Sources cited! I discovered the baby concept on AJATT.com– a blog devoted to language acquisition. Check it out!
Would you like to have this comic as a 18 by 24 inch poster? CLICK HERE! Put it on your wall to remind yourself that it’s a healthy and natural thing to make mistakes.
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Sir, I just wanted to let you know that your comics are profound. Keep doing what you do.
Will do– thanks!
Excellent stuff.
To the creator of this comic : You rock.
True story… this is exactly how it goes, I guess for most of us
Oh and also wanted to say this is genious! I liked it very much.
To the artist: Bravo! This is human nature unmasked in the simplest yet most thought-provoking way. I’d definitely love to see what else you come up with, your great art is definitely great and it has encouraged me to push my not-so-great art even further.
Love this, thank you
very inspiring. I like it?
Yes, you do.
Koo-dos to you and all the people you have helped persevere with this post
Koo-dos to you for all the people you have helped persevere with this post
Thank you, kind writer.
Every school kid needs to see this…
And home-schooler and music student and TEACHER and MOTHER and FATHER.
A child has the right to be wrong. A lot.
very inspirational. thank you for this wonderful comics.
I really like this-it certainly makes you think!
Dear Stephen McCranie,
Everyone in the world should read this.
Thanks for illustrating a nurturing truth!
I have been a full time, self taught illustrator for more than 30 years and your message rings as true as anything I’ve heard before. Thanks for your enlightening work.
Hey..great comic.. I was doodling — which was expanding into something better than a doodle — at work the other day, when someone said ‘Wow, that’s really good!’ I thanked them, and they said ‘I wish I could draw like that!’ I said…’Start now. Draw anything. It’s not going to be good the first time unless you’re a genius…Then do that for as long as you love it. And then you’ll be ‘good”
But I still don’t think I’m good enough yet. (I’ve even been published! I’ve even had books with my art in them sold in stores!) And I’m still thinking — I could be SO much better.
Hopefully that’s true. But of all the things said about failure here, I’d only add that my embracing of failing came when I started loving my eraser more than my nib.
Yep! I’ve been published too and still feel overwhelmed by what I have left to learn– but that’s a good thing I suppose– it’d be boring if I mastered it too easily.
Thank you so much. I am a writer not an artist but I often forget that it takes failures to succeed otherwise everyone would be doing it and it wouldn’t be special or personal.
This is awesome. Lifted my spirit. Keep it up!
I’m going to start painting in water color January 2014. I know that it wiki take time to learn things I must learn to be a better painter! I just want to paint like I see and feel within me,to people I know and love! The beauty of the world that God , has made for us!!!
@Linda That’s exciting! I’d recommend starting now! Do something small! There’s nothing special about a new year. If you’re looking for a clean slate, the clean slate will get dirty pretty fast– it’s impossible to have a perfect record for an entire year. Better to have a messy record, but keep going anyway.
This is awesome!! Thanks for the reminder!!
Excellent comic. Love the part about the fridge!
Thanks mikale!
I agree with Ewon. Your comics are an inspiration. <3
Thanks Skyli!
I swear, every time I’m feeling down about my artwork your comics help me to feel better! Thank you so much!
I’m glad you’re here! No prob!
Encouragment is the arch nemesis of failure.
Thanks for making that
no probs!
This should be a required hand-out in every grade-school, middle-school and high-school in the world. Nice job! -v
Ha ha– I’ll look into that. thanks vince!
And every corporate employee. And everyone who has a dream to do something creative, but allows the inner voice to convince them it will never be good enough.
Thank you for your work.
Ach! So great & something every artist needs to remember, more often than they’d like, no doubt!
Yeah– something I need to remember. That’s for stopping by, Kye!
This is truly wonderful…
Thanks Alicia!
absolutely awesome. Like Beckett said – “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Yep! You got it!
Beautiful as usual S! Love the baby slap!
Tee hee, thanks Lee!
it feels like poetry…
True… very true. Actually, when I think about that “oppressive critic within”, only thing that comes to my mind is “Censor” as called in “the Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. And the more similarities like this I find in places that don’t have too much in common with each other, the more I think it’s actually right…
Thank you!
wow, I should read that book– thanks!
yes, The Artist’s Way is an amazing book. Definitely worth a read…and a re-read…
I’m not an artist by any means, but I’m a writer and I love how true to life these are for any creative profession. I just started making the transition from working most of the time to writing most of the time, and these posts are so inspirational and they are really helping me to keep pressing forward.
Wow! Good luck with that! Let me know how that goes!
I thought a writer was an artist that works with words; painters work with paints, quilters work with fabric, musicians work with music…seems to me you fit the “artist” type.
Yeah, I guess we’re all artists in a some way…
Actually…. I’m a quite pessimist girl…. Just looking at someone’s art than way much better makes me hate myself….
You gives me a really important lesson for me….
Thank you. :3
I know how you feel– I slip into that all the time when I’m trying to study someone’s work.
thank you , really really thank you …
: )
I just saw this show up in the FB feed of a fellow composer friend. Wow, what a terrific blog! Thanks so much for this and keep it up! My motto has been “fail as big as possible”.
Great motto!
Humans tend to be really down on themselves. Thanks for the inspiration!
No prob!
This is so relevant to me right now! My favorite page is the fifth one. I think some people don’t realize that even if an artist posts work with the disclaimer “these sketches are crap lol sorry,” they don’t really mean that. They choose which work to share, and it’s unlikely that they show failed attempts. So when we’re comparing ourselves to others (not that we should, but hey, we do), we have a somewhat idealized impression of the artists we admire–which means it’s an even BIGGER disappointment. (Sorry; I tend to ramble!)
Also, I really appreciate the baby metaphor. I hadn’t thought of it that way and it makes so much sense. I need to be nicer to myself!
Thanks again, Stephen! I will continue to harass you until you put these in a book or make prints available…
Thanks Katie! Good comments–
I think that especially on the internet where social media always pushes great artwork to the top of the pile, it can create the illusion that every one else is great– but the truth is most artists are still on the same path as we are, honing their skills.
I’ll get working on those prints!
Do you mind if I print up some of this for my classroom? It’s beautiful, and I want to honor your work by not printing it without permission. Also, once the prints are available for purchase, do let us know!
Feel free! I’ll let you know when I start offering the comics as prints!
Yes, prints please. We need this posted at our house.
Inspirational AND useful work. Thanks. k.
Working on it!
a paypal and a downloadable file would be an easy way. (I have acquired other “great art” this way.) k.
This was exactly what i needed a few moments ago. Thank you!
Great!
Thank you so much for everything.
I mean it, you’ve saved my artistic-self (if it exists) from metaphorical suicide. Again, thank you so much.
You’re welcome! It’s neat to know there are other artists out there who struggle with the same things I do.
Thank you so much..
You’re welcome!
That was so good. So true. Thank you!
shared this with my pre-animation class on facebook, this is great stuff, keep it up!!!
This is amazing, thank you for helping me XD
Just wanted to say thank you for this. It really helped me and I really feel encouraged by this. Thank you so much.
That was really inspiring. Thanks a lot. Sometimes we need to hear stuff like this from other people to really internalize it and help us keep going. Great job man.
I once told my friend that his artworks are so amazing I can never achieve that level.
He then told me that he thinks someone else’s work is amazing too and he can never achieve that…so the cycle goes on.
In the end, he said no matter how good you are, there is always someone better than you. Thus we must always humble ourselves and be willing to learn, at the same time acknowledging that it is more important to improve on our own skills through failure rather than envying the work of others.
Thank you for reminding me once again not to give up. Your posts are truly an inspiration! Keep up the good work
Thank you so much for this. You have an astounding ability to perfectly explain concepts that I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around for years.
<3
[...] Alley, ‘A Picture Blog About Sustainable Creativity’, featured a colourful post titled ‘Be Friends with Failure’ (thanks Isley). The few excepted panels above provide a flavour for its fun style and apropos [...]
Wonderful thoughts well presented – thank you!
I’ve read all the entries. I’m amazed with such burst of positive energies and words flowing out from these comics.
I wish you all the best in life, and of course, I’m looking forward for the next one!
Cheers from Spain
Thank you, Morgan!
i just love it, this is everything!!!
keep being awesome!
Thanks!
Ian: I find your comments and comics taking you away from improv and into philosophy. Amazing. I love it and i get so much out of what you post. Can always apply it to my life. Keep it up. Thanks.
Thanks! Wait– who’s Ian? 0_o
Just wanted to add my voice to the general chorus of “yay, this is awesome!”
I was linked to this comic through a friend’s Tumblr, and found it so truthful and inspired that I read the rest of it. Going to RSS your site and send it to all the creative people I know.
Thank you, sir, for making this blog. Your dedication to sharing your experiences, your clarity of expression, these are valuable things. I am so grateful you’ve put this together. : )
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
Hey, this comic is amazing !
It makes me think about how I see my fails and how I see myself. Thanks a lot
thanks this is lovely!
