Last week on Hyperallergic, the daily e-newsletter about edgy art, I found an interesting cartoon, a recurring feature by CM Campbell about "How to Draw a Black Guy." In two minutes you can get much to chew on about cartooning, race relations and artist doubt. But what I liked the most was his almost-at-the-end conclusion.
"That's why you should never force style. It's just inadequacy combined with practice."
What a profound and true statement! As I look at my own art practice, I see so many examples of inadequacy combined with practice. Probably the most blatant is that I can't do beautiful calligraphy, so I have cultivated varieties of handwriting and handlettering that are deliberately awkward, wobbly and misproportioned. I think they look pretty nice.
I guess there are two ways to deal with inadequacy -- avoid the area entirely, or figure out a way to embrace the situation and make the best of it. Think about that for a bit.
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