Jane’s Essential Art Practice Manifesto
2002 Visual Language II bon mots

 

1. Think through making

2. Every formal concern must tie back to the central idea of the project

3. Break your big idea into smaller formal chunks that are manageable and completable

4. Timelines are very useful

5. Have a clear goal, a full vision of your project, but be flexible along the way--it will change. Be open to the end point looking different from your beginning inspiration

6. There will always be formal problems you are stuck with. Learn to make the best of them, make them work with the whole

7. Go to the extreme and work backwards. Don’t make it good enough, but take it further.

8. Experiment, experiment, experiment. Do variations, sketches, work prints, tests, etc. as a daily part of your practice.

9. Focus on no more than 3 formal qualities. Any more will make the work chaotic and confusing.

10. Don’t make what anyone tells you to make. Make what you love, what you really want to see.