As a child, coloring outside the lines was my pet peeve. An accidental mark on the coloring page made the whole picture useless to me. In middle school and until the beginning of high school, my perfectionism had morphed into unrealistic academic pressure. If I did not get the score or grade I wanted, I would immediately fly into panic, convincing myself that I had not studied enough or prepared. In reality, my grades were very good, just not perfect.
During my freshman year of high school, I began going to Ms. G’s art class. I had always been fond of studio art and after looking at my portfolio, she agreed to take me on as a student. Ms. G taught hyper-realistic oil painting, and after taking one look at the detailed paints that bordered on perfection, I thought I had finally found my place. I was very wrong.
In my first months of preliminary training, rather than learning brush techniques and color theory, I learned patience, discipline, and satisfaction. My first painting was a simple toucan sitting on a tree branch. Ms. G was assessing my knowledge with this first painting, hence she had let me paint on my own time and in my own way. The painting, which should have only taken a couple of weeks, took me almost a couple months. I had spent hours painting and repainting and going over the toucan, trying to add in every feather and hair, and that’s when Ms. G stopped me. She brought me around to her own paintings around the room and pointed out an obvious and very noticeable mistake in each and every one.Â
Ms. G told me, “To be human is to be imperfect, you have to learn to be satisfied. Hyper-realistic art is not in competition of photography. The beauty of hyper-realistic art is that it deemphasizes the details. You cannot capture every feather and hair like a camera can but you can make your audience think you did.”
As I learned to look at the bigger picture, my art improved. I was better able to capture the subject as it appears and make it look more life-like. I still put enormous amounts of detail into my work not because I have to, but because I enjoy it.Â
“You have to learn to be satisfied.” These words really stuck with me. I carried Ms. G’s words with me into my academic and personal life. I learned to value the journey rather than worrying about perfect results.Â
Ms. G still chides me with the same words when I paint at her studio, but now I put my brush down, take a step back, and look at the bigger picture.