Thank you for this! I love this cartoon so much. I’m sharing it with all my facebook friends right now and plan on saving it so I can look at it often. I’m a musician and an artist, and it truly applies to all arts as well as EVERYTHING in life! You portrayed the message so well with humor, words, images, and a gentleness that isn’t easy. I’m going to peruse the rest of your work now as well.
I told you I would on DevArt, and here’s the comment. You are right, the critique within is always the worst, but here’s what I’m facing. I look at my work that I made before, and I loved it, or I hated it. Either way I put it up on DevArt to see others’ reactions. As of recent, I’ve been seeing not just mistakes that I’ve made, but things that I /tried to do/… It looked like an abomination… I loathed it… all of it…. I removed it all… it’s locked away in my computer now, since my boyfriend still wants the images, poems, and passages I’ve made. I don’t dare look at any but one. The one that I set as my avatar almost everywhere now. I do loathe it, but it looks happiest out of all of them… So I just have to say, thank you. You did help, but only one of the smaller things. I’m also in need of apologizing, since I wasn’t specific and possibly confused you. I’m sorry.
[...] it and making it part of your life, will ultimately free you to be the writer you can be. Please head on over to Stephen’s blog to read the rest of the [...]
Thanks for the reminder. I’ve got 12 published books behind me and I’m still failing on the new one. It happens.
I know how it is! I’ve done 3 books– it seems like with writing, you fail and fail and fail, and then when it’s good, then it’s done. You fail until you’re done. Kind of a miserable struggle, but so worth it. THanks for sharing!
Superb
I’m truly creative at heart but failure has always made me kill the Art. One of your saying, truly depicts me..! That is- “some artists are so adverse to failure they would rather repeat the one method they know works…”
It’s been two years since I found that ONE METHOD of cartooning and I still can’t move on. It’s truly the fear of failing while trying something new.
I thank you from bottom of my heart for such an inspiring blog and also to christopher jackson to recommend readers to read your blog in his “FUEL YOUR WRITING” blog.
I looking forward to try something new.
Keep up this good work.:-)
[...] I LOVE this. It has made all the difference in my self-esteem as a “writer.” [...]
Thank you
Bullseye, man. Just bullseye. You are doing brilliant work. Never stop to encourage people with this art. Never stop to fail, never stop to grow because in you is so much we need to see and read. Thank you so much.
Wow, this comic was really spot on, when it comes to self criticism, but with trying hard as well. I thought that it was really inspiring, awesome job =D
Thank you so much. This is really helpful and encouraging.
I felt very inspired by this artwork. I decided to print this and put it up in my sculpture class. Some of the my classmates read it and also found it inspiring. Keep up the good work. I love all of your other work too. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks for this, I’d love to show this to my art students lol.
This is a really goood inspirational comic.
Well done sir, well done.
[...] same topics that we often talk about here on Skinny Artist. Things like dealing with creative failure, not getting overly discouraged, and the importance of separating your personal identity from your [...]
This is just the best! It seriously just made my day.
Thank you so much.
This is so inspirational thank you! Failing is part of the process to achieve greatness
Thanks so much for this comic. I was in a spiral of negative thoughts for most of today. This helped me decide that I’m not defective or un-helpable, or pathetic, or a loser…I am just starting out. I can totally do this.
That’s right! Failure is not proof that you are irreparably broken, it is only evidence you are learning something new.
Wow.. I’m really crying right now..
This is really helpful and cute, thank you so much for making and sharing it!
It’s a relief that I was able to come across doodlealley.com: it has the resources I was definitely hunting for. It’s very beneficial and you’re obviously quite knowledgeable in this field. Thanks to your wealth of information, I’ve
figured out a whole lot more about the subject and will be coming back for more.
[...] Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley. [...]
Wow, you really hit the nail on the spot! This is exactly the sort of stuff that, in my honest opiniont, should be mandatory in every art class. It would’ve been something that could’ve helped me years ago. I just came out of a deep depression, my parents died and because of that it was very very VERY hard to get out of the gutter and not trying to beat myself down into the ground.
This helped me stabilize myself again. I thank you for your cartoons and I hope you will continue making them for many years to come!
I’m sorry to hear about your loss– and so happy to hear my comics helped you in some way! Thanks so much for letting me know! Keep in touch!
(I’m sorry if my english is bad)Seeing your post here makes me feel nostalgic. It’s about two or three years ago since I hold my pencils. I wanted to draw something, so I make an attempt to to this at holidays, especially at semeseter break. But it only last for several days. Since I graduate I have forgotten about my interest in drawing.
Now I just want…doodling again. Thanks, your comic might inspire lots of people like me
That’s great to hear! Feel free to send me what you draw, if you’d like an audience.
All of these comics are so inspiring and wise, and this one especially speaks to me.
Currently I am taking a life skills course to help youth like my self find and hold jobs, and overall be successful in life.
I really look forward to sharing these stories with the rest of my class.
True words to live by!
Thanks! Good luck looking for jobs! That’s one I’m still trying to figure out.
[...] A motivational comic about Failure and how to make friends with it. [...]
This tells me a lot what I need to know, I’m a beginning artist and I definitely making bad calls when it comes to drawing art, after seeing this, it motivates me to keep on trying. Thanks for the motivation!
WOW! It is very rare to see a blog with all positives in the comments. I scrolled through because I wanted to see if any trolls have come through. I am amazed to see that I did not see any. Kudos to you good SIR! excellent artwork and even more excellent is the message! I was truly touched by it and will definitely be sharing this.
Great work! Just an FYI, I think you mean “averse” & not “adverse.”
Ooh, good one! Thanks!
Hey S,
This reminded me of John Maxwell’s book, _Failing Forward_. It’s sort of like falling in a race – we want to fall forward so that we’re at least closer to the finish line each time. As usual, great post!
Thanks Heydon! I’ll have to check out that book.
I am crying so hard. I’m an artist finishing art college, diving into work and suffuring a LOT from failure, hating my paintings over the last few weeks. I started feeling genuinely sad. and my will to paint or draw decreased a lot. But this, sir, helps. It’s midnight here in São Paulo, so I don’t think I’m going to my studio or picking up my pencil now, but tomorrow I sure will get back to work. Thanks to you. That’s great.
Get some sleep– thanks for sharing! I’m really glad my comic was able to help in spite of how tough things have been for you!
Keep in touch,
Stephen
I swear you almost made my cry with that one. Thank you for these lessons, I’ll always keep them in mind and heart.
I’m guessing if I were to read them, the other comments would pretty much say along the lines of the same thing but here goes:
Thank you, good sir
This is JUST what I needed after a really soul-crushing few weeks and yet another day of feeling like I haven’t been able to do anything ‘right’!
It must be lovely to have touched, inspired, and reignited even (?!!) so many people out there.
Thanks again and best wishes to you! I will keep up with your posts for sure
Aw, that’s great to hear Gee! I’m glad these essays were helpful to you. Good luck!
I was about to write the same. So discouraged as I begin to find a new way in altered art and feel terrified and angry. This piece “found” me this morning and now I am going to go one more round! Thank you. Thank you.
Good luck!
Great post. I love your example of the potter. I remember when I was learning to throw – I couldn’t pull a cylinder more than a couple of inches tall. Now more than ten years later I make a pretty good mug if I do say so myself. At the moment I’m working on my drawing skills as I’d like to create a web comic as I have something to say. Heading over to Kickstarter to pledge!
That’s neat! Yeah, I took a bit of ceramics in college– the wheel was always a challenge. Thanks for checking out the kickstarter!
My pleasure! Keep moving forward!
Thank you so much for doing this. If you don’t mind, I’d like to add a link to this page from the page I advertise my drawing courses. You just say it so much better than I have. And in more ways!!
Please do! Thank you!
Awesome. So true. And such talent.
I absolutely cannot wait til the posters are released on your site. I am definitely ordering both, and maybe a few extra as gifts.
I couldn’t justify spending anymore on Kickstarter as I already blew fifty bucks on 3 books, but maybe if I split up the spending, my brain will be happy. 
Either way, I’m buying some posters.
P.S. Hope we hit 35,000! I’d love to see the new essay in your book.
Thank you so much! I’ll be trying to build a store on the site as soon as I can– I appreciate your generosity and enthusiasm, it’s encouraging!
I was just about to ask if there were any posters available! I’d love to put this up in my classroom.
Coming soon!
Wow. Where have you been all my life? Thanks so much!
My pleasure!
Excellent! I’m going to share this with my students. BTW, is that (panel 16) really how you hold your pencil??
Um… not really– I think I drew it a bit funky, ha ha.
This is a valuable technique described well and illustrated charmingly. Thank you for sharing. I have boosted the signal.
[...] have to be friends with failure to succeed! [...]
A good number of years ago, I was at a science-fiction convention where one of the guests was an biologist named Dr Jack Cohen. (His hobby was creating weird alien species that could plausibly have evolved under differing conditions, which is why the convention invited him to be a guest.)
Anyway, he said something that stuck with me ever since: “If you are succeeding at more than 80% of what you do, you’re not trying difficult enough things.”
