Perfection is Overrated (Enjoy the Ride)

We all (hopefully) are striving for perfection in our work (and if you aren't, what are you working for?). However, we think that perfection is overrated.

Often in the artist's journey, we are chasing after some sort of ideal. Perhaps it's the perfect translation from what's in your head to what's on paper/canvas/wood/the dance floor/etc. Perhaps it's worldwide fame and acclaim. Perhaps it's your own holy grail of technical perfection. Whatever it is, it's that elusive thing that we spend our lives chasing.

The thing to watch our for on this quest is the notion that we MUST find it. We often berate ourselves for not being perfect, for not achieving this impossibly high level of awesomeness. Every attempt feels like a failure and we end up crushing our own dreams because the elusive perfection is so far away. The key here is that if we are on this quest for perfection, we must want/desperately need to achieve it, but we have to realize that the road to perfection is what's important, not perfection itself.

You see, perfection itself is overrated. Once you achieve perfection, what are you going to do? You've crushed all competition, you have surpassed your rivals and mentors and instructors, nothing is ever new to you, you can't learn anything more. You just sit there alone at the top with nowhere to go but down. Not a very appealing prospect, if you ask us. What sounds more awesome is the notion of being close to perfection. You have competitors and rivals keeping you on your toes. You have to constantly stay on top of your game because other people are on top of theirs. You learn from your peers, and you look forward to finding something new and exciting in your craft. Sounds much more fun and interactive and amazing, right?

Now don't get us wrong - perfection is still something you want to strive for, but realize that it's something that you probably won't achieve in your lifetime. No one does. Take Michelangelo and DaVinci. These two genius masters of the Renaissance have had lasting effects on the world, and these two guys were alive over 500 years ago. However, they weren't perfect, but both strove for perfection and constantly worked and worked and worked at their craft so much that many would call them "perfect," even though they were not always happy with their own work. Michelangelo wasn't pleased with a tomb for the pope that he worked on for 40 years! The reason we regard these two so greatly is that while they were extremely gifted and talented and produced amazing works of art and engineering, they constantly strove for perfection. Additionally, just because they weren't perfect doesn't mean that their work wasn't amazing and awe-inspiring. You shouldn't knock your own work just because it is not perfect - it can still be amazingly mind-blowing - the secret is to embrace your creation for what it is, and the next time keep on striving for that perfect piece.

You see, oftentimes we forget in our hyper-competitive world that the trip is just as important as the destination, and in the journey of a creative, the trip is more important than the destination. If we must strive for perfection but never achieve it, you can either look at it as extremely depressing and you can give up now, or you can enjoy the neverending quest for perfection and enjoy the ride.

If you're in the creative field because you want to make money, get out. Whatever the field you're in, if you're in it just to make money, then why bother? The whole point is that you should be doing something that you enjoy and love, and you need to find joy in the pursuit of perfection, not perfection itself.

So go out there, try your best, and make something awesome today. Because just remember, while it might not be perfect, it doesn't have to be.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly - Be Yourself

Many people might give you unsolicited "advice" as to how to approach your work. Maybe your paintings are too dark and morbid, or that abstract painting looks like a bunch of paint splatters, or that you should take photos that are more commercial.

Getting criticism isn't a bad thing - it's getting unhelpful criticism (especially unsolicited criticism) that's a bad thing. Having someone help critique your work is awesome - we constantly critique each other's work probably daily, but we always ask for it, and we always ask what the other person is trying to achieve.

Asking what the other person is trying to achieve is always important before giving feedback. This allows you to tailor your feedback to the specific problem the other person is trying to achieve. If you are trying to paint a stylized character with goofy proportions, it doesn't help if the feedback is "Your proportions are off." Duh, that's what you were trying to do in the first place, right? However, if you're working on a photo-realistic painting of a friend and someone suggests that perhaps the left eye is a bit higher than where it should be, then you're getting helpful feedback.

But let's get back to bad feedback. Hopefully you don't have to deal with this, but if someone (especially someone whose opinion really matters to you, ie. mom, dad, partner, etc.) gives you feedback completely unsolicited and completely opposite of what you want to do and who you are, DO NOT LISTEN.

