I used to think my art had to be perfect before I could show it online

Last week, I was cleaning out my old laptop and found a folder from three years ago labeled 'finished pieces'. I had about 20 digital paintings in there that I never posted because I thought they needed one more tweak. Looking at them now, some are actually pretty good, and it hit me that I was just scared of putting my work out there. So I posted one of them, a simple landscape I made in Procreate, on my art page yesterday. It's already gotten more likes than anything I've posted in the last month. Has anyone else had a folder of 'finished' art they were too nervous to share?

3 comments

3 Comments

angela_coleman3mo ago

Ever think about setting a hard deadline for yourself, like @schmidt.grant's mixtapes? Just pick a date and post whatever's in the folder.

ruby_grant2mo agoMost Upvoted

Thirty mixtapes. That's the number I found in a shoebox under my bed last summer, all labeled "Perfect Version 1" through "Perfect Version 5" for different years. I kept telling myself I'd fix that one awkward song transition or re-record that one shaky vocal take. Now they're just relics of my stubbornness, like a museum exhibit of unfinished projects. Hard deadlines sound terrifying, but at least Schmidt's tapes actually got listened to by someone besides himself.

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schmidt.grant3mo ago

Found a whole box of old mixtapes I made in high school. They were supposed to be perfect gifts but I never gave them out. Listening now, the rough spots are what make them good. Sometimes done is better than perfect.