Does my work suck?

I’m sure every creative has thought their work is terrible, including you and me.

So what do we do? What do you do when you ‘just don’t like it at all and it’s terrible’ (or when you think it’s terrible)?

I remind myself that this is just one chapter or even just one page or sentence in my story as a creative. Not every painting is going to be the Mona Lisa or Starry Night. Not every photograph is going to make it into Vogue or National Geographic — most don’t even make it to Instagram.

Remind yourself that progress isn’t linear (because it isn’t). You’ll totally screw up the exposure on a shoot or miss focus. You’ll butcher the proportions and technique in your painting. Be patient with yourself while you learn. 

I get an ego sometimes since I think that my work is so good and then get upset when photos don’t turn out as perfectly as I imagined. I try to remember that everyone makes mistakes and you hardly ever see other people’s failures. You don’t see all the blurry photos other photographers scrap or the drawings that get thrown out. 

As long as you are consistent with your craft and want to get better, you will. You need to put the work in and move past the work that you aren’t a fan of. 

Oftentimes we are our own worst critic since I will be disappointed with my work while everyone else praises it, and the same goes with my creative friends. 

You’ll have to be honest with yourself about your work, but also look at how far you’ve come since your first painting or when you took your first photo.

Keep going, you’ll be glad you were patient with yourself & put in the work!