Do you struggle with wanting to create perfect art? Do you look at your favorite artists’ work and then yours and try to measure up. Maybe you make a mistake. Then you decide that it’s the ugliest art you have ever made. It gets worse. You question your art abilities. Yes, we do that! I have questioned my art.

What does self-control have to do with art. Everything!

You Can’t Control the Creative Process

Sure, have a plan but the best art happens when you let it. Start out with watercolor or a tool of your choice. Then start sketching. Let the brush or the pen implement all those ideas in your head. We can’t judge or control the outcome. The point of art is to play. An art journal is all about creative exploration. You see what your tools can do.

Surrender to the Marks You Start Making on the Page and Trust

When we try to control the creative process, that may be where creative block happens. Or worse we wait too long to share our art with the world. How about focusing on what we can control. I always have good ideas. I love mixing colors and creating textures with different tools. That is and has always been there. There is no, how do I find it, it already exists.

Focus On What You Can Control

• You can’t control what others say but you can control your thoughts and actions.
• Look for the positive and you will attract it. Look for the negatve and you will attract that too.
• Be yourself. Don’t let anyone take that from you.
• You always have a choice. Choose wisely

In art terms, show up to your art sessions with an open mind. Be yourself and create the art you want to make. Don’t worry about it being good or bad. People are going to talk. What matters is what you think of your art.

You simply have to start. As you hold that brush in your hand you must keep going. There will come a point where it will be beautiful. It isn’t necessarily what is on the canvas but how your curiosity is ignited. It’s how your spirit is in the moment.

My journal has been helping me reflect about what needs to change within me to then create the art that is me. The beauty of making the art is that you learn not to focus on the outside forces. You can’t control any of that.

Thank you for reading. If you have a thought on this topic or you can relate to my words, please share it. I know that some of my popular posts have been on nurturing the artist within. I want to write more about that.

Oh, my daily journaling is going well. You can check out my daily posts on Instagram. I am going to be working on a new project. It will be a flower arrangement.

With Love, Mireya