Richard West, director emeritus from the Frye Museum, visited the Atelier to discuss his thoughts on art. He touched on many different subjects one of them being the importance of failure. I was surprised to hear him mention a subject rarely discussed, unless it is behind closed doors with a close friend over a pint of ale.
There is a stigma associated with failing. Failure feels like personal death to our aspirations and painful blow to our self-worth, all the more because it so often follows significant hard work and sacrifice. Most people try to avoid this and it may explain why there are not more people drawing today.
It is common to look at peoples accomplishments and only see the success not the stuggle. Richard mentioned that many master artists first strived for technical perfection at the beginning of their career and ended with effortless mastery. In the middle there are often times of fumbling as they sought to stretch. The process of growth always involves risk and at times failure. Yet it is a necessary process as you stretch to reach something just beyond your grasp. You have not truly failed if you learned something which can be brought to the next endeavor. The real loss is not taking the chance.