Why are works in progress so important?

I have been overlapping WAYPN (What Are You Painting Now) quite a bit here and there is a reason for it. It is the positive effect it had on the people when I used to run it, and it was all about works in progress. However, for me to be able to explain to you why works in progress are so important. First I have to explain a few things.

People are quick and easy thinkers, not good thinkers.

Neural Pruning

“Neural Pruning or Synaptic pruning is a natural process that occurs in the brain between early childhood and adulthood. During synaptic pruning, the brain eliminates extra synapses. Synapses are brain structures that allows the neurons to transmit an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron”

That’s right we literally cut off pathways so we think more quickly.

A gardener is not a hunter

Hobbying in general is a completely different skill set to that of everything to do with hunting, it requires things that hunting does not beside the keen eye. Your twitch reflexes aren’t going to decide if that eye gets painted. I don’t need to map it out for you. You get it.

However, I did need that aside to explain to you, that the tools our brain has are not suited for our environment and where am I talking about? The internet.

The Internet

I want you to imagine a game, your side is just you, that’s it. The other side has the most talented psychologists the world has ever known, so talented that their research may never be shared publically due to it being considered trade secrets. Medical experts, not just doctors but also sports scientists, nutritionists and others with specialisations you don’t fully understand. Finally a legion of at this stage can only be described as technomancers, such is their control of technology. These are your opponents.

The stakes of this game: your very soul, all of your money, your mental well-being and your physical health.
If you win, they don’t get to take it.

Would you play such a game?

The sane person would say no. Do you play such a game?

Every ‘doom scrolled’ on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter or Anywhere where else?

You have played the game and lost.

But we have all played the game, I have. I am man enough to admit it, when you're waiting somewhere and something is desperately weighing upon your mind so you want to escape into your hobby. It doesn’t have to be this one.

All we do is upwards comparisons and compare ourselves to people out there who are trying to game the algorithm while they only feed it. So how do we break the cycle?

Interpersonal Connection and developmental understanding

It really is like my uni days writing all that just to get to this point. Translated into human that means you need to connect with people and understand how things are done, because the algorithm is against you and if you think you can beat it you haven’t been paying attention.

This is where works in progress come in. Works in progress are so very important because of a few key factors. Firist, you see that as my tagline often says, nothing starts finished. You see the project from start to finish or sometimes from middle to finish. Second, understanding why people do certain things. No one puts up works in progress without explaining things because they feel they have to. You can put up a finished work and it can speak for itself but when someone puts up a guy who looks like he has been dipped washed contrast yellow unless you explain yourself people are likely to switch off.

People not only feel the need to explain and justify themselves but it actually makes them feel good because people are interested in the process. More than that you can see the path of how to get the result that they are trying for, you can see where they fell short and why, without judgement! For example

This got to this

Because of these

I didn’t even explain things… But you feel as if you understand so much more. You see the other project that was happening at the same time, you see how things came together.

I am guessing, what you don’t feel is a sense of inferiority regardless of how much skill you have, because what you saw were work, planning and struggle. You saw how things fell to the wayside and how things were planned out. How some things didn’t make it, but, you also see the end result.

This was the magic of WAYPN condensed into a single moment.

Instead of feeling as if “oh man this guy is so talented” because we did have golden demon winners and box artists on there, you felt a kinship to them. You felt you could approach them. But it wasn’t just for them, it was also for regular people. Some people just wanted to smash out models and they did! One guy still does who I have on Facebook I am kind of jealous of how quickly he smashes things out. It was niche, very niche.

But that is what a home is, its niche, its just for you, and the people you invite in.

So as soon as you figure out how to do this, I would like you to be invited in and I hope that you can join me there in our home.

Til next time friends

Keep those brushes wet