There are many myths about what an artist should or should not do. I, for example, was criticized in the art school for using photo references, and later in the university because my concepts did not correspond with the understanding of my teacher. In general, the society has some ideas about "right" and "wrong" painting and painters... But the only quality that's really necessary for the artist is to rely on oneself, on one's clear vision "how it should be," what the picture should look like. A kind of visual clairgnosis and clairvoyance.
On this topic Russian artist and philosopher-mystic Roerich spoke well in one of his fairy tales, the essence of which is that when the artist came to his teacher with questions, whether he needed to change the composition in his work, whether to add gold, etc., the teacher replied, "Do it the way it should be." After another such answer the student asked, "What does it mean, how it should be?" The teacher replied to him, "It can only mean one thing, it should be beautiful." "But what does beautiful mean?" the disciple asked. And then the teacher told him that if he does not know what is beautiful, he should immediately stop painting and change his occupation.
This clairvoyance of "how it should be" and "how is beautiful" does not depend on technical skills, and, being much deeper than them, it can be inherent in children who do not ask questions, whether to draw the sun in the left or right corner, make it red or yellow. And if "it should be" green, then the sun will be green. Children live in a state of natural creative flow that does not become shut with adult barriers of doubt about conditional aesthetics. But as Picasso said, "I can draw like Raphael, but I will need all my life to learn how to draw like a child."
This clairvoyance, "what needs to be done to make beautiful," from the point of view of the outside observer will be perceived as subjective and relative, but the artist himself, touching it, will be at the point of one’s stability, objectivity, realization and flow, and this is truly valuable.
And no one will ever be able to objectively tell you and teach you what to do with your work, to make it "better," to subordinate it to some rules, because if you have the desire to take guidance from the outside, this is one hundred percent departure from your only important point of "objective vision and knowledge," from your point of stability. But when you are in it, you see everything yourself. "Being the one is just like being in love. No one can tell you you’re in love, you just know it" (from movie "The Matrix")
Photo with me in the post is made by Katerina Kavlakan.