Are You A Perfectionist?

Yup !

In those areas of my life where I really invest passion I am very perfectionistic.. however in the rest of it I'm almost the complete opposite. I believe that for many of us the desire to get it right ( creatively) is hyper focused because we put a bit of our heart into our artistic expression :) Nothing wrong with that but it does add stress if we are on a timetable to get it completed. When I have a deadline to meet I try to speed my pace by drinking Dr. Pepper, listen to an oldies radio station ( hopeful that the tempo is faster than my own). Also if you can switch between projects to ease any sense of the other looming unfinished & bogging you down. I also pray for strength etc. and will for you too :)

Yes, but not as bad as I used to be. It can stop you from creating sometimes or finishing.

Oh God, yes! I'll frequently return to my pictures to make seemingly innocuous tweaks weeks, months, and even years later. While there are things that I speed through, doing just enough to get by, the important things are seemingly never finished. For example, I can literally spend days squeezing the tiniest bit of added efficiency from my computer. I guess it's in my nature, dammit!

So good to know I'm not alone! I'm having to save my artwork after every five minutes of work because I have added so many layers worth of nitpicky fixes, my file size is now 11.3 GB. Photoshop has already crashed on me twice today, and I'm not taking any more chances. Perfectionist or not, these pieces will get done!!

Yes :)

No.

You're definitely not alone. Sometimes I'm a perfectionist to the detriment of my well being, as it sounds like you are as well.. It's a blessing and curse, lately feels more like a curse. I don't know why we can't be happy with anything less than perfection, I would like to know why exactly some of us are like that. We should have a therapy thread for perfectionists to help each other out through situations like the one your in. :)

I have the same problem, but it is for everything in life. Borderline OCD, but I do cross the border at times, according to my wife.

I'm trying to be less anal about my art designs, people like Isabella and another friend who is very spontaneous with her art inspire me to be less so. I really don't like a fussy overworked look to my designs I like it to look spontaneous, although a lot of my designs look very detailed but I'm not all about that so I have to work at simplifying.

The fact is to be good you have to work hard, as time goes on you learn more and more (by example!) to release some of the unnecessary stuff, it is a process and I have not "arrived!" Doing a piece for someone else you want to do a good a job as possible even more so for the client than for yourself.

YES! Sometimes you just have to make the call and say, "It's finished" then walk away....

Yeah I understand, I do that too--work on a piece until I feel it's right & the way I want it. Good luck & I hope you can get them done on time!

I used to be and I ruined a few paintings just trying to get it 'perfect'. Learned my lesson.

Yes and No - it all depends. You sooner or later figure out that nothing in life is really perfect - there is always a thorn on the stem of the pretty rose. It doesn't mean you settle for mediocrity - it means you watch out for the thorns. You fix whatever it is that is fixable - but if you try to make everything 'just perfect' you will in many cases ruin it. somethings you just have to let go.

“Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
written by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the 1930s or early 1940s.

Yes! It's our artist passion to want perfection. I always see something I could do to make my paintings better, especially on a commission. Call it finished when it becomes obvious further work does not add to the appeal of the painting.

i'm a time limit perfectionist. while it has to be perfect, i get bored with things fast, so it has to get done in a certain amount of time or i'll get annoyed and stop.

otherwise all my work shows exactness. gears mesh, screws are rotated in different direction, things are placed to actually work, as if they were real.

---Mike Savad

Yes but no, after spending half of century painting I can live with what I put down on paper or canvas, seldom needed to go back to fix it. Experience allows me to know when to stop. The only thing needs to fix is I often forgot to sign my paintings after I finish..

yes.

Artistically speaking, yes ... sometimes, almost to the point where it becomes painful.

I'm not generally a perfectionist, but when it comes to photography I've got pretty rigid standards for myself. Standards that my skills always have to fight to keep up with.

Painful, yes! It's 6am and I am exhausted, so I am going to take the great advice offered here and call it good.



I'll probably go back and fix some things later, but for now I'm putting a fork in it and calling it done.

I also used to be, finally realized if the world is not perfect why should I try to be. This Life is to short to strive for some thing that is debatable if it even exist.

No, I often let accidents "happen" in my art. I used to get all worked up and try to fix my mistakes. Now, in a large abstract for example, if I get a drip I will paint it into the work rather than fix it. I have loosened up dramatically in the past decade.

i think it's funny that people are answering - are you a perfectionist - then answering with one word.


