Dear Inner Critic,
I was recently reminded of your constant presence by something my husband asked (rather innocently). He asked me if I was happy with my finished painting. A rather good question, actually.
It’s a bit double-edged though. I find that I’m never totally happy with the finished product. There’s always something I could fiddle with just a little bit, or a stroke I wish I hadn’t made. The worst thing is that you (my inner critic) can always be relied upon to add your two cents worth. You always have an opinion and are never one to hold back in case you hurt my feelings.
The problem is that I have a vision or a standard of how I want my work to be, and sometimes seeing other artists’ magnificent work can be both inspiring and demotivating.
A fellow artist told me recently that I shouldn’t care so much. I should just paint. He said most artists aren’t really that critical of their work. They just keep producing more art. Good advice, I reckon. The more you paint, the better you become anyway.
So, I’m just letting you know, Inner Critic, that from now on I’ll just be painting and not looking for perfection.
Pardon, did you say something? I’m afraid I wasn’t listening…
Inner critic is too subjective. What you’ve done, you’ve done. Rather take a step back, look at the result, learn how to fix it and don’t make the mistake again (not as easy as I’ve made it sound). Gut feel also plays a role. Sometimes good to listen to the gut.