And that’s a MAXIMUM. You can feel free to fail a lot, lot more than 20% of the time — but if you’re failing LESS than that, there’s something wrong.
That’s a good ratio to hold by. Often I’m making All or Nothing propositions with myself, which is not sustainable– doomed to fall apart. What I should be doing is making %80 success, %20 failure propositions– planning and accounting for failure!
I played soccer for 15 years in the defensive position. If you know anyone who plays that position, theyll let you know you have to be perfect. HAVE TO. As in, if youre not, you could lose the game for your team. I played at a very high competitive level as well, so you can see where my want to become perfect becomes a problem. That want has bled into everything else ive done, from video games to relationships to even drawing. Every year I gain a little ground on realizing im human, and that mistakes are okay. But a part of me cringes when i mess up or im not up to par or along the lines of that.
this comic really hit home for me. Thanks
Thank you, for sharing your story! I understand, perfectionism can be a hard thing to walk away from.
Wow…great post and many (many) wonderful comments to learn from. I am a new miniature artist and I have been trying to learn everything I can. Therefore I spend a lot of time studying others’ work, (mainly by photograph) and as much as I learn though, I compare.. my work to theirs. Often I find myself in awe..bemoaning how I will EVER be as good as those I see. I have felt very overwhelmed and discouraged;like they have huge amounts of innate talent that I can never possess, as if they were born for this and of course I wasn’t. I’m glad to see that I am most definitely not alone and I am comparing their best ,out of probably many attempts, to mine. Keep up your wonderfully spiritual work..we obviously all need to hear what you have to say! Thank you and mini hugs! http://eatcakeminiatures.blogspot.ca
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, what’s tough is that, in the age of the internet, you always have access to view the work of incredibly talented people. It can be an advantage I suppose, because you can learn from them, but it can also be overwhelming.
Please make this into a poster. I would love to hang this in the studio for my music students.
Will do! I’ll be making a store soon and have the posters up in it.
i love this comic strip!!! I really like what it says! Very inspirational!
“do you want to know the difference between a master and beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried…”
I can totally relate to the fridge part.
You, my good sir, deserve a solid gold medal.
Keep up the good work!
Will do, thanks!
Wonderfully profound. Thank you.
I would only add: And it doesn’t matter what age you are when you try something new. You can’t ever succeed if you never try. If you never try, you can only regret not trying.
Great points– there is no cut-off point for trying new things!
Loved this so much I immediately backed your Kickstarter. Thanks!
Thank you!
this is awesome!! definitely applied it to getting through math courses. thank you for doing what you do
[...] article: Be friends with failure in animation Share this:Email Pin ItLike this:Like [...]
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
Thank you for doing this my friend.
Alot of people really need this.
Permission to share this.
Blessings,
Andrew Lim
Feel free! Thanks for asking permission– just be sure to link back to my site!
I’m not an artist but an aspiring CS researcher. Thanks for the comic, I keep forgetting that I have suck in order to be good; even geniuses have to fail except they fail early and are reaping the fruits of their effort in later years.
Exactly.
Say, what’s a CS researcher?
I remember an anecdote told by Dave Sim, creator of the comic Cerebus. While a young and developing artist, he was trying to draw a hand, and he just could not do it to his satisfaction. While he was sitting there, cursing in frustration, one of his artist friends wandered over, and asked what was going on? Sim pointed out the hand he had drawn, and how it was all wrong. His friend, I think it was Gene Day, looked and remarked, “it’s a Dave Sim hand” — and Sim’s point of view evolved.
That’s neat. I’ve been trying to draw hands recently, it’s hard! I can definitely draw a “stephen mccranie” hand, but I still want to draw a “good” hand someday.
This is exactly what I needed today on both a personal and a professional level. This statement was golden: “Success is a sign that you’re ready to learn something new, and failure is a sign you’re learning something new.”
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ Like this:Like Loading… [...]
Your words remind me of a book I treasure (and need to read again SOON!): Art and Fear,: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. I highly recommend it!
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/187633.Art_and_Fear
Ooh, I’ll have to check it out!
WIN.
This didn’t happen in one day, did it?
NOPE. Ha ha.
Stephen,
Thank you so much for posting this. A friend just passed it along a few minutes ago. I’m a writer who mentors other up-and-coming writers, and one of the things we struggle with (as do all creative types) is self-doubt. I’ll be sharing this page with my friends and followers. I think they’ll gain a lot of insight from what you’ve created here.
Wow, awesome! Nice to meet you Nat, keep in touch!
Like many this comic felt like it was me in there. Me and my inner voice. A great lesson on how a simple shift in personal thinking can make all the difference in respect for yourself. Great Work!!
I’ve been so frustrated lately with IV starts in paramedic class, I keep failing at them. This was inspiring, thanks!
Wow, yeah, that sounds tough!
[...] Affirmations of Failure [...]
Thank you for this comic. I’m an artist too and I’m going through something incredibly harsh right now. It’s a bliss to read this profound self encouragement comic. Thank you so much for all the love you put into this comic. You’re great, don’t ever stop drawing. I’ll do the same.
Love,
Steffy
Reading this comic relieves me from my inner pessimistic perfectionist as well as my depression. Thank you so much and your work really means a lot to me :’)
this speak my thought too. Thanks
Thank you so much. This is just what I needed.
Love all your work ! I am not an artist but love your art .
I am a full caregiver for my husband and you inspire me in different situations
of my ever so challenging days.
Wow, keep moving forward with that good work! I admire your service and self sacrifice!
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This was just what I needed, THANK YOU.
Je suis plutôt la mère de tes bd et j’ai beaucoup aimé Je me suis reconnu avec le frigo mais aussi ailleurs…j’aime que tu compares notre façon de se juger soi-même et la façon de faire avec bb. Sorry I can’t write easily in your language…but I like your website.
I’d love to see so many of your comics available as posters. I teach and would love to have this in my classroom–and I don’t even teach art.
They will be available as posters soon!
Sooo… Fred Hembeck fan, eh? Cool.
Ha ha, I just googled his work. That’s really funny– ha ha.
Right – click – save.
This also applies to Science homework, especially when trying to change careers, after many years’ absence from university!
I’ll bet! Good luck with that!
“Some artists are so averse to failure they would rather repeat the one method they know works over and over then try something new.”
I must say that I, like the ancient Chinese masters, prefer the failure of practicing the same brushstroke for a lifetime to the failure of believing this late 20th century worn out mantra.
Hey Erling! I’d love to hear more about the Chinese Masters. What is different about what I am saying and what they taught? I assumed they practiced the same stroke because they were attempting to do it perfectly…
How lovely… gentle and forgiving!
Thank you.
Some of my piano students are real “beat themselves up” kids.
And the tension that it brings to their playing pushes success further and further away.
Oh yes and I’ve been guilty of it too!
What a funny lot we humans are!
Isn’t that ironic how putting more pressure on yourself to succeed can get in the way of success?
Amazing! your comics are lifechanging, you should be really proud of yourself, the baby part..(” whoa, you suck at talkin…” ) Damn i just laughed so hard! and it really made me think I mean, it looks really silly but its what we actually do to ourselves frequently.
Wow. I mean, just wow. I believe you have written and drawn more lousy comics than most people have ever written or drawn anything… to get to this one. And it was worth it. Thanks!
You should put all of those into a single, long image and sell it as a poster. Or give license to print it. It’s really fantastic and I won’t lie, it made me pause and think. I’m a victim to my own self-doubt in the worst way, it’s held me back most of my life. I *know* all of the above, I *know* that failure is the best way to learn. I trust someone who’s been in a handful of car accidents WAY more than someone who touts driving for 20 years without a single accident (I assume they’re due and overconfidence will get them into a bad one). It’s the definition of the term, “That which does not kill me, only makes me stronger.” I think you put it in a wonderfully profound manner and would love a poster of it.
Simply profound. As a writer, I can always use this bit of encouragement. Loved your comic and the wonderful wisdom. Thank you
I really love this and want to share it with my students. I plan to relate it to the writing experience. How can I share this with them?
Feel free to show them the comics or print them out from the website. The resolution won’t be good, but that should work!
Love it.
my dad helped turn me into an engineer by never criticizing what I built or tried. He realized that when you are 8 and you make a train by cutting up a stick and hooking the blocks together with screw eyes you are doing well. as a result I grew up building things. I built my firts robotic 4 wheel drive bulldozer when I was in 8th grade.
the other important rule was I had a bench and I never had to clean it up. my tools I could leave around, the bench many times was a piled high mess etc. if I used his tools I needed to be careful and put them back, etc. Thus the short attention spans of a kid were never smashed by needing to clean up the bench and not be able to go on to the next thing.
The last thing was he was very willing to buy pieces and parts but virtually never bought me a finished thing. I got lots of kits and parts from cars old military surplus,and such
We did that with our kids and one is a composites engineer designing composite bikes for a major bicycle company and the other one is an instrument innovator building exotic weather instruments for far out weather research.
Wow! That’s really neat! I think that this principle can help parenting a bit– I know my dad let me draw and read as much comics as I wanted– and would even publish my comics in the newsletter as his work. That’s really neat!
