The Ugly Art Theory
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When I was 22 and living in New York, I created a work of art and it turned out ugly. I mean, I really didn’t like it and thought it was really horrible. The colors were wrong, the size was wrong, basically everything about it felt wrong. But as I was looking at this terrible work of art something strange happened... I felt ok with it. I didn’t feel sad or bad or disappointed in any way. I simply came to the realization that sometimes you just make ugly artwork and sometimes you just have to accept that the good comes with the bad. You can’t go 100%, 100% of the time. That is how I came to fully believe in what I call the ugly art theory, which basically states, in order to make good or even great art, you must be willing to accept and create ugly or even horrible art. Ever since I adopted this theory into my art-making process, I have never been blocked or upset at what I created, and I appreciate the whole process much more than I did before. I am grateful for the ugly art because what usually follows is that I create a work of art that I love soon after. I just accept the art the way it is and move on from there. It’s that simple. Don’t be afraid or upset about making ugly art, but rather, use that artwork to move you forward in your creative process.