Creativity and Perfectionism

When is a painting finished?

I haven't painted in years, but I've spoken with others who struggle with the final steps, adding those finishing touches to artwork. This also applies to music, or writing.

How much pressure should an artist put themselves under to create a product they're completely happy with?



Today, if asked for an example of "genius", many would bring up the name Leonardo da Vinci - painter, scholar, engineer, inventor. He himself thought he could have done better. Here are his reported last words, translated into English:

I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.

Another great artist is Hokusai Katsushika, famous for painting thirty-six views of Mount Fuji. His last words:

If heaven had only granted me five years more, I could have become a real painter.

Now that's perfectionism.






What does this mean for artists?

For people?

"It was very good."

Genesis tells us that God created mankind in His image. Just as we have a Creator, we humans have a creative side to our nature. We like making things, building things, and painting things. We like making things. Just look at the popularity of "construction" toys in any department store. Encouraging creativity is one of the reasons a small Danish family company has grown into one of the world's largest toy manufacturers.

If we read the first chapter of Genesis, we see that God looked at his creation and saw that "it was good". The Hebrew word for "good" here is towb and a search through an online concordance finds the following definitions, translations and meanings:

good, pleasant, agreeable
a) pleasant, agreeable (to the senses)
b) pleasant (to the higher nature)
c) good, excellent (of its kind)
d) good, rich, valuable in estimation
e) good, appropriate, becoming
f) better (comparative)
g) glad, happy, prosperous (of man's sensuous nature)
h) good understanding (of man's intellectual nature)
i) good, kind, benign
j) good, right (ethical)

Note that "perfect" is not a synonym of this word. In the hands of a perfect Creator, the original Creation would presumably have been perfect. But the verses do not say God said it was perfect. The closest we get is Genesis 1:31, where the Creation is said to be "very good".

There are other instances in the Old Testament where we can find other words translated as "perfect". Each time, these words imply a sense of completion, and finishing. By avoiding the term "perfect" in the Creation story, the author hints at an ongoing work, and perhaps to our role as creative beings.

Then we come to the seventh day. God rested. This wasn't just establishing a good cultural practice of setting aside time in our busy lives to rest. To use a painting analogy, he didn't step back, look at the world, and then come back to add a few more brushstrokes here and there. He didn't erase sections and rework them. He left it as it was, very good, and rested.

Perhaps we creative humans could learn something from this?

I think the additional brushstrokes are for us.