Yay! I say this to my students all the time, but I know they never believe me (failure is such a bad word in school). This comic will absolutely help. It helps me, too.
[...] to share something I found this morning, thanks to my friends Jesse and Genny. It’s called Be Friends with Failure, and it’s a short comic strip (although that doesn’t feel like the right term) about [...]
[...] Be Friends with Failure. Won't you please share:TwitterFacebookPinterestLike this:Like Loading… Failure, foolish, [...]
Great piece! Thank you! A little copy editing suggestion. In the panel that starts “Failure is a freaky kid…” the last line should be “…we would want TO be his friend.”
Thank you! Good catch!
Thank you so much!
I’m the one not trying because i’m scared to fail.
I just want to be perfect at first, but that’s not how it works is it?
You made me cry, but it’s good. Thank you, i will try again.
do you know lev vygotsky & the zone of proximal development?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development
Interesting! I would say that there is another zone where you learn to do things unaided through experimentation and not from example or guidance. Thanks for sharing!
It was not good, it was awesome . “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried ” , this line changed my mind a lot. For almost two years I trying to learn a thing. Actually not learning a little I want to master it. And your comics told me that I have to work harder for my dream and ‘In Shaa Allah’ I will do so.
[...] a little comic I ran across while browsing Facebook this [...]
Amazing drawings and messages!
This does not just apply to artwork–but to lots of things.
Like many people, I found this shared to my facebook feed. I just wanted to thank you for creating this comic “essay.” It’s truly something that I struggle with in my own creative life(along with my perfectionist tendencies).
I bet you get this a lot.
Thanks for the encouragement.
Thanks, man. I hate being “inspired” or “motivated” as it seems dispassionate to wait for such things, but this has given me both inspiration and motivation. I thank you.
Oh, this is fortuitous. I really, really needed to see this. Thank you!
Thanks, man. I needed this today. Very inspirational.
[...] post has been reblogged from Doodle Alley. Artwork by Stephen MacCranie. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… Posted on [...]
Salute
[...] post has been reblogged from Doodle Alley. Artwork by Stephen MacCranie. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… Posted on [...]
[...] post has been reblogged from Doodle Alley. Artwork by Stephen MacCranie. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… Posted on [...]
What a great job you’ve done with this. I wish I’d read it decades ago–but as a parent of young children now, this advice is as valuable as it ever could have been. Thank you.
How come the panel about repeating the things you know to avoid trying something new has drawings in it that look like Fred Hembeck’s work?
I actually didn’t know about Fred Hembeck when I drew that– there was no insult intended towards him– though honestly after looking at his work I feel his style could benefit from some experimentation.
[...] Be friends with failure. [...]
[...] post was partly inspired by this excellent comic by Stephen McCraine and partly inspired by an excellent, honest human being and friend Sandra who [...]
The images that got me were the pile of discarded pottery failures and the idea of yelling at a baby for failing to speak. Thank you for those! I’m sharing this with my perfectionist daughter and will try to use it to help me with the critics in my own head.
Funny– you’re the second person who’s said they want to share this comic with their perfectionist daughter…
wow! these light-hearted thoughts and readers’ comments arrive at the right time: we’re barely out of an art class, and can benefit from the encouragement underneath the humour.
Just got referred to your work by Howard Bloom. My compliments to you. In a world with so many things reaching out for one’s attention, your work stands out.
Wow, thanks!
Even TIME magazine appreciates failure!
“A widely held myth suggests that creative geniuses rarely fail. Yet according to University of California, Davis Professor Dean Keith Simonton, actually the opposite is true: creative geniuses, from artists like Mozart to scientists like Darwin, are quite prolific when it comes to failure—they just don’t let that stop them. His research has found that creative people simply do more experiments.”
Read more: Designers Must Learn to Embrace Failure | TIME.com http://business.time.com/2013/10/15/designers-must-learn-to-embrace-failure/#ixzz2lViJujOp
Ooh– nice article. Thanks for sharing that!
A quote from one of the posters at National Novel Writing Month:
The first step to writing a good novel is giving yourself permission to write a bad novel.
(Because if you think you must be perfect from the start, you’ll never have the chance to practice.)
Exactly!
[...] Be Friends With Failure [...]
Love this! Thanks for drawing this!
Love the baby: *SMACK*
I don’t know how many failed drawings are in your dustbin by now, but I sure know I like this one! Thanks for putting good thoughts on paper with a touch of love an humor.
You’re quite welcome! I make bad drawings as often as I can!
Wonderful! It’s as if you were speaking directly to my daughter, a perfectionist, basketball player and artist. She needs to give herself permission to make mistakes and this is a great way to “let her off the hook”.
May I post this to my daughter’s blog?
Please do!
I cannot tell you how much I needed to hear this today. Thank you.
My pleasure– I’m glad you’re here!
Stephen, this is sublime. Profound wisdom in a minimalistic and simple manner. Thanks for putting things in perspective.
[...] Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley. Share this:TwitterFacebookLinkedInEmailPrintDiggRedditStumbleUponGoogleTumblrPinterestPocketLike this:Like Loading… This entry was posted in Art in Everyday Life, Artistic Exploration and tagged Art, creativity, every little bit helps, failure, master by Lori Straus. Bookmark the permalink. [...]
this comic is good..
As an early-career scientist, I deal with constant, daily failure just as I imagine a young artist would. On good days, these little failures provide the motivation to learn from my mentors and improve my work. On bad days, well… it can be frustrating. This comic gave me hope, and I think it will help me have more good days.
That’s awesome to hear! I know how it is– even though you are learning from your mistakes, that doesn’t always mean it’s fun.
This is SO amazing. I’m sharing this with my students and I’m keeping this forever.
Please do! I love it when helpful ideas spread!
I like your baby metaphor. We should treat ourselves as a baby the first time you do something.
I got the concept from Khatzumoto, a blogger who teaches people to learn languages– my only addition to the idea was that art too is a language. Check out his blog here! http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/
I can see how this came up in a context of language learning. I’ll check out the blogger you mention. The language learning approach that came to mind when I read your post is the approach of Language Hunters ( http://www.languagehunters.org ) — completely consistent in spirit!
An amateur practices until he can get it right.
A professional practices until he can’t get it wrong.
I love that– great way to sum that up!
The difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times that the beginner has even tried. – Love it!
What a great post! Thanks!
[...] I just discovered this wonderful website by artist and writer Stephen McCranie. You could spend hours clicking on every one of his comics/lessons. Here’s a good place to start, with his lesson on why we should be happy to make friends with failure. [...]
I think I am going to go dig my colored pencils out from under the bed where I hid them. It’s good to be reminded that failure can be a virtue. Thanks,
Do it! Let me know what you make!
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailRedditStumbleUponTumblrLike this:Like Loading… [...]
I teach middle school band and tell my kids everyday to be unafraid to fail. You put this so much more eloquently than I ever could have. I will show them this for sure.
Thank you so much for this – it’s inspiring!
[...] As mentioned earlier, the cost of a mistake in a startup is much lower. The better course of action then is to try, fail, repeat, until you hit the right stride. It’s a numbers game after all. The more potential solutions you try, the higher the likelihood you are of finding a suitable one. “The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.” – Stephen McCranie [...]
[...] The above comic helped me to start making some connections that I would like to share from what I have learned in studying Educational Psychology. In particular, Goal Orientation Theory and Self-Compassion came to mind. Goal Orientation Theory (also known as Achievement Goal Theory) (Pintrich, 2000) posits that our reasons for working toward goals can vary greatly and that orientation has implications for how well we learn new things and how we deal with failure in the process of learning. When we learn things because we enjoy the process of learning, we are more likely to remember what we learned and also more likely to see failure as a natural part of the learning process. According to this theoretical perspective, this is a mastery orientation . The other orientation posited in earlier work on goals was called Performance Orientation, wherein the learner’s motivation behind work toward a goal was primarily that of success at that goal, whether it be making a good grade or obtaining recognition (or avoiding FAILURE). A great deal of research has been done on these goal orientations, and over time with further research they have been modified (you can find updated information and research findings here). [...]
Thank you for these wonderful, wise observations! May I add: Don’t listen to yourself (negative), rather, TALK to yourself (positive). You made my day!
Thank you for this, it’s made me feel much better about various projects. I’m setting it as my homepage to remind me whenever I open the browser to procrastinate from something I’m feeling crud about to keep trying
Thank you
[...] believe. Learn from your failures and shortcomings — it’s the best school going! [check this out!] I would do (e.g.) an Advent Lessons and Carols service one year, and then ask myself [...]
Hey, man. Thank you for doing this. It helped me a lot to read it!
[...] new about the universe. Embracing this sort of outlook changes the nature of failure. Failure becomes a friend, an ally. When we see failure on the horizon we immediately being to pay closer attention to [...]
[...] Be Friends With Failure Share this:FacebookTwitterTumblrPocketEmail 6 Comments/0 Likes/1 Tweets/posted in Learn ← Life hacks The Myth of Willpower → 6 replies [...]
