What pressure does to your creativity

Dear creative friend,

Unique ideas that no one else has seen.
Perfect drawings no artist before us was able to produce.
Well-thought-out, polished speech.
An attention-grabbing hook.

And with all of that comes PRESSURE - the pressure of expecting our work to live up to this imaginary standard.

Eventually… we freeze.

We stop doing the very thing that would help us grow, even though we know that practicing and trying is how we move forward. Yet the pressure of expectations stays right in the middle.

Below, you’ll read a story from my interior design studies from 2018, from the moment when my chair design was selected to be presented in front of the faculty. It was my second year. I was nervous about my speech because my studies were in a foreign language BUT I was also incredibly proud of my chair, my drawings, and the idea behind them.

This story shows how perfect scripts, expectations of a specific outcome, and maintaining an imaginary level of perfection are often what stop us from being ourselves and not only professionally, but personally *and* creatively.

Yes, drawing counts too!

I didn’t edit this story for the newsletter. I’m sharing it exactly as I wrote it back in 2018.

And yes, as creatives, we DO need to develop public speaking skills and learn how to communicate our ideas clearly, because we need to sell those ideas.

But first… the story.

Speaking freely in front of a big audience and feeling great about it!

Should we stop to act like we were the perfect version of ourselves? Yes. And my “YES” gave me a sense of freedom and unconditional, infinite love for myself.

This week I had my presentation of my first serious project in German language in front of a big audience. You don’t understand what’s so seemingly complicated about that? What can possibly go wrong?  

Well, it could turn into a mediocre, boring presentation with some facts and some slides about a project which the audience would forget about the moment it ended. And even that would be ok for someone whose mother tongue isn’t German and who lacks confidence in her actions and words sometimes. Not exactly brilliant but ok considering the circumstances.

Instead, I did the following: I put my prepared manuscript aside and went back to my old self without any preparation.

I told my story. Even with mistakes and an accent – but you know, I was me. Rather than praising myself and my ideas, I told some ridiculous stories about the working routine and the making-of, about difficulties and funny moments.

I just didn’t want to be exactly the speaker, who talks about cold theory and “grey” statement of facts. I didn’t want to see my audience yawning and falling asleep at the back.

And then I stopped to pose as a perfect performer, stopped to be ashamed for my shortcomings and just let go of myself and my emotions.

And something unforeseen happened. Something wonderful.

It made me feel so good inside, so free and easy; so much better, than, when I was trying to play a perfect ice queen and to control every single step.

I was proud of myself – so emotional and imperfect; of my work – so improvisational and chaotic; of accepting who I am. Just the way I am.

P.S. And the project was successful :)

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See?

Accepting yourself as you are - your ideas, your voice, your experience - THIS is what makes you unique, free, creative, and memorable.

YOU.

My dear creative friend, I also can’t stay silent about what’s coming next week…

After two months of preparing, filming, re-filming, and sketching, I’m ALMOST ready to invite you on an indescribably inspiring, creative, and refreshing drawing journey with me.

You’ll be sketching travels, designs, textures, and ideas straight from your head!

Please, please don’t miss this. This is something truly groundbreaking in the world of art education - something no one else teaches.

Forget boring line drills, standard shadow exercises, and uninspiring compositions.

The opposite is on its way!

Every sketch will feel like a creative retreat, guided by my never-ending support, stories, and enthusiasm to make art a real part of your daily life.

If you haven’t signed up yet, this is the waitlist page and keep an eye on your inbox over the next few days ;)

With big drawing energy,
Anna at @andshedrawsbig