You’ll never inspire new artists by bashing your older work. Instead, encourage them by highlighting your journey to where you are now.
Today I had a thought about all the times that artists are degrading towards their work from the past.
“Oh, don’t look at that, it’s garbage.”
“Ugh. I hate that so much.”
“Man, I was terrible.”
I’ve done it. Everyone I know does it to a certain extent. It’s easy to do even. I mean, there’s a reason that artists practice and grow and get better…
But what about the artists coming up behind us? What about my daughters? Would I tell my daughters that my old drawings look like garbage? The ones that are exactly like the ones they will draw? What kind of a complex would that give them?
There is good in even the worst art. There’s a step there. And another over here. It all tells the story of your journey to where you are today. By going back and looking at some of those things, with the perspective of helping those following behind you, it causes you to look at your previous work in a new light.
Encourage new artists. Inspire them with your journey. We’ll all be better for it.