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Originally Posted by Enzie Shahmiri
The book addresses the road blocks we create for ourselves and others, either through existing fears of failure, negativity or wrong perception of the way things are and offers ways to think outside the box and see the possibilities that are abound.
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There is no impediment to success that is the equal of fear. Mastery of materials, sensitivity to line and composition, development of an aesthetic, selling your stuff -- all child's play compared to making our peace with the kinds of fears that most of us entertain in our lives. We see masters at work and imagine they are fearless -- and how we wish we could be -- but most often what we're witnessing is the way one behaves when fears have been deliberately approached, examined and understood, and thereby neutralized.
As often as not in the critique process, my experience has been that the alleviation of a student's fears produces results as quickly as a tutorial on some element of drawing or painting. (As with Robert Genn, above, I'm not talking about mindless affirmation without more.) Most fears the size of an SUV when approaching from behind are in reality pea-sized when faced full-on. We already know a lot more than we think we do. We are innately talented in measure far beyond what we will ever use. If only we can get out of our own way (mindful of the adage, "If you think you can't -- you're right.")
Those favorite teachers that we all remember from our past educational experiences knew how to draw us through those passages that were otherwise closed to us, for our own fears and failures of confidence, while making sure that the discovery was self-discovery. I still love every one of them to this day.