Practice Makes Better
I have grown up with the phrase “Practice Makes Perfect”, as I am sure you have too. It had its fame in the 80s and 90s, at least where I grew up. The education system at that time and place was about rote learning, drilling and getting the information stick to the student’s head, hopefully for longer than just the exam they were studying for. I have had disdain for that idea in my adulthood. I advocated more for the idea of having experiences, and getting a deeper understanding of concepts than for just drill practices and rote learning.
But, there is a “but” in my story of thinking about the philosophy of learning and education, or this blog post would be utterly short! And being a homeschooling parent for many years helped me with this idea. Now in my 40s, and having a deeper understanding of learning new skills, more reading, and having more experiences, I have changed my views. I believe that learning is about both: drill practice and having experiences for deeper understanding of any topic. And I think those two things complement each other in the way that only forwards our depth of knowledge over time. With more practice we see nuances that just skimming over anything a few times would not give us. And with actual experience we know what anything really feels like. Music learning would be a good example of this: Only learning the theory over the years without actually playing or improvising would be futile, and learning an instrument without having an everyday practice would not get one far. With more practice and improvising together, the knowledge becomes automated which then people can take further creatively.
Art making for me has the same philosophy attached to it. There is the creative making and pushing of boundaries, but that is backed up by all the learning of the different aspects of making a painting. There is colour theory to be learnt (and mastered over a lifetime!). Design and composition to be understood. The chemistry of different kinds of paints, and the way they interact with other media. Drawing, and practicing the art of seeing. Art history to further one’s knowledge of the canon that the artist is resting their learnings on. All of this and a whole lot more…But besides all the theory that goes into the artist’s understanding of art making, there is also the part where one shows up every day to practice a basic skill they are trying to develop over time. Like the scales for someone learning to play a musical instrument. One such very basic skill for me is drawing, every day. It may last anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, but to sit and really look at an object, and to render it in my sketchbook is something I value deeply. Another practice that I start my studio session with is to pull out an art book from my studio library (a tiny one!) and study the value structure of a painting that draws me that day: how did the master artist use their darks and lights, and what does the painting look like just in it’s value structure. Mark making with different media and colours in my sketchbook page, with abandon, helps me with trusting my intuition of putting colours and shapes together. I have decided on these three activities to further some basic skills that I hope to make more automated so I can pull on their powers for my art making on demand. And the only way the automaticity will come is with enough practice. When those neural pathways are deep in my brain, I can make better art. I will have space enough to focus (and practice) on other aspects, and get stronger with time. One step forward.
This is the philosophy of learning for a lifetime. I will always have a skill I want to practice and get better at. The deeper I understand art making, I will find other aspects to improve. Drawing is the very basic of skills that I want to practice all my life. It calms me down, and gives me a deeper understanding of the world around me. And, it gives me a better eyesight to practice art.
But yes, the rote learning, along with creative experiments and experiences, and the progress made with the very basic idea of showing up everyday…that to me is the perfect and simple (arguably!) recipe for getting better and deeper at what I want my life’s work to be.
And hence my motto:
