You Get What You Ask For

I learned a valuable lesson last week, and I’ve been mulling over if I wanted to share it. I think I’ve decided to.

I was creating these new Digital Stickers to fulfill a request made by a couple Scrap Girls customers that were asking for Sports Bikes and the like.

I drew them and painted them with watercolors, and I have to tell you, I was pretty proud of them. For someone that has only ridden on a 4-wheeler once and didn’t find out until a year or so ago that it’s called a quad, and for someone that has never ridden dirt bikes nor has a desire to…I did my research and was feeling like I hit a homerun.

I wanted to share them with someone because I wanted a sort of “atta girl” pat-on-the-back. I wanted someone to be proud of me and to ooh and ah over my creations. So I showed them to a person who will remain nameless for his/her own protection. Afterall, this lesson is not about him/her, it’s about me.

“So what do you think these are?” I asked the question, sort of giddy and over-confidently, knowing he/she would be able to tell full-well what they were. I figured if I underestimated my feeling of them, then I would hear back glowing reports, such as “Oh, of course I can tell what these are…these are fabulous!” You know, the whole ugly, false humility thing.

“The wheels are a little off, but I can tell what they are.” He/she said.

“The wheels are a little off?” I said, my heart sinking a little. This wasn’t going as expected.

“Yeah, that one looks a bigger than that one, but I mean, it still looks like a dirt bike.”

I looked at my drawings for awhile and was feeling a little more and more insecure.

After a little time to think and process, I decided to move forward with them, as is. But I learned a very valuable lesson. Do not ask someone what they think of your art unless you are prepared to deal with criticism. See, I felt like my paintings were complete and good, and instead of saying to this person, “Can I share with you what I just created? I’m so proud of them,” I hinted around at the subject, fishing shamelessly for compliments. I was a little haughty to think that he/she would see the art as I saw it.

I remember a friend in college who was an artist. She used to create these abstract paintings and then she would bring them to us and ask, “What do you see here?” It was a lose-lose question. We of course never saw what she intended us to see and then she would be hurt. The amazing thing though was that I liked a lot of her paintings, I just didn’t see them as she did. We each see things so differently. I wish my friend in college wouldn’t have lead with that “What do you see here” question each time.

From now on, if I feel an art piece is complete, I’m not going to ask for anyone’s opinion of it. If I share it with them, I’ll just make sure they know straight out that it is complete and I am happy with it as is. Afterall, if I’m not prepared to make changes, why ask them? The job, in my my mind, is complete. Only when I really need a valuable critique am I going to ask for one. Only when I’m prepare and willing to rework something. Say what you mean Mandy and mean what you say.

And in case you feel so inclined, please do not leave me suggestions for improving my Sports Bikes. They are in fact done. Ha!

Oh, and here’s a layout I made with them. Thanks to Shalae for the use of the photo.