Yeah, we all remember the line from the Kevin Smith film. I've uttered it a few times as I joke. I wrote before about 'doing the work'. There's another factor: wanting to do the work.
I don't know a single artist who does what they do because they have to. They do it because they want to, sometimes even need to. Sure, sometimes you get that gig or commission that doesn't excite you as much as others, but at the same time, you're getting to ply your craft. That's not to say it's easy street and not stressful. I spent a good half hour fretting over a picture and taking a ruler to it to check something, but like every other artist, I notice my mistakes first.
You're not going to do your best work if you don't want it. I have a student at karate who doesn't want it. He's the bane of the class and his attitude has frustrated pretty much everyone there. Still his parents pay their money and continue to bring him and say how much it's helped him. The boy currently holds the record for hiding in the bathroom. 45 minutes. He actually took a nap in there the other night. And the boy's technique is miserable. He's been passed in the rankings repeatedly by students that have started training after him. He's a bully in a wimp's body wanting to push people around and quickly learning that he'll get the crap beat out of him if he tries. He doesn't want it, so he's never going to do it, and I'm going to have to talk to his parents about it.
He does not care about his mistakes. That's the major clue as to whether someone wants to be there or not. If someone does not give a damn about what they are doing they aren't going to care if they mess up.
No comments:
Post a Comment