Master of all trades, jack of... wait, strike that, reverse it

[Janiac02]

I've got a little venting(in Jane-land that's code for whining) to do. My entire life I've made goals based on creative endeavors... Thus far there isn't a single thing I've perfected due to lack of patience and belief in my "potential".
Examples...
1) I have pages of clothing designs I have no skill to make. I fail at drawing so I can't count on someone else to help me out much because only I know what I *meant* to draw. So they are collecting dust...

2) I'm a vocal musician, and I am constantly improving, but never quite reaching the level where I could be competitive. (This is going to be my career, by the way, so I'm off to an AWESOME start)

3) I have lots of really neat photoshoot ideas (I most prefer to be in front of the camera, rather than behind), and can never quite pull them off the way they looked in my head
All of these things I have a really strong calling to, that just don't seem to pan out for me, or perhaps I'm just at it the wrong way. I think, for the most part, you are all very creative. Have any of you experienced this incredible frustration before you succeeded? Or does everything just fall into place for you most times?

[LeilaHazlett]

The photo shoot issue I can relate to. I rarely model anymore for various reasons but still have a huge detailed list of shoot ideas that for one reason or another I never got around to doing. Mostly because I have a really specific idea of how I want everything to look (the set, clothes, etc) but not really the means to make it happen. Some of my favorite shoots however have just been random last minuet ideas that the photographer and I will make work with little to no planning or budget.

If money were no problem I would be able to shoot a ton of ideas I've really been wanting to do...it's the working within a budget that seems to really hinder my creativity.

[TheDeathKnight]

My experience is that if you keep working on creative projects, and looking at other people's work, you eventually improve. Sometimes it requires a little training, or hanging out with other artists, to see what they are doing, and how... I just know that my first stuff was all crappy. My first photographs were lame, my first student films were lame, my first costumes were lame. But over the years those skills in all those areas have slowly gotten better and better and better, until you actually have some pretty cool stuff. I think some people have a natural talent for some kinds of art, and will hit the ground running. But other people need to work at it, and slowly improve their skills over time...

[nathanmbailey]

I'm the same way actually. I wanted to be a tattoo artist and found I just can't draw. I cannot make the images in my head travel to my hand and make it appear on paper. I attempted to play in a band that my friend put together, the best I could do was practice and memorize the few songs he taught me how to play before I realized I also have no musical ability and quit. I want to be a photographer but just don't have the money, skill, or well, anything worth photographing. Honestly, I don't think I'm the right look for modeling either.

I have great ideas, but the best I can do is try to describe them the best I can and hope someone who does have a certain skill can translate it into whatever medium I was looking for.

[Raza]

I think that your problem might be that you're thinking too far ahead. If you want to get into designing and crafting your own clothing, try starting somewhere more tangible; with something you think looks cool but needs to be somehow made wearable, or with an existing article of clothing that can be modified and expanded on to fit in with a more general aesthetic you appreciate rather than become an exact match of an entirely new item you imagined. Get busy and you'll start making techniques and materials your own, so that when you've got an idea pieces will start to click on how to get there, or what else could be achievable to approximate or even improve on it.

I've also got experience with the photoshoot thing. Part of that is that there's just a whole lot of different skills and abilities involved with those, not to mention equipment, materials and location that need to be available somehow even if you're adapt at looking for them. My advice would be to do it for fun, not necessarily thinking of yourself as a field professional or artist, but just for the joy of gaining increasingly good pictures of yourself. What got (and possibly is getting) me through being crap at it was the realisation that everyone's got looks, and to communicate them on the internet everyone needs pictures of them. Unlike with something like music, there's no treshold: your results are inherently somewhat interesting as a representation of yourself - a human being - and while effort can improve on them there's no need to meet a certain minimum to be worthy of being perceived, so you need only compare to your own last results. If you can look at in in a way that makes the process fun and every improvement appreciable, you'll be surpasing what you imagined at first in no time.

[TheDeathKnight]

Yeah, Raza has it right on the whole "take it one step at a time" thing...