I enjoyed the remarks
about trying and failyer and such
i wondered if it was a first time
thing why did they worry so much.
each time it get a bit better.
you learn about things as you go.
after while things just fall into place.
and you master the things as you grow.
Woah, awesome poem. Thanks Leanne!
[...] Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley: [...]
i would suggest that instead of ‘failures’, ‘challenges’ and while at a given point in the developement of the artist, they may not have the tools, either craft or knowledge to resolve the challenge, further along in their growth as an artist, they may…..so don’t throw out your failures/challenges, overcome them……
but great lesson non the less doodle alley!
This is the best piece of sequential art I have read in a long time. Kudos!
Thanks for the inspiration, good sir
[...] between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Full Post from Doodle Alley Share this:Share Pin ItEmail Jim Karwisch November 22, 2013 Respond [...]
Hi Stephen, just wanted to say thank you for this great reminder! I really enjoyed reading this. Its just what i needed on a Wednesday.
Keep doing what you’re doing!
Best,
Teresa
Sir, i m no artist myself but i think ur work is relevant not only to an artist but to everyone out there who lives in fear… Fear of being rejected, fear of falling behind, fear of failure. Whether he / she is a labourer or the owner of a multi-national, whether that creepy student or the principal of the school… everyone who is frightened will get help out of this… Plz keep up ur Great work….
Yeah-I agree with this. It’s the hardest thing to teach. When I was teaching intro drawing at the University of Minnesota when working on my PhD in Design six years ago, I found the students were either too extreme one way or the other, with the critical voice hounding them too much or too overconfident and un-selfcritical. Now I have been a cartoonist and caricature artist for 40+ years and I have always been delighted with my constant failures, especially the ones that bring howls of criticism from the legions of “great” wannabees who glom onto false idols who tell them how awful my work is, and who have never been a staff cartoonist for a magazine at the peak of its success, with 6,000,000 readers, like I have. There is a kind of anarchist idea of art that has been lost in today’s commercial, corporatized world. You can take a lot more risk and have a lot more fun when you think of failure as the same thing as “success.” Better yet, forget about worrying about failure or success altogether, and how to draw hands better. Just express what you feel and trust that what comes out on the paper or other surface is going to be the way it should be, and let viewers experience it that way.
Beautiful. I don’t know how many failures you experienced before this, and I don’t know at what point you realise how important it was, but… this is a very nice piece to me, congrats to you and your friend failure and thank you for sharing !
this made me cry. great piece.
[...] In this excellent comic from Stephen McCranie he explores the importance of failure in art, but the message applies to almost every area of life. [...]
hi stephen,
with your permission i would like to translate this and send it to some german friends i know.
please email me about that. thanks in advance,
ev
Please feel free~! Can you post it online and email me a link when you’re done?
yeah. sure!
Hi Stephen, I am finally getting to translate it. Sorry for the delay. 3 pictures are already done. I will post them on my blog hopefully later this week or early next week and drop you a link then.
all the best,
ev
Cool, just let me know!
WOW! This is amazing!!! THank you!
Thank you so much for saying what I needed to hear. I forget things like this when I’m trying new kinds of art. Thanks for reminding me to be kinder to my creative self!
真的很好，看完很受用！
Today of all days… I really needed to see this. No one is around to validate the idea that I’m not a failure, and I just failed BIG time by saying too much with two people who are very important to me. That part about the baby talking gibberish – I felt like that baby today and then you said “Woah! Fail! You suck at talking! You should quit before someone hears you.” and that hit home EXACTLY with what I was telling myself moments ago. I really needed that wake up call.
Thank you.
Your comics are why I am the artist I am today. I’m in my third year at a prestigious arts high school where the only thing more prevalent than competition is failure. Thank you for teaching me which is more important. Your work is what gets me through the chaos, and I cannot thank you enough.
I am really surprised by getting it. Its very motivational and effective.
I am such an awesome failure!
Have to thank you for this comics. It gives me back my courage, just touched by it and make me feel that I’m not alone.Great work & thanks a lot!!
Thank you, artist, for this. Great work. Great ideas. I hope the whole world sees this.
LOVE. Thanks for the inspiration.
[...] Below is a comic about becoming friends with failure, and the personal/professional development one can get from this relationship. https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
[...] Be Friends with Failure Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleLike this:Like Loading… Link [...]
[...] It is that message, and a friend brave enough to share it, that helped me; it even came with a lovely cartoon. [...]
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… [...]
Would be good reading for every parent as a reminder of what could be instead of what should be (note to self!).
This applies not only to practicing art but every challenge you face in life. I like when while working I get 4000 errors from an application and I literally don’t give a damn and I win at the end. Failure is a sign that you are learning something. Good one. Thanks
You are so so so awesome… I absolutely loved this one. I had my first dance performance yesterday and it was not as good as I’d hoped it would be. Though I knew all of the stuff here, Seeing it again and the way you put together everything, really glued it in for me. The baby example is so apt and helpful! Keep up the good work. Thanks!
Congrats on your first performance! That is so cool! Thanks for being here, Neha!
Thank You!!!! I really needed this after confronting failure again and again lately it can get depressing.. You deserve a big hug!
This is great, well written and powerful, the message is something that many people would need to reminded.
I more or less gave up art after taking an art class since I felt that compared to the other students my work was so rubbish so why bother. On the whole I’m very harsch on myself if I can’t get it perfect at first try I often give up.
Trying to write a book right now and this will help me not to give up when I don’t get it right at once.
Actually I think this is something that many people would need to read, I would very much if it’s ok with you translate it into Swedish for those who find English hard to read. Keeping the drawings and your name and just change the text.
Feel free! Can you upload it online and send me a link when you’re done?
Wow – I do not believe in hap and chance – this was the first outside influence to enter my brain this morning, and I am stuck how this pep talk of yours is EXACTLY what I need – every day. As I was writing last night, and sleeping on what I wrote as it made its way across the neural passageways into closed boxes of memories, my wakening thought this morning was that I never try to do anything creative as it will never be as good as I have seen it done before. Thank you for this affirmation.
oh dear – I meant struck…lol – stuck and struck…hmmm I am struck how I am stuck!
Ha ha, no biggie. Good luck with your creative pursuits!
[...] Re: Fun, Interesting, Sad News Stories. Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley [...]
i think this is the best motivation that i have ever read!! Thank so much for making this!!
[...] Be friends with failure → [...]
This is a great comic with an important message, but… how can you be comfortable with failure? I love to draw, but sometimes…sometimes I can get so mad and upset. I know I shouldn’t, and I know I should try to be okay with it, but it’s hard. There’s so many things that I want to draw, but…
I don’t know. It just feels like I can never get past the feeling of failure. It probably doesn’t help that I’m a bit of a perfectionist.
So, how do you get past it? How do you deal with failure?
Here’s how you deal with failure. Take a screenshot, a camera shot, and go onto the next piece, preserving what you learned. Each failure is a lesson to learn. Failure is pain, and anger. Redirect them into the next effort in a way that suits your aims– but don’t fuel your life on pain and anger. Celebrate the successes and what you did right. Learn for the next time how to act deliberately so as to get thru the next problem. The next piece is almost always better, even if it takes many iterations. No one but you has to know that your one lauded piece had fifteen efforts before it, now recycled or in a closet somewhere. You never get to own or make perfection, because it’s in the eye of the beholder– not you. Instead, you get to free yourself to be who you are, not an unattainable symbol of the ideal you. Accept yourself and your failures, and you’ll have learned much wisdom.
This is awesome. The frame about ‘repeating the same method over and over’ kind of looks like some of my work. D’oh!
There is great beauty in our imperfections.
Where was this lesson hiding 6 decades ago? I’ll just have to put it to good use during the second half of my journey. Thank you for unlocking the door.
DS
This is absolute brilliance, and I wish someone had told me all of this 30 years ago! I’m sharing the absolute hell out of it.
This is a great blog, and so true… I found this on my sisters fb link and well, I had to share it on mine too. I know so many people are hard on themselves including me, very inspirational. Thank you.
This is excellent. Thanks for sharing.
This is awesome! I love it! We artists need to read this and know we are not alone and realize that we do learn from our failures! Thank you!
There’s a very good lesson in this. While I doubt very much that, “Art like a baby!” is a slogan likely to take off anytime soon, the message is on-point. Very good and necessary message.
[...] when I starting to feel low, someone posted this comic, Be Friends with Failure, on Facebook. And then I remembered, without failures, we’ll never grow and learn more about [...]
thank you for sharing this. I really need this, with law school and all. You rock!
Thanks for this one. I’ve kept from practicing my art just because of this very issue. It’s really been a sticking point for me, like I want to be great just coming out of the gate. Intellectually I know it’s unreasonable, but there’s that deep-seated fear that’s hard to shake. Your comic reminds me that it’s something everyone faces, and your unique perspective really brought it under a different light for me.
Thank you!
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
[...] Be Friends with Failure on Doodle [...]
