After taking an art class, Nissi Baguma learned how to embrace imperfections.
I used to think that if I stuck to the same mediums, techniques and ideas with lofty expectations then sources of inspiration would find me. I was too afraid and overwhelmed to try new things.
I wanted to craft my own artistic voice, so every day of summer I would spend a million hours drawing only for the colors of my art to feel flat and the vision distant. Over the summer, I created a series of paintings of my favorite characters from various shows. I stayed up from sunrise to sunset, perfecting each and every single stroke.
It was just me and a cup of chilly lemonade in a dim room. I had my eye on becoming a perfect artist. My expectations weighed a ton on my shoulders, so much that my project felt like a skeleton crew, devoid of spirit and creativity to me. After that summer, I joined art class in school. I sat next to a girl, she sketched dynamically, then she suddenly started coloring.
She filled her paper with bursts of color, she let them dance along like the northern lights. Her process was the opposite of mine. I fixate on mistakes but for her, she let her heart guide her art. She never let perfection devour her. I asked her how she did it, and she replied “I just let myself loose.”