It’s easy to get comfortable with our art supplies, our ideas, and our path – especially when what we’re doing has people’s attention. I’m a watercolourist, I tell people. I work in children’s literature, I say. My work is characterised by whimsy, humour, strong characters and quiet minimalism. That’s what people like, it’s what they expect.
But what if it wasn’t?
What if I created work with heavy lines and strong, bold colours? What if something I made was more serious and less humourous than ‘usual’. What if I started working in a different medium? Maybe this would upset a few people? Maybe people would stop paying attention? Maybe the cost of doing the unexpected is career-ending?
Maybe the cost of not doing this is higher.