I too, started messing with sewing stuff recently. I tried to make a big, elaborate item, and it turned out crappy. So I made a very simple vest. That went much better. Now I am doing some cloaks, but even as simple as those are, I fucked up the first three in minor ways. But the fourth one I made is actually pretty cool. So I think that pretty soon I could be pretty confident of being able to make a good cloak. But a Victorian dress or suit? Not a chance. It takes time. You have to start with the basics, and practice them, and slowly work your way up.

I see way too many people quit things after only doing them for a few weeks or a few months. I think people expect that they will be able to create awesome stuff right away. And if they don't have instant talent, they give up. People need to realize that a lot of talent takes time. Even for really smart people, and really creative people, it still takes time to learn all the technical aspects of any art. It takes years of experimentation, before you are doing anything good. I think if you checked into the backgrounds of young artists and musicians, many of them probably were doing that stuff since they were kids. That's why they were able to jump into a career as a teenager or young adult. But if you are just starting now, you need to realize it will indeed take YEARS to get good at something. But if that's what you want to do for a job, that's what you need to do. So get going! The sooner you start, the sooner your art will stop looking like crap...

[soma_stardust]

i'm so the same way.... i get to a certain point - mediocrity - and even though i tell myself i can do better and believe i can do better, the strain just winds up making me stop. i can't even count how many things go unfinished, how much of a failure i am at life. it blows.
maybe i'll never be better than i am, but i keep frustrating myself by trying and giving up. >.<

[Mr Karl]

i used to have good ideas and am actualy good at making things, but now i just pay a mortgage

[Ajax Knucklebones]

I've got a little venting(in Jane-land that's code for whining) to do. My entire life I've made goals based on creative endeavors... Thus far there isn't a single thing I've perfected due to lack of patience and belief in my "potential".
Examples...
1) I have pages of clothing designs I have no skill to make. I fail at drawing so I can't count on someone else to help me out much because only I know what I *meant* to draw. So they are collecting dust...

2) I'm a vocal musician, and I am constantly improving, but never quite reaching the level where I could be competitive. (This is going to be my career, by the way, so I'm off to an AWESOME start)

3) I have lots of really neat photoshoot ideas (I most prefer to be in front of the camera, rather than behind), and can never quite pull them off the way they looked in my head
All of these things I have a really strong calling to, that just don't seem to pan out for me, or perhaps I'm just at it the wrong way. I think, for the most part, you are all very creative. Have any of you experienced this incredible frustration before you succeeded? Or does everything just fall into place for you most times?

Sounds to me that you have a strong liking of these things, but not essentially a calling. The thing about having a creative skill is not only having the talent, but also the drive. Plenty of people have talent in one thing or another, but you have to give that talent 110% of your time to really succeed. If you give it just a half-assed go, usually you really don't go anywhere with it.

[Janiac02]

Sounds to me that you have a strong liking of these things, but not essentially a calling. The thing about having a creative skill is not only having the talent, but also the drive. Plenty of people have talent in one thing or another, but you have to give that talent 110% of your time to really succeed. If you give it just a half-assed go, usually you really don't go anywhere with it.

That is probably true for all things but music. I have been doing that for something like 13 years, and wanted to for longer than that. I am actually pretty good at it. My concern is that I won't be good enough to be truly competitive with opera companies and such.

[TheDeathKnight]

Very true...

Even if you spend years getting good at music, for instance, you are still entering a very competitive field, with a lot of other really talented people, all trying to achieve success.

If you work really hard to become a really good computer programmer, or something less competitive, you will have more of a chance for success...

I just see that 99% of the people who succeed in life, worked really hard for it. I would bet that almost every successful musician, or actor, or anything else, probably spent years and years working on getting good at whatever it is they do.

I think the key is taking small steps, so you don't get frustrated.

Like if you wanted to be a film-maker, and try to make a two-hour feature film, you will probably fail. If you start with a two-minute music video for a local band, you might succeed in finishing it. That way you feel good about succeeding in creating something, and it gives you the motivation to do more. Rather than being overwhelmed by the size of a feature, and giving up, and feeling like you failed.

[karyn]

sometimes i am very disciplined and sometimes everything just pisses me off. good luck.

[Rockwulf]

Haha you said "Master" and "Jack of" heh heh.

[Janiac02]

Haha you said "Master" and "Jack of" heh heh.

Lol... It pays to be easily amused.