The Gift of making mistakes

Last year, I was asked by an old college friend to teach my very first watercolor course to a group of her customers. At first, I was really excited about the idea, but after the initial excitement wore off, I started to feel very unsure of myself. The idea of exposing my process to others felt very uncomfortable, and here’s why:

I make mistakes.

Wait. Let me rephrase that: I make a LOT of mistakes.

And, I correct a lot of mistakes, and sometimes…it doesn’t go that well.

So, the idea that I would have to paint LIVE in front of other people…where I would be exposed as the less than perfect painter that I am…was truly scary.

Somehow, with all of the doubt, however, I still agreed to teach the class, and when the day of the class came, I rose to the occasion all while making mistakes.

Fast forward to this past January: I decided I would launch Stress-Free Watercolors - a beginner online watercolor course. I taped all of my lessons, and inevitably, I made mistakes during many of the tutorials. As I rewatched the videos during the editing process, it became all to clear that mistakes were made. I had a choice: redo those videos with the mistakes, or let them be as they were.

I chose to let them be. Although I made mistakes, I realized that I naturally and in a calm and relaxed way, talked through them and explained EXACTLY how to correct them. It dawned on me that this unto itself was a very valuable lesson for my students.

We ALL make mistakes. Learning from those mistakes is what makes us better and those mistakes in essence were a gift of opportunity to help others learn and avoid making the same mistakes.

Further, the end product…even after the mistakes…was still a beautiful piece of artwork. And THAT was a great lesson for my students, too.

Making mistakes is a very big part of learning how to do anything. Even those who are professional “Fill in the Blank” will stumble, regress and struggle. It’s part of life. Living through those mistakes, and understanding how to overcome those mistakes is what makes us better.

So now, when I tape myself for the STUDIO tutorials or teach classes, I have a lot less fear. I talk about the drips, the blotches, and the hard edges, and talk through how to fix them. And I believe that this makes my tutorials and lessons even better. Because after all, we (and our work) are always works in progress.

If you struggle with perfection…or the idea that putting brush to paper might mean that you will make a mistake…and this scares you…I ask that you simply let go. Let go of the need to be perfect. Embrace the beauty that lies within your mistakes. Learn from them. And in time, you’ll become a better artist.

Do you have fear of making mistakes? How do you deal with it? Share in the comments below…