Creativity Series: Skills

There are two aspects to skills needed, but not possessed, for a project. The skill level you have may not be up to what is needed for the execution of the piece, or the skill needed is just simply not in your repertoire at all.

If it is a skill level issue, I have found that being open to learning new skills is essential. Whether you take a lesson, class, or teach yourself, it is worthwhile to expand your skill-set, so that you will be prepared for the later, more difficult, project without spending a huge amount of time on learning. For example, I've never painted with oils. This is something I'm pretty upset about allowing to happen-It would have been better to me to learn oils while learning acrylics, so that I could choose which would be best for a painting. Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Now, with my more advanced paintings the only choice I have is acrylics because I know how they behave. Correcting this is part of my goals for 2013. More skills available gives you more choices in your art. As they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat!

For new skills, classes can be invaluable. An actual teacher, whether online or in person, can often be a great resource for bouncing ideas off of for execution of a particular piece. I'm not saying they should tell you what to do-just simply answer questions. The new skill I would love to acquire is metalworking. Whether it ends up as jewelry pieces or large sculptures, I am going to need a class for this as I have little to no previous experience. If only I could have taken every class in art school! Knowing what you can and cannot teach yourself is crucial. I do espouse the idea of trying it on your own before a class if time or finances are a concern. People are often surprised by what they can accomplish with a bit of elbow grease!