While they might mean well, do not listen to them. If you paint bears, and you love to paint bears, and bears are your favorite thing to paint, don't paint landscapes, even if you think you'll have a better chance to sell the painting. Even if you think you have a better chance at getting into a gallery. Especially if that someone told you not to paint bears, you had better frickin' keep painting bears.

If you don't enjoy what you paint, even if you're good at it, even if you become successful, you won't be happy. Monkey and Seal fought their Academy of Art classical realism training for years, and only just now are we really embracing what we love to do. Seal was told that her paintings are too saturated and look too much like animation background illustrations to be fine art. Bah! Monkey was told to paint more realistic, and to leave out the text or incorporate it more into the painting. Bah!

You have to love what you do, and to do that you have to do what you love. Whether you like painting demons or angels, landscapes or portraits, animal sex scenes or intricate church interiors, you have to paint what you like. If you're a dance who loves modern dancer, don't do ballet (unless you love ballet as well). If you're a MC, rap about what you want to rap about, not what you think will get you street cred. If you're a weirdo, be a weirdo. Everyone is weird to someone else. Just as you might be branded a weirdo for making your own paintbrushes out of your own hair, for you, that's normal and most importantly that's who YOU are. If you collect Coach bags, while you might think that everyone thinks you're normal, I bet you there are a good billion people or so who think you're nuts for spending so much on a single bag.

There is always going to be someone who thinks you're doing it wrong, but in reality, if you're happy, you're probably doing it right. So do what you love to do, and do it proudly, and everything else you want will fall in place after that.

Quest for Originality

For the next series of paintings, I was on the quest to find originality. What I found was that, originality was elusive. The more I chased after it, the more I was painting the same way, making the same marks that I have always done, painting the same subjects again and again. When I searched for originality and creativity purposefully with intention, I peered over the edge and it seemed that my brain was completely empty.

When I stopped searching, when I decided "not to care," originality came to me. Maybe, originality can only be present if it is unplanned and spontaneous, when parts of your critical attention is turned off. It seemed like such a simple concept so I decided to try it. What I found is that although you cannot force originality, you can do certain things in your everyday life to encourage more moments of spontaneity and clarity. You can create a space and simulate processes that will give you a higher percentage of finding originality.

The formula for originality

Decide not to care. I'm not talking about not caring about your art of your painting, but not caring about how it will turn out, or how it will be received, how you should be painting. If we went to a formal art school, there were certain ways in which we were taught how to paint or approach the canvas. Or even if we were self-taught, there was a pattern which worked for you and you kept doing. I'm telling you to forget the rules.

1. Feed your artist spirit with new experiences - when we are focused on our craft, making a painting, or writing a novel, we are reaching into the countless of brain connections we have made in the past. We reach towards that one color we saw on the cover of national geographic, or the phrasing we've read by our favorite authors, etc. We have these bus routes/train tracks in our brains and if we're limited on how many images we filed away, we'll make the same connections again and again. We'll paint the same kind of tree again and again, because that's the one we know. That's the one that becomes comfortable. But what if you added an 3-inch thick encyclopedia of different types of trees, from the tropics of Indonesia to the Black Forest in Europe? You'll now have built a more interesting array to pull images from. And what if, on top of that, you decided to add an encyclopedia of insects? You now can paint insect-like trees. When feeding your inner artists, make sure to pull from both categories of things that interest you, that you are comfortable with, as well as subjects you know nothing about and what terrifies you.


2. Distract your brain - if our brains are making the same connections again and again. Painting and writing the same things, you need to turn off that part of your brain. Listen to music and paint to the harmony. Write you dialogue script as if it were a baking recipe. Doodle without intention - just let the pen drift in all sorts of direction without reigning them in. Find activities in which you tune out. I get some of my best ideas when I am having tea break, when I'm jogging, or in the shower. Because during those activities, I am not completely focused on art, I am just living.

3. The opposite to the above, pay attention ,very close attention to the minute and mundane - eavesdrop on that boring conversation on the bus, trace the cracks on the sidewalk with your footsteps, notice that speckled texture on your ice cream, or the swirly pattern in your coffee cup. These all can be part of some new alien landscape.

Japanese architecture can become a mechanical jellyfish.

