If you dip your toe into mindfulness or do a quick google, the phrase ‘letting go of judgements’ will almost certainly pop up. Over time I moved from letting go of judgements to being discerning because it became really clear to me that as artists we needed to like and dislike things (discernment) without that being a story of how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (judgement) we are at creating
The idea of discernment is particularly important for me. Spotting when my internal voice is becoming judgemental or telling or creating stories which are not necessarily accurate or true is something that is something that is an important part of the principle of being discerning. An example could be when I wobble a little on a line with ink or my brush and it becomes a story of how I am no good at detail work or this piece is now ‘ruined’. These judgements aren’t helpful for me (and probably not for you either if you experience them). Noticing and then re-framing these inner comments is helpful.
As with many things, the first step is to be aware. If you can be aware of the difference between judgement and discernment, how that sounds, how that feels and then start to consider how you can acknowledge you were judging and don’t want to. To let go of the judgement. To re-frame a comment or word choice. Start to move more towards discernment. Be aware of the stories you are telling in yourself. Your thoughts are just that, thoughts not facts, remind yourself of that.
So when I wobble perhaps I notice I can decrease the wobble by holding the tool a different way. Or perhaps I notice that I like loose lines and embrace that. When I have an unintended line rather than allowing my inner voice to declare something ’ruined’ I open myself up to curiosity. What could the mark become? Could it offer a new idea? Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t. I often find that rushing leads to me not being quite as accurate as I’d like and essentially rushing is focusing on the ending not the present so I am brought back to the first of the three core principles:be present. It is a reminder for me to be present. It also acts as a reminder that I am seeking to enjoy the process not create ‘perfect’ art
It is possible to like and dislike something without judging or falling into story telling about yourself or a painting (or situation). Consider how you talk to yourself about your creations, both whilst you are creating and afterwards. Are you being judging or discerning? How are they different? Are you comparing your work to others? Is that a fair comparison? What would it look like to let go of judging? What would it sound like?
Being discerning can be a necessity as an enjoyable, mindful, captivating process doesn’t always lead to amazingly fabulous end results. Being able to pick what I liked, and didn’t like from the process helps to inform me. Knowing what I like can influence the curiosities I choose to follow in the next creation. The information I have gathered from both being discerning about my own creations and those of other artists (and of nature and clothes and patterns on plates) gives me a repository of ideas. It is often those ideas that I turn too, together with some artist’s knowledge from my toolbox, to tweak and play with a creation and move it more towards a finished piece I like. As you create, you will be adding to your own personal tool box and repository of information and ideas.
I want to be super clear here. We can create, make process based creations and leave it at that. I do, do that in my own work; sometimes I fling paint for the joy of it. I can use those creations as collage material or for backgrounds or I can leave them as they are. I think one of the great thing about my lessons is that I create a structure where you can play and be process based and I will show that tweaking part of the process when I add details and find ways to move the piece to a state that feels finished and is most often visually appealing too. Here is one of my favourite, go-to exercises from my YouTube channel. It is one you can do with kids too!
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