Learning From Work That Goes Wrong
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2024
- Hello everyone! For my first video of 2024 I'm sharing small drawings from a new series I've been working on, which has been a bit of a steep learning curve for me. I challenged myself to make miniature coloured pencil drawings using only pencils, something I rarely do! I feel so comfortable working in mixed media when drawing, that limiting myself to only one medium felt very strange at first. This resulted in many 'failed' artworks, some of which I'll share with you alongside the more successful pieces. I'll also talk about learning from work that goes wrong and the value of keeping your 'bad art' instead of throwing it away!
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Something my failed landscapes have in common is they all look like backgrounds rather than scenes in their own right. It made me realise I needed to work on focal points and foregrounds.
Ah, that's interesting! It's great that you've figured out what the issue is. That's half the battle won!
I recently sold a painting that I did and hated very early in my art journey. I shoved it away with all the others as I NEVER trow any away. However, with the new skills I had I was able to go back and fix or just redo past work and discovered they were not that bad after all, as at the time I was looser and less bogged down by all the rules. I also laughed at past efforts but marvelled at my development. If you took the time, cost and effort to produce it keep it. Natasha I liked all of your mini paintings.
I love all the pieces and totally agree with you that a fresh eye may help to see the beauty in each one. Definitely don't throw any away! EVER! :) Thank you for the new video. :) Hope you're feeling much better too!
I'm gradually feeling better but it's taking a long time! Thank you for your kind words. :)
As a writer, each of my stories, especially fiction, has a separate document called "(title) unused bits," so I can see how much I cut, or go back and re-read or rework a cut scene that I find actually could work well later in the project. It's also a good reminder about how much work goes into something before the shorter, final draft is shared.
I rarely throw pieces out. I often look through them and am amazed sometimes at odd pieces I didn't like at the time but love now. Sometimes I cut old pieces up to make into cards.
Isn't it strange how we can not like something when we make it, but then love it later on?! It's amazing how looking at something with fresh eyes does that - and it shows the importance of keeping everything, at least for a while.
I keep my not so good pieces, and sometimes go back and work on them again when I can see them more clearly, sometimes they turn out to be favourites then, or sometimes it just let's me see what not to do again. Love the life you've given to the little tree stump you can really feel the energy of new life with the wee twigs growing back. ❤
Ah, thank you!
Wonderful video!! I keep the "less than awesome" pieces and hang them in my bathroom and call it my hall of shame 😀😉. I usually like nearly everything i make even though there are plenty of paintings that are clearly mis-steps. After hanging for a while, i can sometimes alter it enough to then call it "not bad". Even my worst disasters, i can find a tiny shard of good. Yeah, keeping the faulures around reminds of what i want to do differently next time. I really enjoyed this video 😊
Hall of Shame! 😂
I LOVE the last one done off the reference photo that you didn't initially like.
That was so interesting to watch! I think it’s actually really brave of you to share an analysis of your own process like this. I can often feel that something isn’t looking the way I want it to, but I cannot put into words exactly where I’ve gone wrong. Whereas you seem able to state clearly what you were going for and what wasn’t working. I love the way you depict trees Natasha, it is stylized but also realistic and very textured in pattern and tone and it’s one of your trademarks. So even the trees where you felt they didn’t vary enough from the foreground stump; looking at those with you was an exercise in learning how to (kindly) tell when you’ve gotten away from what you were going for.
I’ve thrown away so much work in the past and have no regrets. It’s one of the things I can’t get comfortable with about sketchbooks - I understand they are meant to be a place to experiment and some of my ‘play sessions’ have yielded interesting questions. But some of it just pains me to look at! 😂.
Great to see you back, hope you’re feeling fully recovered!
Thank you, Natalie!
I'm glad you aren't critiquing my work.🤣🤣 Even your failed pieces look great to me. I have a hunch that artists are harder on their own work because it isn't what they expected in their mind's eye.
