"Best" lesson learned so far -

[JazzBass]

What's the "lesson" ? Simple - Carry on.

We are all the worst critics of our own work. When making items, it's done in many different steps that have us examining every square millimeter of the work. Many times, I've made a bad mistake (gee, ya think?) , and considered the item "ruined". I would always decide (after uttering a plethora of profanities, of course), to just carry on for the practice alone, instead of abandoning the whole thing.

Guess what? Almost every time, the final result didn't come out anywhere near as bad as I had anticipated.
Sure, if something is cut too short in length, or some other major functionality problem occurs, then I have had to chalk it up to experience and start over, BUT-

Reading posts here, even including those in the "Critique My Work" forum, has shown me that people do indeed see the "forest", instead of the bark of the tree that's in front of the maker's face. Also, learning to correct, adjust or hide mistakes along the way, seems to be a rather necessary skill, in and of itself, and I'm certainly learning that the hard way at times

I intend to just stay humble, continue to mess up, do my best to fix it and learn, and try to see the overall result instead of the "microscopy".
Quote- "Making a mistake is understandable. Playing it without passion is inexcusable" - Ludwig van Beethoven.
Quote- "Since I'm never completely satisfied with my work, I can't help but improve" - Chris Gordan, Musician.

Carry on!




 

[bikermutt07]

Both are great quotes.

I think the tooling guys have to have a lot of fixes in there bag of tricks.

[ScoobyNewbie]

I always got told, never to stop singing when I made a mistake. That the audience doesn’t know 9 times out of ten, that you made a mistake. To let them chalk it down to interpretation. 

If you stop, they know. Lol.

[Jack1970]

@JazzBass I couldn't agree more!  That has been my exact experience as well.  I've been surprised at how things turned out in the end after I thought I'd totally messed a project up.  "Keep on keepin' on"  ~ Clark Terry

Jack

[NVLeatherWorx]

On 10/18/2018 at 6:36 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Both are great quotes.

I think the tooling guys have to have a lot of fixes in there bag of tricks.

They are indeed great quotes.

If you only knew what we keep tucked away in our little bag of tricks it would scar you for life.  Just kidding.  But we do have a wide range of "fix it" techniques that we all use and we all kind of create our own little collection of them which is what makes each carving and tooling crafter unique in their works and the results.  There are more ways to hide a simple over-cut from a swivel knife than you can find stitching and lacing techniques alone.  We also create ways to hide a flaw in the leather right in plain sight or ways to incorporate a brand into the design where it looks like you put it there instead of working around it.  Carving and tooling is a class all its own and I just wish more newcomers to this craft would take an interest in it because there are not a lot of us left who do it and the risk of this knowledge being lost is a reality that we all need to be aware of.  Every chance I get to pass on some of the skills and techniques of tooling to a younger crafter, I jump on it and give them enough to pique their interest; if they want more than I set them up for a series of individual lessons in the basics so they will be grounded enough to delve into the various forms and styles on their own with enough confidence and experience to tackle what they take on.

[LeatherPlusArtGalore]

I once heard......."There are no mistakes only happy accidents."  Sometimes those so called mistakes turn out to be the coolest part of the project or becomes the greatest idea that just totally works with what you are doing.  I love "mistakes"  they challenge me creatively.

 

[JLSleather]

I try to get over some of it ... though I admit that I have taken EVERY stitch out of a project and re-sewn the thing when I saw a stitch looked different than the rest.  And I do - though not often - still infrequently just pitch one in the trash and start over due to something unplanned.

 

[immiketoo]

On October 19, 2018 at 4:36 AM, bikermutt07 said:

Both are great quotes.

I think the tooling guys have to have a lot of fixes in there bag of tricks.

Truth.  Same goes for coloring.

[Jack1970]

44 minutes ago, JLSleather said:

I try to get over some of it ... though I admit that I have taken EVERY stitch out of a project and re-sewn the thing when I saw a stitch looked different than the rest.  And I do - though not often - still infrequently just pitch one in the trash and start over due to something unplanned.

 

I've done that myself.  I pitched 3 belts before I finally made a nice belt for my brother in law....and it was totally worth it!  I learned a ton and he got a nice gift that he didn't have to like just because I'm family. lol

[ScoobyNewbie]

My sister is getting the purse I’m making, warts and all. And there are warts.

[JLSleather]

2 hours ago, Jack1970 said:

I learned a ton and he got a nice gift that he didn't have to like just because I'm family. lol

You "make light" of it, but this is COMMENDABLE and at one time - a long time ago in a world where integrity wasn't so scarce - this was once DESIRABLE and RESPECTED