For the Fun of It - proofs

math, art, and success journals

Hi! My name is Ashlyn Anstee, and I tell stories with words and pictures. Sometimes, that’s picture books (like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Select “Hedgehog”), or graphic novels (my series “Shelby and Watts”), and sometimes it’s animation (I’ve directed at places like Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network).

This column, “For the Fun of It”, will also have words and pictures. Sometimes it will be stories, or how-tos, or thoughts. A little bit of everything. Hope you enjoy!

Also, this week is going to be a little shorter- I’ve had a wild month so I needed something a little less intensive this week. But upcoming is my fountain pen for drawing series so look forward to that.

MATH MAN

So I should start by explaining- my dad is a mathematician. He doesn’t just teach math (though he did, for a long time!), he literally comes up with math. He does math research- his Erdös number is 2!! And he instilled in me a love of math, too. It’s logical, rational, and creative too. There’s such a beauty in proofs- in working on a math problem and being able to explain and how you got to the right answer.

The issue with art is that sometimes there isn’t a right or a wrong answer. And frankly, it’s a major bummer.

It’s not to say there isn’t right-ish answers. There is, of course, good art, and bad art. But someone might love the bad art (there’s even a whole movement for amateur, outsider art!). There’s fine art, but sometimes that is like, a performance piece. Art can be so many things!

one of my favorite artists is Paul Klee- far from photorealistic art.

Could you imagine a mathematician being like, but how does 2 + 2 make you feel. Is the answer beautiful? Is it ornamental or meaningful?

So art, as a career, is strange like that. We’re sensitive creatures, creating little things, and showing them to people. For every yes, there’s a bajillion nos. And often, those nos don’t have anything to do with the relative goodness or badness or correctness of your art or creativity, it’s really just a matter of subjectivity, and what that person (and the market) is buying.

With that in mind, when we get rejections, it’s easy to take that rejection as a proof, of a sort. For me, it is a pure representation of black and white thinking. A yes means correct, good job, you are good at art, and a no means bad, you did wrong, try harder. Neither is really true, but it can feel that way. Especially if you are looking for that logical assessment of your worth as a human.

And here’s the tricky thing. For me, I don’t often celebrate my wins, or take them to heart as much as my losses. So how can we help our rational, logical, mathematician brains deal with the many, many rejections that come with being an artist?

Success Journal

Here’s one thing I’ve done for years that has helped me. I have a section at the back of my planner where I write down my successes. Little ones, especially. Ideally ones within my control. For example, instead of waiting a hundred years to write “I SOLD A SHOW!!”, writing down “I pitched a show!” is framing something within your control as a success. Sometimes I write down the nice things friends say to me, like “Grant called me nice!”. Sometimes I celebrate milestones.

And listen, I know we all need and want and deserve those big successes like winning the lottery, but try keeping track of the small ones too. At least for me, when I write them down, it helps that good feeling stick to me a little longer. It helps balance that equation!

If it helps- you can use the acronym CAT to remember what to write in.

C: Compliments! Self explanatory. Anytime someone says something nice about you!

A: Actions! Actions you’ve taken towards a goal, or anything you’ve done that you’re proud of.

T: Time! Okay this was a bit shoehorned in, but milestones! Celebrating 5 years working in the industry? 10 years with a partner??? A whole 6 months of painting?? Write those in too!

And next time I get a rejection (which I do, truly, hope for! Getting rejections means you’ve tried, which is a huge success), I always look over my success journal too.

Also, that reminds me that when I first learned about Erdos numbers at age 9, I forced my dad to sign a piece of paper with my name on it, and said that made my Erdös number 2. That’s not how it works by the way.

There’s also the Kevin Bacon number- a similar concept of 6 degrees of separation. You combine those to create your Erdös/Bacon number.

And then a couple years ago, I worked on a project with Mayim Bialik (who famously has an Erdös/Bacon score of 7). I’m inching ever closer to my real goal… To become Erdos/Bacon patient 0.

Thing of the Week

I love getting myself ~ little treats ~ for successes, and I’m often an art supply person. For a couple years, I’ve gotten Art Snacks , a monthly art supply subscription box. I have taken a break recently because I just have far too many pens to work through. My favorite part though, is the Art Snacks challenge where you only use supplies from the box! You can also take a peek at Art Snacks own instagram to see how other people are using them. Super fun!

ok love u bye