This is exactly what I thought earlier! I think that a lot of my issues with certain pieces of work are because it's not looking like the image I have in my head. That alone blinds me to what it *actually* looks like!
Nice to hear your thoughts about your work. I rarely throw anything out. Usually 1 of 3 things happen. 1. I cut it up and create something new with it. 2. I use it for collage. This includes canvas pieces. 3. It sits in my art space and at some point I do something more to it. And on occasion as time goes by, I realize I really like it afer all.
Love this. :)
They are all great! May I mention the stump one? Look at the light on the trees and see where it should be on the stump!
I agree about the stump!
I didn’t see any “failed” pieces in your work. When you pointed out what you considered the “fail” I could see how that would make it better, but I still don’t see it as a “failure “. Now my fails leave no doubt. I’ve started keeping them but scribbling on them pointing out where it went wrong. I do find that much of my work in general looks better the more time has passed - even though I see the imperfections they don’t disappoint me as much. My attitude in general has changed with time even when I make the same mistakes.
Thank you! What you've written here is very interesting.
Glad to see you back here on RUclips Natasha. A fitting video for your first of 2034, learning from failed pieces and taking those lessons forward,a way to go forward creatively into the rest of this new year perhaps.A late artist friend of mine once told me there are no failures in art when we make it,just points of new creative learning from that point onwards and that advice changed how I see my own artwork.I also often scan in a painting that hasn't worked as I'd hoped and totally rework it digitally and create a new piece. In sketchbook pieces I will makes notes next to a piece that wasn't as I had it in my mind,I will makes notes about bits of a piece that did work and why and notes on what didn't work and why any build on the positive notes in the next piece It's like seeing failed pieces as stepping stones going forward on your creative practice and journey,it's good for your creative well being to evaluate your own work and progress as well to help you evolve your work moving forward.(Matt) P.s I hope you and Dominic continue to get better each day too health wise
Thanks Matt! It's good to be back. I love your friend's attitude/advice and your idea about making notes in your sketchbook. :)
I keep everything because they often get better after I haven’t seen them for ages!😅 But when I used to paint on canvas, I would happily paint over a painting that I didn’t like.😁
Ha ha, I know what you mean!
6:40 Yes, I really like this one that you're giving a second look and liking better now than when you'd finished it. 👍
I toss my “failed” or abandoned pieces into a pile on a bookshelf that I sort through about once a year. The really bad work gets tossed, but the work that has something I can learn from goes into a portfolio. I will often find a couple pieces where I change my mind and decide that it actually works despite my initial opinion.
It's interesting just how much a little time gives us distance from the work and an ability to see it afresh.
This was a very interesting critique of what you're trying to achieve in your work, and I enjoyed hearing about why you like or don't like a piece. Usually when I'm unhappy with how something turns out, I let it sit for a while, sometimes a few years, and then I either paint over it, or take the canvas off the support so that I can put a new canvas on...Often I do see something I like in a failed piece, and I've actually cut the canvas up to save that one image for future reference...like cutting images out of a magazine but with my own work...I am inspired by your "practise" of trying things on a smaller scale.
I'm so glad that you found it interesting, and I like the idea of saving failed pieces for future reference and cutting the canvases up (I sometimes work on canvas too).
I found this so interesting, Thankyou. I do keep my failed work for as long as I have space! I think the main fault in my failed pieces is that I have overworked them and they feel tense!
I agree, I think that this is one of my main problems too!
What charming works! I'm totally inspired by these. Small is perfect as I rarely find the patience to complete a big one and I've only been using my lovely pencils for finishing touches on mixed media stuff. Thank you. I keep all but my most disastrous work and look through it occasionally to see if I've learned how to resolve a problem that had stalled me, or sometimes I'll take bits I like and collage them into something else. Even awful ones can be cut up and rolled into paper beads, when I'm in the mood to make jewelry.