4. Changing your muscle memory - our brains are connected to our hands, even when we doodle, we tend to create the same shapes and patterns without knowing. We've ingrained them to our muscle memory. To change it, or train your muscles to do things differently, you've got to give it a handicap. Doodle with the opposite hand. If you're a right hander, draw with your left. Tie your fingers together so you can only use two. Use a brush the size of your broom. You'll definitely make marks you've never done before.

I was able to "find" this robot by making random marks with my left hand on paper first.

Now, when you look down at what you've drawn, you'll probably find marks that makes little sense or shapes that look "childish or foreign" because you've never drawn this way before. To make sense of it all. To finally rope in originality, we've got to turn your usual brain back on. We'll need that pattern-finding, sensible, methodical you to make sense of all this randomness. You've got to find the pattern within the chaos.

Originality can't always be summoned by our will. It is often "process-depedent," so in order to find it you'll have to keep reinventing your creative process.

The Formula for Making Miracles

So today we've decided to provide you with the formula for making miracles happen. These aren't the type of miracles that happen overnight (well, they can sometime), nor are they the "walk on water/resurrect the dead" type of miracle. The miracles we're talking about are the kind that change your life without you even knowing it. It's the book deal you've always wanted, or the opportunity to attend art school, or the "perfect job" of your dreams. It's the mural you've always wanted to be asked to paint, or the opportunity to study under a premier choreographer, the vision of the "future you" that you know may be possible, if you just believe and reach out.

One last caveat before we reveal all: the formula asks for a lot of hard work and time, so if you're not on board with busting your bootie for your dreams, either jump ship now and embrace the fact that you are choosing to ignore your inner artist, or brace yourself, strap in, and roll up your sleeves and get ready for a paradigm shift.

So the formula for making miracles happen is deceptively simple, yet can be frustratingly difficult.

The big (not so) secret is: D+W+F=O

While that probably makes no sense to you, let's break it down now, shall we?

The D is for DREAM. In movies, when it's bases loaded, down by 3, bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, you know that the batter isn't just thinking "hmm, I hope I'll hit the ball today." You know they are thinking about hitting that game-winning, last minute home run that'll make them the hero. If the batter just aims lower and goes only for a single, most likely this is not enough to pull all your runners into house base and someone on your team will get an out, and your team would be done. In this situation, you have to steel your resolve. Despite the real fear and the overwhelming doubts, you have to commit to dream big (and be ready to make it happen) or you go home with regrets. (It is not enough, to say, "well maybe . . . I would like this . . . it'd be nice" you have to think "Yes! I want it! All the way to the very ends")

Just as the batter is forced to dream big, so must you. Whatever your dream is, make sure you have it stuck in your mind and have it be clear about what you want. So take a step back and think about what sort of miracle you want. Would it be a miracle to own your own successful business that pays you $35k a year? Would it be a miracle to get a lead role in a feature film directed by David Lynch? Would it be a miracle to pay off all your student loans by selling hand-carved wooden figures? Whatever your dream is, be specific and make sure its a dream worth fighting for.

Your dream has to be worth fighting for, because the next part of the formula is going to need some fighting for. W is for Work. Like we said earlier, this isn't the resurrection-type of miracle. We're talking about real, achievable goals being met, and if you really want them to happen, you've gotta work for it. Whatever it is, whether creative or not, if you want the world to help you out, you have got to help yourself first.

Doing the work is not easy, but it is integral into getting what you want. Even if you're a certified genius, you'll still need to work hard if you want to move beyond your given talents. But chances are, like us, you aren't a genius, even if others might think you are. We would wager you probably work harder than anyone else, but you just keep that fact hidden. So given that you aren't a genius, but a normal human being that is talented and amazing, you're still going to have to put in lots of work. Ever heard of the 10,000 hour rule? So your miracle is probably going to need a bit of work, but it'll come. It's just a matter of doing the leg work. Just as you can't win the lottery without ever buying a ticket, you can't make or sell a painting without ever picking up some paint. Keep doing and keep putting yourself out there.

