’s really starting to test my patience)
Website: sterlingmartin.design
Tik-tok: That’s the one you make videos, right?
Linkedin: I’m pretty sure I have one of those
Facebook: Ugh, do I have to?