Why Make Bad Art?

I keep on making what I can’t do yet in order to learn to be able to do it. - Vincent Van Gogh

This quote having come from Van Gogh is important. He was a man that only created in the last 10 years of his life, and in that span of time made around 900 paintings and over a thousand drawings. This dedication to craft is incredible and speaks to the idea of constantly improving his art making. This quote comes from a letter he sent to his brother Theo in 1885 when he was creating his painting, Potato Eaters. This painting looks very different from his later work but is still considered one of his first masterpieces. It's interesting to think that he thought he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't say outright that what he was doing was "bad", but by saying he "can't do [it] yet" implies the idea that what he was painting was not turning out the way he wanted.

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

Most people would not say that Van Gogh's Potato Eaters is a bad painting, or lacking skill. This leads me to my main point, which is that something being "bad" is subjective. A person declaring an artwork to be bad can be based on preference, bias, lack of skill, poor concept, etc, etc. With this in mind, don't be afraid of that word, don't be afraid to take criticism. Someone saying that your work is bad isn't very nice, and it isn't exactly constructive criticism but it's important to gather feedback on anything we create and this could be a springboard for more developed thoughts about the work.

Now if you are believing your own work to be bad, it can be even harder to identity why you believe that. Artists can sometimes become wrapped up in the thought that people won't like what they're producing, or just become frustrated with a piece, this is inevitable. It's vital to be able to change these thoughts and make them constructive. Why is it bad? Are the proportions off? Are the colors wrong? Or do you think it doesn't live up to something you created before? It could be any of these things and more. Identifying the specific issues will help you learn and develop from them, it will also help you learn how to talk about art.

As important as observing the things that are wrong with your work is, it is equally important to actively improve upon them. This is what I mean when I say, "Make bad art" what I really mean is don't be afraid to mess up, because your're learning, which will inevitably lead to improvement. Also, when you continue to practice and make things you're not comfortable with, and try new medium and subject matter you'll eventually come out with something you like. In my Youtube video above, I did quicker, small scale acrylic paintings, something I don't do but wanted to try. They came out really not great, but there was one, the painting of the avocados that I liked. It would have been misleading if I had only posted the timelapse for that one painting. The context of all of them together helps other artists online know, I don't need to create perfect artwork all the time, because no one does and we all learn from our mistakes.

Sources:

1979 February 10, New York Times, Books of The Times: Nature Has Spoken to Me by Anatole Broyard, (Book Review of “The Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh” in 3 Volumes), Quote Page 17, Column 3, New York.

Frequently asked questions | van gogh gallery. (n.d.). Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/faq.html