So you're doing the work, and it's long, and maybe it's hard, and maybe you're starting to think "why isn't this working?" If you think "this isn't working," it probably isn't. If you think that it does, it does. If you think that it's hard, it probably begins to be. If you think it's challenging, but doable and it gets easier, it probably does too. Start to get the pattern? The next part in the formula is F for Faith. This is the hardest concept to explain.

Whatever your thoughts are on religion or higher beings or the Universe, one thing that you absolutely, positively, must believe in is yourself and believe that if you take a step forward, the universe takes two for you. Help yourself and people around you can't help but lend their hands to you. You have the power to be proactive and to make whatever situation you are in, better. Trust me, there is always something that can be done that will get you closer to your dreams. And when you are working towards that, trust that whatever you are doing, is working. These miracles are the type that YOU manifest. You have to believe that you can accomplish your goal, and that before you know it, you are living your dreams. Often, most people don't achieve their goals because they give up too soon. They give up at the very moment that they should be leaning into it. The hard work didn't pay off fast enough for them, so they forsake everything and abandon their dreams.

Now people often think superstars in whatever field just explode out of no where. While this might be true a fraction of the time, often times it's not. In the art world, this misperception happens really, really often. You'll suddenly see some artist having solo show after solo show all over the world, and you'll think to yourself "damn, that artist is lucky, they just came out of nowhere." In reality, most of these artist were operating under the mainstream's radar for YEARS before they explode out into the mainstream press. Think about how long David Choe was hitting the streets before he became the world-wide gallery superstar that he is now. Like we said, 10,000 hours is about right if you're hoping to be the best at what you do.

So wait until you start hitting close to the 10,000 hours before you really decide to quit. If you want something like a free cheeseburger, give it a few days. Either way, depending on how large your dream is, the time frame that you'll have to keep believing in yourself despite all adversity will scale accordingly. After all, no one becomes the President of the United States overnight.

So, if you've taken the D+W+F, you'll see your miracles start to happen with the O, cuz that stands for Opportunity. After all that sweat (and maybe some blood and tears), you'll find that doors will start opening. Connections will suddenly become clear, investments you've started years ago will start to bear fruit, your work will be better than ever, you'll be better at hustling for your art. It'll be simple for you now, and you'll wonder about why you thought it was so hard in the beginning. But here is the hard-to-digest truth: It has always been easy if you believe it can be.

Think back, has any "coincidence" or "miracles" happened to you in the past? I know Monkey and Seal met a lot of awesome friends that seem to be in direct alignment to their dreams. We have also had many opportunities for gallery shows, freelance projects, and lasting friendships this way. So start talking about your dreams, take your Dreams and start going for them, put in the hard Work, and have Faith in yourself and believe that it's working and you'll start to see the Opportunities flow like miracles.

Embracing the New You

When you've been stuck somewhere, whether it be a physical location, or a job, or even a state of mind or action - it's easy to cling to it no matter how much it might be the exact opposite of where you want to be. While this seems like it could very well be counter-intuitive, humans are incredibly adaptable beings. We're practically the only animal on the face of the earth that can actually manipulate our surroundings to be something homey and familiar. When a tiger is placed in a iron cage, it can't plant trees and make it seem like a jungle. When we're placed in a cubicle, we can decorate our bland grey fabric walls or put up pictures, we can sneak off to play facebook games or play Words With Friends in the bathroom on our iphones. Humans are really sneaky in that we find ways to make threatening or new environments very, very familiar.

However, when you are on the cusp of moving onto towards your dream, towards something bigger and greater and more YOU, it can be very scary. Our minds will play tricks on us and you'll do whatever you can not to move forward towards the new. When you've finally succeeded in getting that new position or have landed a solo show or got admitted to the school of your dreams or got juried into some giant convention that's far away, you are now suddenly thrown into a situation that is unfamiliar. You're probably used to playing in the minor leagues, and now you're playing against hall-of-famers and your own idols. You're selling your prints next to the biggest names in the art world or you now have to figure out how to quickly produce thousands of handmade items you used to make yourself. Whatever it is, when you're getting close to your goal, new situations, unfamiliar terminology, different and new challenges will appear - and these are all things that make you want to run away and cower behind your old desk, your old job, your old familiar surroundings. To paint how you've always painted, to do things as you've done before, just so we won't have to face the new. But if you continue to do so as you've always done before, you will never embrace the awesomeness that you were meant to be.