---Mike Savad

I think the loaf of bread on the right needs a rotation of 0.3 degrees counterclockwise. I'm kidding. Looks beautiful, send it and end it.

The secret is knowing WHEN to stop.
Some paintings will never be 'finished' simply because artists change from moment to moment, day to day.

Yes but I am learning to fight off the urge to keep nitpicking. I find when I have the time to put it away for a while and come back to it I realize that it is good enough. But I confess to fixing something on a painting that I see later on that bugs me or didn't notice before.

Lol, John Wills...

Nice work, April. Hope that you caught up on sleep!

Mike, the reason you see so many answering with one word is because we are busy perfecting our work!

Sometimes you need to put away your brushes or your camera and take a breather for awhile and you come back as a better perfectionist. I know I have.

I am extremely perfectionistic, and also detailed, I pay attention to every tiny detail. Actually this goes automatically, I have autism. But I'm not satisfied easily with my own drawings. Sometimes I even start all over with a drawing even though I have already spend many hours on it. When I see something that bothers me, even though nobody else sees it, and I know I can't fix it with an eraser, I start all over.

Wow, amazing work, Heidi!

I am an perfectionist when it comes to my artwork...but I gave myself a rule because of the craziness I caused myself....my rule for myself is...once I sign it,...IT"S FINISHED!!! ..no more touching it..!! lol... And yes, i look at it later and say and think I need to this or that , but nope,,,It's Done!! OFF LIMITS!! and it's worked for me..:) ..it still sells...

Yes, taking a step away is good for the soul! After only 4 hours of sleep, I was forced to take a hiatus today by my loving husband (curse him!) and a bad bout of double vision caused by eye strain and exhaustion. Not good timing at all, but I was at least able to tweak a couple more things and get my completed piece uploaded here...



...and I was also able to make a second painting out of a crop of the first...



Hubby is off tomorrow, so I'm going to politely request that he take my son and get the heck outta Dodge for the day so I can have some peace and quiet in which to work. Sketches are all done, background is prepped, and brushes are loaded. If I can switch off this art OCD, I'll be in good shape. :)

I think in a very real world it depends on the type of art one makes. I see April and Heidi's work and it cries out for a level of perfection. There are other types of art that does not. One may have a style and have to work to keep their work within that style but often perfectionism is in the mind (and heart) of the artist, not the audience.

Same. I'm answering you before I read everyone else's responses, but .. yeah .. same. Weirdly, I don't think I'm a perfectionist in anything else I do, either.

Yes on the fine art stuff I post here, but that's not the problem, is it. If I get giddy and post something in the wee hours of the morning and decide next day it has to be fixed (or worse yet deleted!), it's easily done. And if there are gremlins in the FAA computer system, when they see me coming at 1:00 am, they are probably at the point where they sit back, put their feet up and just wait for the improved version next morning.

But it's the model home / real estate stuff I do, when I've got a deadline, that will probably be the death of me. Yes, on the late night / early mornings, on the not feeding the family, on the housework and laundry that pile up.

But it is fun, isn't it ... and when I ship the finals off to the builder / seller ... I do feel pretty good.

And, April, your bread images are SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!

Ive got a list of must haves for any painting....with those persnickety rules of good design that must be addressed ( and we've had tons of arguments about the need for paying attention to those rules....I'm not gonna hi jack this thread).
Once I have completed my work as the artist and taken care of each element, the painting is done. It then moves on to the client.

That is not to say that if I held onto a painting, I'd think next day, week or month that it isn't finished....we are talking commissioned work and how to meet those deadlines satisfactorily wihout obsessing.

April, your pain is good. Those paintings are amazing. Your experience is a valuable lesson to the rest of us because all the great artists experienced frustration and many were insane as a result. I like to enjoy the process, but my husband always jokes, "Don't cut off your ear." Congratulations to you and thank you for sharing your experience. I think your helping others on this forum to understand what great art is by sharing what it takes to create it. Congratulations to you!

Your pieces are vunderful April. I have a question for you, you mentioned these are commissioned pieces, is this the crux? Commissioned work means no mistakes and completion is on time. Other wise when working on your non commissioned work is the need for perfectionism quite as important?

"Are You A Perfectionist"
Only when it comes to artistic endeavors; engineering ergonomics, safety, and health in professional projects. otherwise, let it fall where it may.