Quantity over quality

I think if you travelled back in time to when Jackson Pollack was about to do his first painting and you said to him:

“Now Jackson this painting has to be so unique that it revolutionizes painting forever”

I imagine you would have freaked him out, he would overthink the painting, probably never finish it and you’d put him off painting forever.

What I think actually happened was over hundreds of paintings Pollack received praise for his work while learning the domain and seeing the opportunities for uniqueness.

So, when he stood before the easel on that faithful day he could draw on a bedrock of confidence that he was a good artist and insights from all his experiments into originality.

So, he eyed up that canvas and said:

Let’s try something bold

…

Quantity over quality!

This insight is so empowering because it’s never been a better time to use quantity to grow as an artist.

With cloud storage and the internet you can quickly develop a body of work that the world can see whilst honing your craft.

So a website hosting your art can simultaneously delight those who love your earlier work and those who adore your later pieces.

Hat tip to Art and Fear authors David Bayles and Ted Orland for this insight.