This does not suck. Thank you, from every artist everywhere…
I think we just need to make friends with “being” … I made friends with failure a long time ago… and with grief and sorrow too… but I will never make friends with cruelty… I liked your riff on the kid nobody wants to eat lunch with … maybe we should all try imagining what that FEELS like…
thanks for the nourishment!
The irony is that the “great art” on top is only “great art” in the eyes of self-deluded schools of artists who forget that the purpose of art is to communicate.
But you are so spot-on with the arc overall and the really telling thing for me was the panel about beginners verses masters. A famous Celtic harpist put it this way and I told her it was really liberating advice: “If you never let yourself be a true beginner, you’ll never become a true master.”
People have asked me why I have such confidence as a public speaker. I tell them the simple truth: I’ve already made every mistake possible so on a certain level, I just don’t care anymore.
I was brought here by a friend on Facebook. Thanks for these panels!
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat these two imposters just the same…” – “IF”, R. Kipling
Picasso (for example) did some really unorthodox stuff, but so far as I can see he never forgot the purpose of art and that’s why even his “weirdest stuff” is so powerful.
[...] friend on Facebook pointed me to this: an excellent meditation in words and drawings. There are a lot of comments there but I decided to leave one [...]
[...] LOVE Stephen McCranie’s Doodle Alley site! These little comics make me so [...]
[...] Be Friends with Failure - This is a comic that shares a learning experience. [...]
Thank you for this beautifully depicted struggle of every artist and human out there.
I hope you take the time to read this / see this :
Hello! I’m 13, asian, and I have big dreams, so many things I want to become. I want to become a fashion / graphic designer, still do. But in the years of failing, I became less enthusiastic about drawing because the thought of failing and by looking at the not-so pleasant work I’d done made me doubt it, tho I still get so excited when I see those artsy stuff, not paintings and those boring stuff, haha. But after I had seen this wonderful comic, not only with a wonderful encouragement, I suddenly gained back more excitement than before for art. Thank you! You might’ve saved my future. Hahahaha, sort of. But you get what I mean
That’s cool! Let me know how things go!
Awesome!!!
This is Amazing…!!! thnx for the inspiration…!!!
This whole site is fabulous! You do nurture my soul, and I’m a mathematician. It’s good for Life. I especially showed it to my 8-year-old daughter, who has recently been sitting down to draw or paint, and ending in tears after a few strokes. She is having exactly this problem, and I have not been able to help her through it yet. Thanks for sharing your perspective with her!
<3
The considerations above are not only applicable to painting, but to photography, as well. May I admit that I’ve kind of passed through all the described stages, and still have pretty much room to evolve.
At first, I thought I made quite good photos.. until taking a course and realizing I knew nothing about composition. After the course, I thought I was doing great until confronting with the competition and trying to go commercial. After more rebuttals, I started to improve my technique, identified a niche in which I fare best – nighttime urban photography – and whilst it is in that field that I try uploading commercial photos, I constantly try to evolve… though until becoming a genuine artist, I believe there is a long way to go.
[...] The inspirational comic in the series Doodle Alley by Stephen McCranie, “Be Friends With Failu… deserves to be shared widely. It focuses on a very basic truth, but which many never learn, and as a result, they give up because they aren’t immediately good at something, rather than realizing that failing frequently is the only path to success. An excerpt is provided below. Click through to see the rest. [...]
Thank you very much for this…. I needed something like this comic. Thanks
This is really great. I don’t normally post my own stuff on people’s blogs, but I just did a regional TED talk on failure as the key to success. Since I was encouraged by yours, I thought you might like mine too – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVoyhk9FN5E
Awesome, thanks!
How good it is to read something like this…. Put this in pictures is really something precious and good to share with everyone in doubt or on its way to improve itself…
I’ve got an experience pretty personnal with my friend Failure… Long ago, I’ve been to a “stone craft” teaching practice. I discovered this art there, and that was pretty amazing. One day, I miss a stroke and a corner of my stone fell apart. I was shocked. The hard part in stone craft is that everything is a one shot straight action. You can never repair or get back.
As I was trying to repair it desesperatly, my teacher walk to me, watch me struggle for few minutes. I was truly on the edge, ready to cry, I knew that the stone couldn’t ever be used as its first purpose. He took my hand and said to me : ” Get yourself together. Don’t bother. If it’s broke, it was meant to be broke. See this as a new beauty and see with the others students what you can make with it, ok ? Don’t cry, everything will be ok, there’s plenty things to do with your new shape of stone.”
Stone craft is definitely not my art but theses words have an echo in my heart since that day. Your comic here is a real new shape to theses words. Thank you
That’s a really great story! Thanks for sharing!
Wowwee I could hug you right now.
[...] Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley. Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleLike this:Like Loading… [...]
A friend shared with me this link and thank you so much for the inspiration! I needed to see this today. =*)))
[...] Be Friends with Failure Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading… [...]
Being a successful artist isn’t necessarily measured in financial terms but it sure helps!
Thanks for your effort putting this on website, it does help a lot of people to see thing clearly ! THX!
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleGoogle+ Kara LinkonisLike this:Like Loading… Posted by Kara Linkonis. Categories: Uncategorized. Leave a comment [...]
One more motivation to live the day and see the better picture
Keep posting something like this
Thx so much
I would like to say that not only for artists, it’s a great encouragement for everyone on everything they do. Thank you so much for reminding me that I wanted to start working on new things like 3D designing that has been so hard I almost gave up few days ago.
ps: bookmarked, I want to see more
[...] {plus a couple of interesting/hilarious examples by famous people} * A great little cartoon about making friends with failure {not my favourite f word but the message is [...]
moral of the story be a failure
been motivated by this cartoon.thank you!
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http://itisallaboutfaithblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/23/when-did-we-stop-cheering-each-other-on/
This is awesome!
And so motivating. Thank you for this! ^-^
It’s exactly what I needed.
thank u very much, this is really motivating!:)
Thank u so much for this motivating comic!
[...] Be Friends With Failure [...]
Thank you.
A quick scroll through the comments reveals any number of “thank yous” and compliments and such. However, I am shaken so deeply that I had to add mine – I struggle every day with the voices in my head telling me that my writing isn’t good enough, why do I even bother, etc… and then I write something, and it sucks, and the voices sit back and say “see? we told you.” So I haven’t written anything in months now. This – this was what I needed to light the fires again. There are tears running down my face. Do you mind if I print this out? Or do you have a print I could order?
…Thank you.
-Eric
Eric! Thanks for sharing– I hate those voices and I’m really happy for you. I’ll be making a poster of this comic soon. keep in touch!
thank you
[...] it here before, it bears repeating that failure is a huge component to any creative process. (This cartoon does a great job illustrating (haha) this point.) I failed epically recently. My brother and [...]
damn rock.. thank you Mister
[...] *More good advice on how to Be Friends With Failure. [...]
LOVE this! Wise Witty, Soulful and Resonate…A friend just recommended this Blog to me and I am so grateful to her….and you! I am tippy toeing out of the Artist Broom Closet and just a great piece to my puzzle!
Amazing comic strip Sir…you’ve inspired me. God bless you!
Great work…
Ah yes, if only I’d read this when I started *GRIN*! I drove myself insane with thinking I was not good enough, it still would have been hard and still is, always learning, but it would have been nice to know it wasn’t just me :-). Ta for this x
Thank you so much for this. I really needed to see this today and I’m going to post this in my house to keep it in my mind every day!
[...] Sweet Marie's Thread A little creative inspiration for the day. See the full version here: Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley I used to be a very creative person, always trying out new things and eager to learn how to do [...]
It motivated me
Its really nice … useful tip…
Its AWESOME
[...] Here are a few encouraging illustrations that spoke to me. If you’d like to read more, check out https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
Is there a poster version available? I’m a teacher and I would love to have this in my classroom
[...] sucking at life is part of becoming great at life. True story. That’s why we all need to Be Friends With Failure before we can be friends with [...]
[...] you’re struggling with writer’s block, or just being too hard on yourself — check out this comic strip by Stephen [...]
Seems to be created just for me – I’ve never got anything right the first time or rather the first 20 times so this is really comforting and the graphics are lovely
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
Hello, I just wanted to let you know that this was so inspiring that I’m going to share it with my fellow viewers and get them interested too. I hope to spread the inspiration further than it has already traveled to get to me. I love it. Keep doing what you do, and as your comic says, never give up.
Your post came at the right time. May I use part of your comics credit to you to introduce you. I love your wisdom especially the child.
This is great! I just restarted prepping for a big exam, and have found that if I laugh at my error(s) when I make mistakes in the problems I’m working, I can maintain my concentration and continue forward, and like you have implied, learn and grow. Plus I feel light inside. When I scowl or get mad at myself, I start making more mistakes and the circle is a vicious one.
Nice! Lately, I’ve been trying to see the positive side of my mistakes. They exist! Often I realize mistakes can be blessings in disguise.
This is highly motivating and inspirational
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ Share this:FacebookTwitterPinterestTumblrLinkedInRedditStumbleUponGoogleEmailPrintLike this:Like Loading… This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. [...]
