Perfectionism or Excellence

By Farley Lewis

Perfectionism is the counterfeit of excellence. It demands good results now, while pursuing excellence aims for progress, not perfection. 

Perfectionism makes it hard to start painting (“What if it doesn’t come out well?”) and hard to finish one (“It’s not good enough, I have to keep painting on it.”). Seeking excellence is honest about – and okay with – our current skill level (“It may not come out well, but my goal is improvement, not perfection.”). Finishing a painting is not hard, because the goal is not painting a masterpiece today, but growing over time, so we’re happy with progress. 

If a painting goes south – and some of them will, no matter how skilled you become – the perfectionist is discouraged by the failure, as though it defines them as an artist. The one in pursuit of excellence stands apart from her work, sees it objectively, not as a mark of her identity, and seeks to learn from it. She refuses the voice of discouragement, knowing that the road to excellence is full of failed attempts. She knows that if she allows her failed attempts to mark her as a failure, she will give up. No, a failed attempt is just part of the process. 

I remember a rainy day during the first day of a plein air event, when my expectations were high. I set up under a bridge to paint a creek, and the painting didn’t work. At all. Embarrassingly poor. I couldn’t even get my acrylics to work; everything was too wet from the blowing mist even under the bridge. I fought feelings of failure: “What am I doing out here? Am I just pretending to be an artist? Maybe I just can’t paint on rainy days?” I had to silence those accusing voices and choose to believe that the next attempt would be better. “Breath deep, Farley – this is just part of the process. What can I learn from this?” I refused to listen to the voice telling me I was a failure, kept painting (the rain never let up through the whole event), and ended up winning Best of Show with the painting below, painted in the rain under an awning. 

I believe this is the battle every artist fights: Will I pursue improvement or perfection? Will I allow my failed attempts to discourage me, or spur me on to learn from my mistakes and push forward? Will I silence discouragement and the accusing voice that tries to tell me I’m a failure, and instead focus on progress over time? 

Perfectionism is a ditch on one side of the road to excellence. There is another ditch on the other side. Let’s talk about that ditch next newsletter.  

Farley is offering his workshop “Beautiful Color with Farley Lewis” in March. 

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to study with him at Heartland Art Club. Click here for more information.