Is “bad art” really that bad?

I’ve been thinking a great deal about “bad art” lately. It seems in this world of technology, communication and social media, every thing HAS to be perfect. Every Instagram profile has refined works of art and YouTube channels portray amazing time-lapse paintings. What we don’t see is on social media is probably the most important thing aspiring creatives need to see, failure.

Sure, you’ll see a clickbait title with the word FAIL plastered across it, but often these videos are made in jest and don’t seem to address the real issue of failure. Even people who show their sketchbooks, have the pages filled with rendered illustrations instead of the chicken scratch that is expected.

Society and the online community, particularly in creative endeavours need to see that failure is the greatest stepping stone to success. I remember reading a phrase in a “how to draw” book where the author spoke about the overwhelming and crushing failure he experienced in the first two weeks or so when he was creating drawings. The thing that struck with me the most was, that this was the first time I had been aware and really, truly acknowledged that “good” artists make “bad” art too. He continued to say that if you create 100 drawings, only 10 of those will be satisfactory and the only way to continue a steady flow of “good” art was to understand that the bad art must be produced. Many people shy away from displaying the bad art, but in reality, art is just like every other skill in this world. Some people will be good from the get go, but almost everyone was “bad” at one point, they just don’t show it. You just have to push through the creative process, acknowledge the bad stuff in between and keep creating. Eventually, your “bad” won’t seem so bad anymore. Embrace the failures and look at them as symbols and milestones of your inevitable progress.