Avery: I have been working very hard on a project of mine called Meditations of Superman. It’s a sci-fi narrative project that uses ambient music to create a soundscape that coincides with the narration as well as the illustration. It is a very unique project, one that has taken me quite a long time to create—almost 2 years or longer at this point. Of course, most of that time was spent procrastinating and not necessarily knowing what I was doing.
When I started the project, I simply thought it would be cool to create a story, a narration, and have a little bit of ambient music in the background to make the pieces more interesting. But honestly, I feel like this is a project I should have given up on a long time ago because I don’t think it’s that good. I’ve put a lot of effort into it, especially these last few weeks. I’ve been trying to finish up a couple more tracks, and I really want to complete this project. I feel my latest tracks are much better, but honestly, it is such a niche project that I feel like no one will care for it in the end.
I’m not a musician, so I feel every track I make is rather suboptimal at best. I have made something interesting for sure, but beyond that, I don’t know if what I’m creating is worth anything at all, especially with the advent of generative AI. I’m putting a lot of work and effort into imagery that could probably just as easily be made using AI, but I choose not to use such things. The same goes for the audio tracks; I’m trying to keep all the audio something I’ve either recorded myself or have made using a DAW or music software.
I do this because I want the art to still be me. I want to see the choices I make be a part of the art. Still, it saddens me to realize that most people don’t care about the effort that you put into your art; most people only care about the final product. So why am I even going to bother finishing this project? Well, I feel like it comes down to the fact that I want to finish my art, and I don’t want to give up on it. I don’t want to give up on my art because to give up on it is to give up on myself.
There is, of course, a time and place to cancel a project. Some projects can be so big, so daunting, that they are literally stealing your life-force and creative energy. If this is the case, maybe it’s time to let go of a project. But for me, I know I can finish this project. Yes, I am a master procrastinator, and because of that, I often push my work to the wayside. But I’m done doing that. I don’t want to do that. I want to finish my art, and I want to be proud of my finished art when I’m done with it. I want to be able to hold it up high and tell the world about it. Maybe I’ll be left with crickets and silence, but I think I’m okay with that.
Finish your art for yourself, if no one else. Finish things because you want to see it in the world, and maybe that’s enough.
Sacred Visions Studio 