How do others do it? That’s what we want to know. We look across social media feeds and portfolios. We see work that amazes us, inspires us, and intrigues us, and what we want to know is – how do they do it?
Some people seem to produce a lot; where do they get the time? Some people produce colours that seem difficult to make; what materials are they using? Some people produce things at a scale, either large or small, that seems impossible; how does that work? Where did they get that idea? How did they discover that approach? How do others do it?
But, in discovering how others do things, we often find that there is no magic secret. It turns out that those who seem to produce a lot don’t have children so they have more time than others. People who produce things at an impossible scale, either large or small, are just using magnifying glasses or projectors. People using ‘unusual’ materials, as it turns out, often results from having those particular materials on hand – unusual for others, common for them.
If one learns anything from watching others do stuff it’s that there is no one right way to do anything, there is no ‘secret’. What one learns is that others just do it their way, and perhaps that’s the best advice of all?