The Creative Process in Five Steps

I’m not one for looking to t-shirts for real wisdom, but recently on the internet I came across an unattributed quote, for sale on merchandise like t-shirts, that struck a cord.

Here’s what it said (I’ve cleaned up the language a bit):

The Creative Process

1. This is Awesome

2. This is Tricky

3. This is Terrible

4. I am Terrible

5. This Awesome

I wonder if anyone else goes through those five steps with every creative endeavor. I do. I did with this drawing. As a matter of fact, steps three and four dominated this drawing, and step five arrived only a couple days after I put the drawing aside for a few days. Maybe every artist goes these steps. Maybe every artist is supposed to go through these steps. In other words, “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Or, “no pain, no gain”.

I didn’t buy the t-shirt, because I virtually live with this quote every day already.