There's definitely something satisfying about working on small drawings or paintings - they're much quicker to finish and I feel like I've invested less time if they go wrong! I also love small artworks in general. :)
Hi Natasha, I definitely keep all of my failed art. I love seeing how I grow and learn from failure because they are learning opportunities. The process is what's important, so I keep tinkering and redoing it until I feel satisfied with where I am with my idea and execution.
Love that!
enjoyed it and learned from this. I do keep all. Many are sketchbooks so easy to save. I do find I look at a piece later and like it more than when I did it. l Love your style and palette
Thanks Suzanne! It's interesting how with time and distance we can often see our work so differently.
Love the first picture. Especially the texture on the trees.
Thank you!
Incredible execution with pencil- love both your successful ones and the ones you felt weren’t your best- I hold on to most my work to learn or even crop areas I like - the stump needs the darkening as you pointed out to ground it - beautiful work AS ALWAYS - great video ♥️
Thank you, this has given me confidence!
Happy to see you back and on the road to recovery ❤
Thank you! It's taken a while (and I'm still not back to normal, but I am feeling quite a lot better!).
I like to keep some of my peices to let ideas develop after walking away for a time. It can be fun to go back in and re-work them. I also set unsuccessful peices aside to tear up as collage fodder. If I'm not attached to a peice in some way it goes in the bin. I also purge every so often just to keep my art space clear. I find that stepping away for a time is usually what helps me make more clear decisions.
I love reworking pieces sometimes too (mainly in my sketchbook as I can't throw those away!). I've been meaning to get into collage for a while, so I love your idea of setting unsuccessful pieces aside for this. :)
I wish more art YTubers would show their mistakes, or pieces they weren't happy with. Real life isn't pristine studios or perfect art work. I appreciate you being honest and showing pieces you weren't satisfied with. Although I like them all.😊
Ah, thanks Tara-Lee!
Good video Natasha! I keep every piece, mostly because it's in a sketch book anyway but I have a lot of loose paper works as well. Once every year or couple of years I will flip through them and that has resulted in me redoing some of them years later because the idea I had in my head of what I actually wanted to achieve was still so vivid. Looking at your pieces you consider not so much a succes; 100% would still buy 😂they are pieces that 'scream' that Natasha Newton made them. They still ooze your style.
Thanks so much! I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the video. This is what I love about sketchbooks - it kind of forces you (in a good way) to keep all of your work and experiments!
yes, sometimes you need distance from the work when it does not feel right. It can be because it was not what you were going for or it can be that you were lead to a different place and you need the distance to appreciate it and see it fresh .
Delinda here - I keep mine and get a circle ⭕️ stencil and place it over the most interesting parts. Then I cut them out, punch a hole in them, thread some twine through the hole - voila! I “set” of handmade gift tags!
Great idea!
Thanks for sharing Natasha and Happy New Year! I tend to keep all art work - the good and the bad... we'll see if that changes in a few years when theres lots more of it :P xx
Happy New Year to you too! x
P.S. I found all your art pieces beautiful ❤
I do both - sometimes I’ll wait a day or two before making a final decision, but I don’t mind throwing away things that I think are truly horrible 😂
I keep all of my failed work, usually I work in sketchbooks and I just turn the page and do something else. Sometimes I go back and look at it and see a way to fix it or turn it into something else by adding other media or even painting over it.
I really appreciate you sharing this! I can never quite tell why my paintings are off and this gave me some insight. 😄 And I like the one you thought was too many colors. But I throw away my failures. They’re depressing and not as good as your failed ones!
I'm so glad that it gave some insight, Tracy! Will you promise me that you'll keep some of your 'failures' and pop them in a folder or something (so that you don't have to look at them all the time!) and then revisit them a few weeks later? It's an interesting exercise!
It can actually be validating to look back and see our growth / strengths / confidence grow. It can happen super fast or so gradually that saving a record of those moments we struggled are all we have to compare our newer work to... & of course ya don't have to save them forever.
This was a great video. I keep all of art and like to look at how I have evolved and sometimes I am surprised about how I like some of them a year later. Lol! I find that my opinion changes over time with both art materials that I am using and subject matter.
