Good to be bored

Last Friday I had a friend visiting that wanted to make pictures of me. Not because I would be specifically beautiful, but more because some time ago I had grown a beard, and she wanted to make several portraits of bearded people.

One of the portraits
by Hanneke van den Tooren

We discussed several aspects that i wanted to capture here.

Sometimes when making pictures or learning new painting techniques you have to think consciously about how-to-make-it while making the art works; which somehow prevents you from getting into an inspired mood (or flow). This by itself can be a bit worrying but is just a phase. In trainings one would normally address 4 phases:
1) incapable unaware; we are not aware of how we make mistakes or how we are limited by our skills or behaviour.
2) incapable aware; we have become aware that something is limiting us, which could be (i) through another person pointing this out, (ii) because we reflected and discovered ourselves, or (iii) because we have decided to set new goals and need to learn new things.

the learning curve with 4 steps

3) capable aware, meaning that we are aware of how to do things and start to be able to integrate this in our approach. But thinking is still required as part of execution
4) capable unaware, when we actually integrated the new insights into our behaviour and do not need to think any more when working.
The best step is of course step 4, but once we reach that stage it is good to realise that step 4 is probably the same as step 1; as there is a next step to be achieved and new things that limit our results and growth.

I would say that an artists stands on the shoulders of all previous artists in history, reaching for new levels. The artist needs to first understand and learn what others have done before him. And, even though this is sometimes unconscious, the artist will replicate many of these artists.
I remember when making my first cartoons; although I tried to make new cartoon characters they always ended up very much like my favourite cartoons (the Doorzon Family from Gerrit de Jager for example). And while searching for new characters and story lines to make my cartoons I was always trying to be original. Frustrating would then be when my brother - being confronted with my newest cartoon - would say "wow, nice, it actually looks like the Doorzon cartoons". Although intended as a compliment such remark could really bring me down. At the same time I had to go through these phases to at some point be capable of really creating my own cartoons and my own style. And even now for my latest cartoon ArtBurshy I can imaging people recognise other cartoon styles in it.

To make these evolutions and then create your own style requires going through the steps of learning several times. And crucial becomes step 4, and specifically when getting bored; finding no challenge in the current making. I would say that real inspiration comes with a vision of where you would like to go, and with a challenge. If there is no challenge it is the same as the last painting; we are copying not really creating. I understood that also Picasso several times started a new style after fully mastering his previous style; a nice inspiring thought I keep in mind to push myself for new ideas when being bored.

For these moments when being bored I always keep my notes of ideas. These ideas come at the weirdest moments; often just when getting up or after a strange dream; when walking on the beach, when having a conversation with a friend (and sometimes when using some alcohol ;) ). I try to write these ideas down, as they fly away as quickly as they come. And I use these notes when feeling bored.
As a side note I remember an interview some years ago with Karl Lagerfeld, who always slept with a notebook next to his bed, as most of his creations came when waking up.
Often these notes represent crazy thoughts, things that seem appealing but difficult to reach. These appealing images are the ideal drive to move from step 4 towards step 1, starting to identify the horizon for our renewed journey.
Generally I discovered when learning myself or when teaching others; it is more easy to learn new things when trying to reach for a new goal than just by sequentially teaching skills.