As Artists, we have a shadow.

We wake up and we have to go to our job to make money to afford the materials to make more art. When we get home we’re too tired to create something of any "value". Or we get everything together to formulate the foundation; The canvas, the blank space, the bare stage, the cameras, lights. All ready for you to step in and create something "profound." That thought alone causes you to stop completely in your tracks.

We visualize all the possibilities, but every possibility is one that you "can’t" do. You feel like you’ll fail, you feel too afraid to open up and express one thing for the thought of another looking at your work and despising it. You feel afraid that someone will call you out on the lacking of your own artistic creation.

You freeze and are now unable to make anything at all.

You try to drink caffeine to get the work up on its feet but the caffeine just diverts your attention to something even more dopamine-inducing. Finding yourself sitting in front of a computer watching somebody else create.

You are living in the Shadow of the Artist.

This is a painful cycle we as artists go through and it hurts us every time we do not create or work on the piece. But this doesn't have to be the reality.

I believe that Artists living in the Shadow can cultivate tools to work in tandem with the Shadow. I believe that there are ways that we can work to silence/accept the ego, the critic, but not let that control us. We can listen but we do not have to act upon the ego itself. Instead, we can allow ourselves to accept the imperfections that we have and we can find how it is perfect in its own way.

So we must practice, and this can come from exercises in The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

How to Do the Work

Though I have not personally completed the book, there are two practices that I took away from it. I’m excited to find the time to head back into the book itself. These tools are:

• Morning pages

• Artist’s date

The morning pages are a practice to silence this pervasive ego speaking into your ear like a bully telling you you’re not good enough. The artist’s date is a chance to connect with the soul of the self. The building of a relationship with an Inner Artist who wishes to be seen and heard and offering it a hand to, together, seek an intimate understanding of each other. We’ll talk about the two respectively.

Morning pages

The morning pages are a writing practice that occurs daily, ideally in the morning. You can do these pages at any time, and you can do them at any place. All you need is a paper and a pen. If you like typing at a computer there are some different rules I’ll go into.

For the morning pages, the goal is not to judge what you are putting down in writing. There are going to be many strange occurrences and conversations you’ll find with yourself as you go about this practice. See those and accept them for what they are, don’t delete, don’t erase, just keep writing.

You are not allowed to review the morning page until a year has passed. Let these pages incubate.

One thing I like to do if I find a great idea through my time writing is I will have a different section title “pops” for big or little idea pops. I’ll write the ideas I had quickly into this section so instead of reading through the entire morning page, I can find them quickly at the bottom of my page.

Here are the rules!

Paper and Pen

-Set a timer for a particular time. Begin small at 10 minutes and get to about 30 minutes.

-Write for the set time.

-Do not put your pen down during this time, continue writing.

-Write as quickly as you can this allows access to your subconscious.

-You are allowed to draw symbols, shapes, say blah, blah, blah. Whatever you intend to write is the right way.

Computer - Notes app

If you’re a fast typer and really enjoy working on the computer you can utilize this method for your computer to get the same result as the paper and pen.

-Set a timer for a particular time. Begin small at 10 minutes and get to about 30 minutes.

-Before you begin darken your screen all the way until you cannot see the screen anymore.

-Begin writing for the set time.

-Do not stop typing during this time, continue writing.

-Type as quickly as you can this allows access to your subconscious.

-You have to work hard not to hit the backspace button. If you are already a very fast writer you are even faster at hitting that backspace button. Be conscious of every time you hit the backspace button and try to hit it less and less.

-The screen going dark will help you not see the mistakes that you will inevitably make, which the computer usually tells you with the red dotted line underneath the mistake. Just keep writing.

Artist’s date

This is for you and you alone. No one is invited unless you genuinely trust that person, and you also trust them to grant you space while on the date. This is for you and the Artist within, and this could even be applied to all archetypes (Warrior, Hero, Innocent, …etc).

Go out and do whatever it is that you want, pay attention, and see what also might be in service to The Artist self as well. Going to museums, forest bathing, going to an arboretum. Find other art and Artists, and go see a movie with The Inner Artist and you. Go see a double feature of Barbie and Oppenheimer. Take the time off and allow yourself to indulge the Artist.

Think of it this way. If you keep suppressing something it’s going to begin to feel unnoticed, unseen, and begin throwing a tantrum forcing you to see it. This tantrum can pull from all sorts of different things to get you to listen. There has to be an allowance of time and space and respect for all things to be able to offer a balance of the self. Take yourself on a date, I will be tonight.

Imperfect to Precise

The only way to get good at something is to actually do it.

There’s no form of words, or theory that can get you much better than actually doing the thing. The only way to experience artistic growth tangibly is by actively practicing the craft. With sports and fitness, it’s a little more tangible, you run faster, lift heavier, and can move longer.

With art, improvement is entirely subjective. Maybe you can capture an image better, and maybe you practice the laws of composition better but due to subjectivity, what constitutes improvement?

One thing is certain, you will not improve by doing nothing

We start at the beginning. Putting the reps into your art gets us onto our feet. Once you’re going and moving forward, you need to improve. This is where you begin seeking counsel. Advice from other sources. Apply everything, use what you like, and let go of what you don’t. It doesn’t matter more than the actual action of making the art.

Next comes precision. There’s plenty of work out there made quickly. Look at social media and how quickly people can post. That's fine but we must be ready to hold ourselves accountable for being unintentional with our work. We're beginning to lack intentionality in the craft. Take more time with your craft. Begin earlier, maybe end later. Let people wait to hear from you again. Your work is done when you decide. In contrast, don't fall into the trap of never releasing it when you get to precision/intentionality. Work a little more intention and precision at a time with your art, don’t try to be perfect, but allow space and time for your piece.

I want to see more artists developing more art. I myself wish to continue creating my own art.

Trust me when I say this is something I’m working on too.

We are all on this journey together.

Much love today and every day,

Matt Piper 🐅🌱