Know Your Creative Limits

The sixth chapter of The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus goes deep from an artistic and philosophical standpoint that we do not necessarily ever think about.

The main message: To know your limits as an artist, to know that every form of art is limited in some way or another and how to work within those limits to create the most unique and best work imaginable.

Work with the canvas you are given and then embrace it.

"The canvas informs the creative act. This may be painful for a person who values creative freedom. Our creativity is not in conflict with boundaries but must work with them. To break free of the limits of any medium, we must first embrace them," McManus says (p. 146-147).

For example, for a painter, all colors are nuanced expressions of three primary colors, which happen to be blue, red, and yellow. Although we might want to change that, one has no control over it; it is simply factual, that's how it was created/intended to be. However, one can manipulate these colors, combine them together and make choose from a larger selection compared to what was originally presented.

Deeper than all of this however is life itself, because our life is our most meaningful work of art. Doing acts that are bigger than yourself or that can help others in need is described by McManus as the most important canvas of all.

"Humanity is our most important canvas, our most important medium... The more we want to create, the more we become aware of our limitations, our boundaries and our deficiencies," McManus wrote (p. 151).

What McManus is trying to ask is not "who are you" but rather "who will you decide to become?" This both creates the context of the canvas for the artisan soul and lays down the context for the creative act.

I admit that I had never heard or even thought of any of these scenarios presented by McManus today, but I respect them and agree with them to an extent. For now on, I will take a look at my canvas, know what my boundaries are, and decide what I want to do from there.