Does this apply to writers too?
Yup!
very good well said
This is great! My daughter tells me lots that she isn’t good at this or that. But, as with walking and using a pencil and singing and most other skills, it takes a long time for the hand-eye coordination to become refined, and the muscle memory to form so you can do it with more and more ease. Love this!
Any chance you might make this into a booklet for our bookshelf? (Or can I print it into a booklet with your credit and permission?) It would be great for her to be able to revisit this every now and again. And i think this would be so perfect for a school library.
Hey! I’ll be making it into a poster soon! Stay tuned.
[...] Awww…I think you should totally make friends with failure. [...]
Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this! Is there any chance this could be made into a poster? I’d love to hang it on my wall *and* have a way to support you.
[...] for my other youth group (Y'know, the one where almost everyone talks to me??). It's so pretty. Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley Also…I think maybe I should stop being so hard on myself with what I do. The main thing I can [...]
Ohhh, thank you so much! I always felt so much like the freaky boy (well, I’d be a freaky girl) sitting alone… I always felt I’ll never be good enaugh at illustration, there are so many amazing artists out there OMG! And some time ago I took up violin. I guess I enjoy suffering, LOL! It’s one of the hardest things to learn on Earth, but its beauty is worth it. This kind of “comic” you made helps me keep on doing it
Thank you so much! It’s very beautiful, creative, and filled with very important contents.
Meow!
I thought that it was funny especially the part with the baby. But this made me realize… Why do we take pride in not only our triumphs but the downfall of others? That’s why I am deciding to be friends with everyone and yes that includes failure.
Thank you so much for this, it addresses a lot of fears and insecurities that I have carried for…pretty much all my life. I’d always feared failure (and thus, feared even trying) because I believed it meant that I was never going to be good enough no matter how good I got. It doesn’t help that my inner voice can be quite quite abusive and critical.
This comic proves those fears SO wrong! I look at it every time I feel down about my work. I feel like I can begin to enjoy and appreciate my creative endeavors again because of this and also, for once, actually appreciate failure instead of running from it.
Thanks again!
You’re welcome! I’m really glad that you’ve had some freedom from that critical voice! That’s awesome.
[...] McCranie is a cartoonist. Befriend Failure (Credit: doodlealley.com) My goal is to make good ideas easy to access, understand, and share. To this end, I create comics [...]
Thank You.
Thank you for this pictures … It’ll help many people to overcome failure and it make me better…
Welcoming failure is a freakishly hard accomplishment. These drawings are magnificent and have a strong message. I’ve linked back to them on my website as a kudos.
http://postgradwarrior.blogspot.com/2013/12/writing-in-face-of-failure.html
Thanks!
Excellent Blog!|
These are truly enormous ideas in on the topic of blogging. You have touched some nice points here.
darmowe szablony
I really needed this right now. Thank you.
[...] is a bit longer installment than I usually have on Sunday but I think this strip by Stephen McCranie explains so well how silly it is for us to be so hard on ourselves, to expect perfection in every [...]
Thank you so much for this post. Perfectionism is the monster that harasses me. Posts like yours keep me willing to start over.
[...] found this amazing comic about that very same [...]
Absolutely fabulous series of cartoons! This message is so so important for all those attempting to learn a new skill, or to become better at a skill already part-learned. I’m so pleased I found this post, I will be sharing with all my students!
Stephen,
You’re really good at this encouragement stuff! Please keep at it, and keep blessing people. Thanks! Mary Kaye
[...] que querrías llegar a ser por mucho que tu ego y tus fantasías te lo demanden. Tan sólo se puede trabajar, mejorar, echarle ganas y disfrutar del proceso. Como decían algunos sabios chinos, lo mejor es hacer, y olvidarse de los resultados. Puede leerse aquí. [...]
I am wondering if you have this (Making Friends with Failure) available as a poster? I am a teacher, and the biggest barrier to my students’ success is NOT their intelligence; it is their unwillingness to take risks (aka “Fear of Failure” in edu-speak). THIS is brilliant, and I would REALLY like to have this up in my classroom.
Best,
Lee
[...] Be Friends with Failure - This is a comic that shares a learning experience. [...]
[...] Here [...]
[...] Do you write? Do you make art? You need to read this: “Be Friends With Failure“ [...]
I have “known” this before… but this is the first time that my inside critics have actually gotten the message. Thank you.
It’s appropriate time to make some plans
for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post
and if I could I desire to suggest
you some interesting things or suggestions.
Maybe you could write next articles referring to this article.
I wish to read more things about it!
Excellent article.
The baby analogy is powerful.
Thank you for trying enough times until you produced this.
Your success tells me I have no right to consider giving up.
Thank you!
[...] master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” This is an important message for all students. If you don’t fail many, many times, you won’t [...]
Love this comic! I never thought about failure that way. It will help a lot of people get past that fear.
[...] for the artists and creators especially, Doodle Alley suggests we Be Friends With Failure. Share this:TwitterFacebookGoogleLike this:Like [...]
[...] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
very inspiring! brought your book right after reading this
please keep up the good work! Andrew Price brought me here btw~
*bought
Hi! This is the first time I’ve come to this website so I have no idea who you are and what you do. But this comic is brilliant! Thank you for your time and thoughts…
[...] 3. doodle alley https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ [...]
Thank you. I will share this with every one.
Can’t leave without a say: it’s inspiring, it’s motivating and it’s simply awesome!
Thanks Shan!
Thank you for curing my depression!
Wow! I’m glad it helped.
[…] Be Friends with Failure by Stephen McCraine: failure is not a bad thing, seriously. While it might not feel like it, trying something and not executing it well does teach you something other than frustration. […]
[…] Be Friends With Failure – Comic on understanding learning skills, failing and succeeding. […]
[…] Here’s one I like, called, “Be Friends with Failure”. […]
[…] isn’t a post about coping with failure. For starters this comic already did it better, and secondly I realised I’ve actually been confusing failure with […]
Really really good – I liked it. It’s great to read something with a message that transcends the usual ‘how can I make myself happier’ crap. This is beautiful, I would buy it for someone as a gift its so nice.
Thanks! I’m going to be selling posters soon!
The part about the baby is so profound. It has literally changed my life. Thank you.
[…] El fracaso es un subproducto de los procesos de aprendizaje y crecimiento. Nadie nace sabiendo. Dicen que lo que diferencia a un maestro y a un aprendiz es que el maestro ha fallado más veces de las que el aprendiz siquiera lo ha intentado. Detrás de cada éxito suele haber una ristra enorme de intentos fallidos, de probaturas, de idas y venidas, de alternativas que no salieron bien. El éxito nunca es una línea recta, aunque desde fuera tendamos a creer que sí. […]
So glad to see so much positive feedback. It is well deserved. I’ve heard this idea before but you executed it masterfully. Thank you.
Amazing! I have never heard/read about success and failure in the way that you described here. Great job!! This has just become my all time favorite comic! AMAZING!!! I feel like something just clicked in my mind, my life is forever altered because of what I just read.
Thank You.
You’re welcome!
[…] I recently discovered this wonderful website by artist and writer Stephen McCranie. You could spend hours clicking on every one of his comics/lessons. Here’s a good place to start, with his lesson on why we should be happy to make friends with failure. […]
[…] via Be Friends with Failure. Click on the link to view the entire […]
Hi. I just want to say that this comic, has inspir— no.. motivated me, to strive harder and practice more with my art. Just like you, I draw stuff. But, sometimes, when i see great artists with their works of art, i compare them with the ones i made, then i frown at myself and give up. But with this comic, it made me realized that I just lack practice – not talent. Failures and criticisms are parts of enhancing one’s skill and I shouldn’t let those bite me. So thanks.
You’re welcome! I’m glad. Good luck to you!
[…] Making Friends With Failure […]
Thank you.
This comic, along with Stanley Lau’s “Draw it Again” (http://artgerm.deviantart.com/art/Draw-It-Again-326767415), inspired me to return to graphic art after a drought of three years. I’m currently working on learning how to draw hands by sketching them every day, and then I’ll move onto poses.
I’m posting this comic in response to everyone who feels discouraged, in not just drawing, but writing, music, leading, anything. Thank you for making this.
You’re welcome!
inspiring and moving!!!! thumbs up!! >__<
[…] a look at his blog, I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. One piece in particular, “Be Friends With Failure,” fits very well with my mantra, “Embrace The […]
[…] ‘‘You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more t… […]
Hi,
Its truly inspiring. Taking your permission – can I use your comic strips in my presentations.
Regards,
Go ahead! Just give me credit and mention the website.
[…] https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ […]
wow your comics are really deep, i like it. the first one reminds me how i felt learning japanese.
http://japanesethefunway.com
A lot of these comics came out of my Japanese learning experience actually!
[…] Doodle Alley […]
Comics and novels taught me more about life than anyone else has. Thanks for the encouragement, amd i hope you are still friends with failure.
Thanks Hena! I definitely am. It’s a love-hate relationship.