It's so interesting how that happens, isn't it?!
Always keep a box of everything…. And go back to them when I have that spark of playfulness and I surprise myself of firstly how much better what I’ve put in the box is and often not much change needs to be added and secondly the difference fresh eyes and experimental practice makes.. I normally do this when I need to make a card for someone .. as it better sometimes than starting from scratch and your precious about what you have in front of you! Adding gold and vibrant colours or cutting off the part you liked and adding some people in the landscape… I love getting my box out 🥰💝
*not precious
This is a great idea!
I love all your pieces Natasha. As I am just in the learning process, I throw away a lot of my art. But you are right about keeping them as often I think i may get discouraged and I quit to early.
I feel as though I do this too - if something isn't going right, I often just want to give up. By keeping the work instead of throwing it away, it's possible that I may go back to it at some point, in the same way I do with my sketchbook work. I often find myself adding elements to pieces in my sketchbook and reworking them!
Yes, so true.
Thank you for sharing this Natasha. I love these mini pieces. I do indeed keep the work I don't like or unfinished. I use some for collage, cutting out elements to include in another piece. Others just say in a folder for reference. X
Thanks Lesley! I'm going to find a folder to keep all of the 'failed' pieces in and then revisit them a few weeks or months later, and see how I feel about them then. x
Great critique. I just threw away a piece I did because I just couldn’t make it better. Now I wish I had held onto it.
Thank you! I hope that this video inspires you to hold on to future 'failed art', at least for a while. :)
Neato! Love them💕
Hello dear! I only in the past few days discovered your channel! Beautiful art, love it! Will keep watching and supporting 🥰🤩
Thank you so much, Dominika! I really appreciate that. :)
gorgeous video, such an important point ☺☺
Thank you!
Lovely work - I love your colour choices and style. 🙏
Many thanks!
I really like these,,,and yes, compare and review at different time,,they were all quite nice. Thanks for the idea!
Thank you!
I think there are some good things going on with the background trees in the initial stump piece and tree piece where you didn't finish the foreground. They create some interesting negative space in the sky.
In the last year or so I have started to keep the pieces I am not happy with because there's often a bit of it I like that I could use in an illustration later. On the other hand I have also went through old art work at times and done a mass pitching (mostly work I did for University) and only keep what still speaks to me.
I think it's a good idea to sort through the old work occasionally and only keep the pieces that speak to you. I'm going to keep the work for a while and then go through it and see if there are pieces that inspire me - I'll keep those and then the ones that I still don't like will go in the bin! ;)
Really lovely video! I never trow away artworks as It's also great to look back and see the progress, when all of our work is perfect there is no place to grow. :) Thank you for sharing your recent pencil artworks, happy new year Natasha! So exited to see new work from you.
Aw, thank you my dear friend!
Natasha I hope you're feeling better these days. I love all your work, even the ones you call "bad". But it is interesting to see how small tweaks in the composition can make such a big difference. I did have just a tiny giggle when you said you used "too many colors" lol. Anyway, looking forward to seeing you more, I like this quicky format too
Ah, thank you. :) I'm so used to using such a limited colour palette within an individual painting, that to me it seems like a lot of colours!
and I Love your color palette! @@NatashaNewtonArt
Thanks for sharing Natasha - my favourite piece was actually the second last you showed with the large white cloud and the texture and colour in the foreground - there’s a really lovely balance in the composition and palette 🎨 I keep my rejects for some time but it does come to a point where I have to cut up for collage or ditch altogether because of space constraints. I guess for that reason I’ve cut up far more works on canvas than on paper
I'm so glad that you liked that piece! I understand about keeping/ditching the failed pieces - I'll probably have to do the same from time to time, as space is limited for me too.
I love what you did in such small spaces; the good and bad were fun to see. Nothing really looked too bad to me.
Thanks Barbara!
