Never delete a piece of art.

You’re not good enough.

We’ve all heard those words for some time. See them in a comment section, or read them on our friends’ Twitter feeds. To have them directed at you instils the worst feeling in the world.

But some of us tell ourselves that too.

For years I saved images that I had visions for but never could quite edit it to show them. I struggled with lighting, didn’t get the colours right, and couldn’t make them pop. I saw what content other people put out and tried to hold myself to the same standard, operating under the belief that if I didn’t add something new, it wasn’t worth the space it took.

Eventually, I developed a mantra: never delete a photograph (this can be applied to digital/painted art as well), for one day you will have developed the skill needed to create what you envisioned.

But this mantra doesn’t help when you sit there, staring at your failed attempt when the thoughts come crashing down so what do you do then?

Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Think of all the bad thoughts that your mind tells you. How it’s ugly and not good enough. Then imagine yourself telling your best friend the same about their art.

You wouldn’t do that.

Instead, take a moment to reset before you regard your work. Try to find the good in what you have made so far, or look for what made you take the shot in the first place. Something to be proud of, no matter how small, before you put the image away for the night.

Many times our failures towards ourselves and our visions for a project come from a lack of experience and knowledge to work out what we want to make and that is fine. This is something I often see among other artists, that they berate themselves for their lack of knowledge.

Do not look down on yourself for that! We all learn and explore our creativity at different speeds and there is no shame in meeting the limits of your current capacity. This is also why you should keep the progression you made on an image and put it aside for later.

Some of my shots have waited years to see the light of day, while others arrive on my desk the same day I take them. Some old ones will make it on there tomorrow, and some will wait forever. So try to save what you fail at and learn to look back at it as you progress, and try to regard your old work with fresh eyes on occasion. Take pride in how far you’ve come.

Below you will find one of my images that had to wait for nearly three years before I found what I wanted to do with them. Sure, I could take better shots now given the opportunity, and I see the flaws in my execution at the time. But that doesn’t stop me from doing now what I couldn’t do then.

I encourage you to try it. Dig out your rejected old works and your not-quite-good-enoughs, and try your hand at them with the new skills you have learned since.

And take a moment to praise yourself as you would praise a friend.

Before

After

Four years later I finally found what I wanted to do with it.