Two Words: Do Work

      The hardest part of making pretty things is remembering the time and effort that went into the last thing you made that you were happy with. Starting a new project, I think that it's just going to come out perfect the first time. Nothing will have to be adjusted, changed or just plain deleted. 
    I spent the day yesterday helping my Dad stain his fence. It gets so tempting to attach yourself to the result - But a bunch of rough wood surfaces and the need to make a consistent color coat will take you out of that attitude really quickly. My Dad used the phrase "just work it into the wood" when he was describing his process. That really made it click. 
     You can't just will a project to look good. You have to be patient with the process of working your tastes into what you are drawing, painting, building, playing, etc. 
    Digital anything can make that hard to believe. You want a circle? BOOM! You have a circle. Who cares? Anyone can make a circle. You have to have a purpose for that circle. Is it the start of a head? Is it a planet? Is it perfect where it is and how it is? Can I eat it? The easiness of creating it causes a lot of disdain for digital stuff. It can be hard to convince someone classically trained that it IS some kind of art. It's easy to fix all your mistakes, so imperfections are considered laziness over personal flair. It can be printed again and again, so the individuality can only come from something like a limited print run over it being the only canvas in the world holding the image. 
     If anyone with less experience than me asked me what the qualities of a good digital artist was, I would say taste over technique. A technique, like a recipe, can be analyzed and emulated easily, the only thing that makes it yours is what you work that circle into that was so easy to make.