I wish I was your recycling person! 😂
Also I absolutely love the colour palette of the treetops images 😍😍xx
Thank you! @@lizastevens8291
Happy New Year....very beautiful I like the way you did
Happy New Year to you too!
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thanks for watching! :)
Lovely to see you back. I think all those pictures are lovely. But I suppose we’re all our worst critic xx
So true! ;)
I don't consider them failed drawings. It's more like they need more work so I just set them aside and go on to the next painting. I just recently bought a couple of the Stonehedge tiny tablets and an array of Luminance colored pencils. I want to try those as well as Derwent Drawing pencils on these little tablets. Too cute. Happy New Year!!! Glad you took a break but I missed you. LOL
Aw, thanks Diana, it's good to be back!
Ah this is fun to watch!
So the « failed » ones, I have to agree, they’re not great. And you did well to make new ones. I think one thing that doesn’t work in your first ones, and that you didn’t mention, is that you left too much white paper showing.
Leaving white paper on such small pieces really needs to be very intentional as you work with very little shapes.
As a matter of fact, you usually use the white for very specific shapes, clouds, sometimes houses.
But in those first pieces it’s just the background. It looks empty.
I really like the « too detailed » piece you didn’t like when finishing it. But it is a bit different from your usual, and I think that’s why you didn’t like it at first.
It happens to me often, especially when I try new color combinations. I make them work, I see and I know it works but I don’t like it at first. After a while, I get used to the new color combination and start liking it.
It’s like pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and forcing yourself to finish pieces in new ways.
Thanks Stephanie! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and it was interesting to read your thoughts. The backgrounds were actually white because I gave up on the drawings part of the way through! I agree with you about why I didn't initially like the "too detailed" piece. :)
Oh!
Ok, in that case, small (unsolicited ^^') advice from a fellow artist: force yourself to finish the artworks even if you think you don't like them. All of my artworks go through the "this looks terrible" phase and it's just by fighting through that phase that the work truly improves. Sure, once in a while you can give up on one, but you never really know until you finish a piece. Besides analysing finished artworks is much more helpful in the long run. :)@@NatashaNewtonArt
Awe I loved them all Natasha cross my heart promise you I do throwaway my not at all decent😂artwork into the ribbish goes 😂 without any regrets not one 😊 thank you for sharing 💜 😊
This is how I used to be - just glad to get rid of it! 😂
I love miniature artworks and these were lovely! I usually keep the artwork I feel didn't go as planned. I have one now that I really like but the paper was of a lower quality so I am keeping it so that I can create another piece on better quality paper.
Good idea!
Well, I think they're all pretty, but I understand that it can be disappointing when you 'can't make it look the way it did in your head' - this also happens to me all the time.
I do keep the things I dislike and either re work them later on, or, if I go back and still hate it, I'll tear it or cut it up and use it in a collage.
I love the collage idea - someone else mentioned this too! I need to do this.
I don’t throw away art I created that I don’t like. I use it for future ideas and improvements.
Hello! Not first 😄.
I’m not sure about keeping failed pieces. It’s very rare for me to go back to a piece and think that it’s quite good. At best I would see it as “Not as bad as I thought”. Throwing away bad pieces helps me declutter; I don’t have room for all the art I’ve done.
This is one of the reasons why I always used to throw everything away if I didn't like it - I just felt that holding on to failed work was a waste of space and unnecessary clutter. I'll find a folder and try to store them as neatly as I can! ;)
@@NatashaNewtonArt Thanks! But it’s the shelf space that is precious.
I don’t throw away my work because they are in sketchbooks. Only once I cut out a page then I felt bad and felt I ruined the book. One is never happy with one’s self.
This is one of the great things about a sketchbook!
Stunning work. Where did you get the canvas pencil carrying canvas?
Thanks Janice! It's this one, I got mine from Jackson's: www.jacksonsart.com/peg-and-awl-sendak-artist-rolls/?___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=b8c27b7a1c450ffdacb31483454e0b54