Perfection is nonexistent in the eyes of an artist

     I had a strange and sudden urge today. It took me a few minutes to actually realize what it was. In fact, it's still bubbling up inside of me. So, what is it?

     It's the desire to get better.

     As an artist, there is nothing that you produce that will ever truly be "perfect." It can be close, it can be perfect to someone else, but it will never be up to your own standards. Artists are perfectionists. If an artist doesn't strive for perfection or higher quality of their works, can they even be called an artist? (While "yes" is a clear answer to this, as "artist" tends to be a connotative term, I refuse to call myself a true or professional artist unless I am striving for greatness.)

     Looking at the works of my peers really hit me hard. I've been slacking off. For several months, I've been merely content with my level of skill. Then I realized that my skill set is very particular. I have little experience drawing technical things or architecture. I can't draw animals as well as I would love to. I don't even draw people perfectly, but I've been drawing them enough that it isn't so hard as it used to be. (Some people are great at animals and are terrible at people, while I'm quite the opposite.)

     Something I look forward to striving for is expanding my skill set, primarily through animals. (Once I become more proficient at that, I will move on.) I can't seem to do the creatures of nature justice with overexaggerated proportions. The best way to improve drawing anything is to practice drawing from life. 

     But there isn't exactly a tiger sitting outside right now, so I will draw from photographs. I'd always heard that drawing from life would teach you an immense amount, but I never thought I could do it well and so avoided it. When I did humble myself and my oversized ego, I improved within a matter of days. It really surprised me how much these photos taught me. I used to think learning from illustrations helped me most (which it did for a time, as it showed me what lines are typically drawn), but they didn't teach me proper proportions or movement. Learning from those drawings should have been complementary to what I'm learning, not be the teacher. I know this now and will be putting this idea to good use, especially as I go through college. 
I want to be professional. I want to be great. Most of all, I want to be the best at what I do. But for an artist, perfection is nonexistent.

     ...I saw the guy on the horse again.