The Success of Failure

This comic sums up my current state of mind. In my quest to become a good sketcher and art journal creator I have been studying books on the subject. They all have this underlying theme, it's good to fail. Wait, what?

Okay, okay we all know we learn from our mistakes but does anyone really WANT to? I prefer to learn from OTHER people's mistakes. To stand back and watch them go up in flames and think to myself, whew, don't do that. But my own crashing and burning mistakes....ouch.

One author discussed making a mistake as a learning experience. She says," These images will act as trigger for your memory or will help you mark your progress t0ward being able to capture images in the way you want." She then goes on to show 4 ways you can cover an error in your journal without ripping out the page. That's right sister, who wants a 'trigger for your memory' that screams YOU STINK!

There is this stigma of being an artist. It goes like this:
What do you do for a living?
I am an artist.
Really? ( insert raised eyebrow with a hint of eye rolling with a splash of doubt)
As an artist you spend a lot of time convincing strangers that saying 'artist' doesn't mean you do performance art on the corner wearing a dog mask swaying in your underwear. Who needs permanent pages in a book proving their raised eyebrow?

So I am committed to (sigh) embracing my disastrous pencil strokes, my mislead pen scratches and disproportionate musings. I am ready for the success of failure.