[…] Be Friends with Failure | Doodle Alley […]
[…] Mais em: doodle alley.https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ […]
[…] his post, Be Friends with Failure, cartoonist Stephan McCranie keys in on a very important principle, that the master has failed more […]
[…] a great cartoon on failure, visit “Be Friends with Failure” from the blog Doodle Alley by Stephen McCranie. Here’s a frame from that […]
[…] / Inspired Thinking (Image via […]
[…] via Be Friends with Failure. […]
The best inspiration is the one you stumble upon when realize how behind your own standards you really are. It dulls the pessimistic critique inside you a bit.
Arigato!
All I wanted to say is this is one of the single greatest bits of wisdom I have heard. To take it to heart is to change your life. Thank you!
Drobiazgowe wpisy, dobra tematyka
Strona świadczy o dobrych zagadnieniach, zapraszam do dyskusji Wyposażenie
placów zabaw
[…] & I live this comic called “Be Friends with Failure” I remind my students often that failure is in fact better than success because it means you […]
[…] in a constructive, positive way. So how can focusing on failure be constructive you might ask? Like Stephen McCranie said “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried”. So […]
[…] The above comic helped me to start making some connections that I would like to share from what I have learned in studying Educational Psychology. In particular, Goal Orientation Theory and Self-Compassion came to mind. Goal Orientation Theory (also known as Achievement Goal Theory) (Pintrich, 2000) posits that our reasons for working toward goals can vary greatly and that orientation has implications for how well we learn new things and how we deal with failure in the process of learning. When we learn things because we enjoy the process of learning, we are more likely to remember what we learned and also more likely to see failure as a natural part of the learning process. According to this theoretical perspective, this is a mastery orientation . The other orientation posited in earlier work on goals was called Performance Orientation, wherein the learner’s motivation behind work toward a goal was primarily that of success at that goal, whether it be making a good grade or obtaining recognition (or avoiding FAILURE). A great deal of research has been done on these goal orientations, and over time with further research they have been modified (you can find updated information and research findings here). […]
[…] The above comic helped me to start making some connections that I would like to share from what I have learned in studying Educational Psychology. In particular, Goal Orientation Theory and Self-Compassion came to mind. Goal Orientation Theory (also known as Achievement Goal Theory) (Pintrich, 2000) posits that our reasons for working toward goals can vary greatly and that orientation has implications for how well we learn new things and how we deal with failure in the process of learning. When we learn things because we enjoy the process of learning, we are more likely to remember what we learned and also more likely to see failure as a natural part of the learning process. According to this theoretical perspective, this is a mastery orientation . The other orientation posited in earlier work on goals was called Performance Orientation, wherein the learner’s motivation behind work toward a goal was primarily that of success at that goal, whether it be making a good grade or obtaining recognition (or avoiding FAILURE). A great deal of research has been done on these goal orientations, and over time with further research they have been modified (you can find updated information and research findings here). […]
Awesomeness… Funny but real…..
failure is my best friend, from now on. lol…..
I neither consider myself a success or a failure.
I am a work in progress, an event in motion, like a river, constantly flowing in the right direction.
I have observed people who feel like they are failures and the first thing I see is that they are overly critical and this makes them choose to stop before they refine their craft.
The most important thing to remember is [especially in this electronic age] that no matter how it first comes out, it can always be edited to be better if you are just patient and open to try a little something differetnt.
Just keep at it and keep trying new, different approaches than you have in the past and it is likely to become something magnificent at some point.
To be a success, one must stick with it and never give up.
One is never truly a failure until the day they give up and quit.
[…] 圖片來源 […]
[…] Originalmente publicado em: https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure/ […]
I just translated it to Brazilian Portuguese. I hope you don’t mind. Great work by the way!
https://nqatsi.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/seja-amigo-do-fracasso-traduzido/
Shine the penlight at a gem from different angles when checking for fractures.
Yellow sapphire is a very strong gemstone and its effects are visible within few second or
in a day or so. This gemstone could be used to make
a star sapphire ring, with a diffused star sapphire that had a sharp and clear
star effect.
[…] live this comic called “Be Friends with Failure” I remind my students often that failure is in fact better than success because it means you […]
[…] Be friends with failureOn devient plus apte à connaitre les facteurs d’échec et on devient aussi plus apte à les éviter, les contourner, ou même parfois faire avec. […]
[…] “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” — Stephen McCranie, Be Friends with Failure […]
I have this comic in my bookmarks, front and center. I try to read it every week or so to remind myself to take joy in the process, with the excitement of a babe. I appreciate this comic, and I share it whenever I can. Thank you!
Strona świadczy o dobrych wydarzeniach, namawiam do rozmowy
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[…] Be friends with failure. The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. […]
[…] Related article: Be friends with failure in animation […]
This is awesome. Thank you. I am not an artist but I truly appreciated the concepts shared. I am sharing them and this site with others.
Hi everyone, I’m a new mother and I’m desperately to get my four month little one to sleep through the night. At the moment I am fortunate to have four hours sleep per night. Bless
This was awesome! I love the graphics! This is definitely a message I wholeheartedly believe and preach too!! Great work!
[…] Source: Be Friends with Failure […]
[…] McCranie, of Doodle Alley, said, “The difference between a master and a novice is that a master has failed more times than the … You can only get good by being […]
Uproarious, likely. I still believe it could be somewhat bizarre.
I would attempt it in the event the GF was actually a little interested in League.
[…] note: To see the full comic on embracing failure by Stephen McCranie, follow this link. It’s one of my favourite motivational materials, and I hope you enjoy it as […]
[…] Alley posted an incredibly insightful illustration that encourages artists of any type to “Be Friends With Failure” and to embrace the fact that it’s absolutely necessary to fail a few times before […]
[…] Very similar to Military SEAL David Goggins’ recommendation by which he emphasizes the significance of embracing and celebrating defeats, this inspiring comedian via Stephen McCranie of Doodle Alley explains why creatives will have to ‘Be Pals With Failure’. […]
[…] why shouldn’t we give it a go? Expectation can be a killer of projects and images, fear of failure or frustration at not getting the results are very real. It often comes from lack of technique or […]
[…] A very nicely done cartoon explanation of what I have been repeating for decades, to my students in class and to my photographer friends. Take failure to heart, use it to your advantage rather than avoiding it. See the full series […]
Wonderful blog post. This is absolute magic from you! I have never seen a more wonderful post than this one. You’ve really made my day today with this.
Hi, on occasion I receive a 403 message when I visit this page. I figured you would like to know.
[…] So, I leave you with a comic that was done on Doodle Alley a few years back. Seriously, take the time to read this and take it in. It’s worth every precious second. […]
Ahh, I love all your comics! ^_^ These have really been helping me to be more proactive and positive!
If some one desires expert view regarding running a blog after that i advise him/her to pay
a quick visit this weblog, Keep up the good job.
[…] SUCKS TO LOSE AND IT STILL SUCKS TO FAIL. I am ultimately reminded and encouraged by this comic to be friends with failure. Still […]
my colleague needed to fill out CA FTB 540-ES yesterday and found a website with an online forms database . If you are requiring CA FTB 540-ES also , here’s a https://goo.gl/djJDX5.
[…] And that’s what this post is about and where a lot of mastery comes from in my mind – from failure. We learn as we fail. What is one of the biggest differences between a novice and a master? Well, quite simply the master has failed many more times than the novice has ever tried. Through these failures the now master learned and achieved a great level of expertise – but you don’t see these past failures now. This is shown quite nicely in this excellent web-comic: […]
[…] are inevitable when you’re improvising. And living. This week I was randomly reminded of this cartoon by Stephen McCranie about making friends with […]
[…] In the risk of making this post even more soppy and cliched, here’s a great quote from the cartoonist Stephen McCranie, […]
[…] PS- here’s an awesome comic called “Be Friends with Failure”! […]
[…] In the risk of making this post even more soppy and cliched, here’s a great quote from the cartoonist Stephen McCranie, […]
The best time to do a thing is when it can be done.
[…] So, I leave you with a comic that was done on Doodle Alley a few years back. Seriously, take the time to read this and take it in. It’s worth every precious second. […]
[…] your awesome mountain. The incredible Stephen McCranie of Doodle Alley has drawn the lovely comic How to Be Friends with Failure and improve as an artist. I think his points on self-talk are just as applicable to how we talk to […]
[…] McCranie https://doodlealley.com/2012/10/10/be-friends-with-failure Berita sebelumyaperkenalan-singkat-yang-agak-panjang Ombak Gili BAGIKAN Facebook […]
[…] “¿Sabes la diferencia entre un aprendiz y un maestro? Que el maestro ha fallado más veces de las que el aprendiz ni siquiera ha intentado” (Fuente: Stephen McCranie) […]
Wow… just ran across this in a FB post with one of the pages, and shared it on my own timeline. Such true words!
One funny thing is that I always try to encourage younger (and sometimes older) artists to never forget what it is to be like a child, willing to experiment and play (and to NOT take yourself too seriously)! It’s a very similar thread to what you’ve written here.
Blessings!