Nike had a point

Or; just do it.

Hi and welcome toy latest algorithm andA.I. free rambling on art and life. This newsletter is free because I can't bring myself to ask anyone to pay for my therapy, and if you get something out of it as well that's grand and makes me happy. Some years back Nike had a series of ads with the tag line *just do it*. They were a great set of ads with a very simple message, sometimes you just have to do it. Doesn't matter if you do it well or not you just need to do it.

A lot of the people in my life are planners, my wife once put together a spreadsheet for a holiday on the Norfolk Broads planning out our route, speeds and timings for moorings taking into account tides and all sorts. I've tended more to a make it up as you go along philosophy with as little forethought as possible. Which aggravates friends and family tremendously at times. My art is probably the one area where spontaneity escapes me. I used to get over precious about proportion and anatomy and accuracy in general and end up with lots of dead, unfinished drawings. I still do at times.

The loss of spontaneity in art I put down to the pencil and the eraser. Being able to constantly adjust and amend a picture can lead it to a slow and painful death.

This picture of the late Alfred Wainwright is an example of how I try to keep things fresh by just doing it. This was drawn from the cover of a book directly with a fountain pen. There was no careful planning out with pencil and measuring proportion. And you know what? It turned out okay. But if it hadn't that would be fine.

I have a dear friend who bakes cakes as a part of her job. She never measures anything accurately, she treats baking like jazz improv and it always turns out well. She knows the ingredients and the rough proportions and that's good enough to get the result she wants. It's possible to follow rules too closely when doing something creative to the point where you can destroy it. It's useful to know the rules, the recipe for what you are doing but it's good to be willing to ignore them or disobey them and be… creative. Following rules to closely in creative endeavours can paralyse you. You can also learn more from mistakes and happy little accidents.

As Rene Magritte reminds us. This is not a pipe.

Until next time. Go make art.