It's okay, anything new is always a bit scary. However, we can't let the fear stemming from these new challenges inhibit our success.

You see, it's the Old You that doesn't know how to source national distributors, or how to navigate an international licensing contract. The Old You doesn't know what the art director for the Times wants, or how to manage a team of Disney animators. Perhaps the Old You doesn't know what its like to show in a group show, or how to fill out a call-for-entries form for Spectrum, or what it's like to vend at a craft fair. No matter what level you're on, stepping up to the next evolution of You is frightening, but remember that it is the Old You that doesn't know these things.

The New You, the successful one, is the one that has figured it out. Sure, there might have been momentary set-backs, stumbling points, and a steep learning curve, but you're now one step closer to your ultimate dream. Don't balk from the opportunity to dance with the stars or paint with the legends if you get that opportunity. Maybe you're not ready, but say "yes" anyway. Don't let yourself talk your way out of evolving towards your dreams because you're scared of what might happen. Ever notice that in epic sagas, the hero is always in over their head until the very end, when somehow, some way, they manage to exceed everyone (including their own) expectations of themselves and save the day? It's because that's the way it works. You evolve by stepping up to the plate and getting things done one step at a time.

Let go of the Old You and prepare to evolve a step. While it'll be scary, and can very well be difficult, the rewards are also always that much more amazing and plentiful the deeper the plunge you're willing to take. Now embrace the New You and let's get to work.

Cutting Out The Clutter

The sad, embarrassing truth about Monkey's forlorn desk..

Between the crazy-fast speed of the internet, television, movies, and video games, there are more than enough distractions to last a lifetime of lifetimes. Whether your are addicted to video games (like Monkey), television shows (regardless of how good they are), or anything else, you've got to get organized.

Notice we didn't say that you need to quit these things cold-tofurkey. Our brains need a break every once and a while, and nice distractions like Facebook or board games or the newest Xbox 360 title are great ways to tune off for a while. The danger lies when these distractions really take over and suddenly you've found that you've lost three hours playing Backyard Monsters on FB.

Monkey + Seal are big fans of having outlets - while you might rise to the top quicker if you shut out all things besides your craft, we're a big fan of stability, and the stereotype of the crazy artist who does nothing but draw might be romantic, we think it only works for certain people, and at a fairly large price. If it works for you, great, but if you're like us (and chances you are if you're reading this), this is going to be unsustainable.

So, what to do when you're trying to balance your day job, your art, and all these other crazy things. Oh yeah, and a social life as well. While we've already talked about how you can't actually multitask, the idea we want to present today is that you have to cut out the clutter.

We're not the tidiest people, and especially before a show our little Monkey + Seal cave gets totally covered over with art debris. However, the type of clutter we're talking about is the clutter of life.

Whether it's too many facebook games that you feel guilty about playing, or if its a messy room that distracts you while you're painting, or if it's your email inbox getting constantly full, chances are you're feeling like you need seven hands, or possibly a clone or two, to be able to handle it all. This is the clutter of life, and if you feel like we do sometimes, it is drowning your creativity.

The way out, the lifesaver, is order. Whether that means cleanliness to you, or having a rotting piece of roadkill hanging above your desk dripping black blood, whether it means waking up at 6am to write or maybe waking up at 7pm to start painting, order is whatever formula that works for you.

What we mean is that having some sort of routine (like always painting on Tuesday and Thursdays from 7pm-10pm, or making sure you have a cup of tea ready before you sit down to write), whatever it is, is super helpful to the process of creating. The hardest part about this method is that you have to stick to it. Willpower, like muscles, need to be exercised, and if you try to block off entire days every week, it might be a bit much. But, if you have a few hours set aside every week and you stick to them zealously, you'll eventually be able to increase the amount of time set towards your craft (if you so choose).

Alternatively, you can also use a timer to gauge how much time you spend on distractions. We have a handy-dandy little timer we got from a dollar store that we keep by our main computer so that we can say "We're only going to spend 15 minutes on emails," or "We'll only spend 20 minutes watching YouTube videos" or whatever sort of limits you need to set-up yourself. This way, you can focus on whatever distraction you want and then you'll have someone else watching over you to remind you when your time is up.

