01/08/2016 09:00

Busting That Last Creativity Blocker

First Sketchbook Skool sketch (left) and most recent Sketchbook Skool sketch (right) by Bernard Hornblower

Here at Sketchbook Skool, we don’t just help people make great art; we’re also in the business of busting the myths that block people from their creativity. Just this week, we retired Myth #1, “I don’t have time to make art,” and we pink-slipped Myth #2, “I have to go to art school to make art.” But there’s one more die-hard myth about making art that may be standing between you and experiencing the big magic, as Liz Gilbert calls it, of living a creative life. It’s large, it’s ugly, and it’s especially hairy:

Myth #3: I’m afraid my artwork won’t be very good.

Yes, we’re recoiling in horror, too–with empathy. All of us, from student to fakulty member, has had this monkey on our backs. We’re afraid to start making art because we think it won’t be very good. That it won’t be perfect or even pretty. We’re so afraid of the results, we don’t even want to try. Yep, we’ve been there. But as Danny, Koosje, and pretty much all of our SBS teachers have said, “The only bad art is the art you don’t make.”

Taking the first step on a creative path is easier when you know you’re not alone. That’s why our klasses happen in real time–you and thousands of people from all over the world make art together, celebrating each other’s efforts and cheering each other on.

The art on this page comes from SBS students we asked to show their very first sketch for an SBS klass, and their most recent sketch. We think they’re all great. The first piece of art you create is beautiful because you did it.

Gee, that big hairy myth has been awfully quiet these past few minutes…