I used to think digital art was just about the final picture, but a comment on a stream changed my mind

I was watching a live stream from an artist named Kaela, and someone in the chat asked about her messy, hidden layers. She showed them... all these rough sketches and color tests underneath the clean final piece. She said, 'The mess is where the art happens, the clean version is just the report.' That hit me. I always tried to make my process neat from the start, which just made me freeze up. Now I let my files get chaotic, with a folder called 'scrap' for ideas that don't work. It's freed me up so much. Has anyone else found that embracing the messy middle part of making art helped you finish more pieces?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_craig427d ago

Yeah, that "mess is where the art happens" line is so true for writing too lol.

victor_barnes4827d ago

Totally get that, reminds me of watching my friend code. He'd have a million broken test files before anything worked clean. Seeing his process made me stop worrying about perfect first drafts in my own stuff. Letting things be messy at first is just how making things works.

barbarahill21d agoMost Upvoted

But a messy process can just lead to a cluttered mess you can't fix later.