All in all, it isn't necessarily about eliminating fun things from your life, but it is about finding what's the right balance for you and to cut through the clutter so you can focus on your important work.

The Root of Fear and How to Defeat It

There are lots of things to be scared about in life. Giant robots, clowns, chainsaw monsters, being homeless, death, scary old rich people who don't care about other people - there's lots to be scared about. There are even giant plant/boar/fungus/frog hybrid nightmare beasts to worry about. But really, all our fears, at a very basic level, all boil down to one single fear.

This fear is what paralyzes us when we should be taking action. It keeps us awake at night worrying, it prevents us from leaving our day job. It seeps out from a deep, primal part of our brain and often times, we don't even know it. It is a fear so deeply ingrained in our mind that unless you're specifically aware of it and looking out for it, it'll operate stealthily, right under the plane of consciousness like some evil fear ninja assassinating your success.

It is the fear of being inadequate. It is the fear of not being "enough."

When we're afraid of monsters, we're afraid that we won't be strong enough to defeat them. When we're afraid of losing our jobs, we're afraid that we won't be able to find another one. When we're afraid of being abandoned, we're afraid that no one else will save us and love us. When we're afraid of people not liking us, we're afraid that no one else will. When we're afraid of asking for help, we're really afraid that no one will.

Pretty much every fear stems from this fear of inadequacy. While we may feel competent and skilled and awesome in some aspects of our life, if we're afraid of anything (which we all are), it stems from the fear of not being adequate. This fear is strongest because it is so hardwired into our head. Ever since we've been alive, we've seen other people not be enough. We've seen the hero die in horror movies, not strong enough to combat the ancient evil. We've seen business close down and people lose their homes. We've seen homeless people on the street, drug addicts on the corner, people who hate their jobs but are seemingly stuck there. We've seen people fail tests, people get kicked out of school, people who our parents talked patronizingly about or with pity. All our lives, we've seen people being punished for failing.

Because with our hyper-competitive world, there is one winner and a bunch of losers. One person takes home the grand prize, no one else does. You win the gold, or you don't. You get into the school of you dreams, or you don't. Even then, you graduate as valedictorian, or you don't. We have been conditioned from extremely young ages to believe that you are either the best or you're nothing. It's an all-or-nothing binary world that we're told we live in. We get encouraging pats on the head when we come in second, but everyone knows that it's still not first.

However, fuck all of that.

You see, your binary world is baloney. Being second place is still awesome, and failure isn't something to be ashamed of. Failing is an opportunity to learn and grow so you can come back even stronger the next time. There are millions of grand prizes out there, and truly winning is figuring out that your competition is yours alone, and really the only person playing against you is yourself. You are your biggest adversary, but you are also your biggest trump card.

You see, you are way more crazy amazing than you think you are. I can already hear you thinking "well, I'm not really that great." NO. Turn off the inner voices, shut up your parents and teachers and peers, and listen for a second.

You. Are. Amazing.

YOU (not that other person, you). Are. Amazing.

If you have read this far, it's because you're interested in whatever you are afraid of. If you're interested in what you're afraid of, it is because you want to crush that fear and move past it. If you want to crush your fear and move past it, it is because you want to change and that, dear reader, shows that you are already above and beyond most people. Most people don't care about fear, as they live by it. They are too scared and too paralyzed to even search for a way to defeat it. By showing the slightest inclination to defeating your fear, you're taking the first step to conquering it, and gosh damn that's a pretty amazing thing to do.

You have the capacity to do something amazing, and its only fear that is holding you back. Think about all the projects you'd do, or the places you'd see, or the freedom you'd feel if you could just get past that fear and doubt that you can't do it. You CAN do it.

Marshall your resources. Ask friends and family for help. Create action plans, think things out. Do your research. Start taking baby steps and you can do whatever your mind can conceive of. It might not happen as fast as you want it (Monkey wanted to be a billionaire yesterday, but that didn't happen), but if you constantly keep taking action and keep on moving forward, you will make it. I guarantee it. The only way to truly lose in life is to give up and let the fear lead your life. Just remember: you are more than adequate, you are amazing.