The art of negative thinking

Very interesting, however I would differentiate between negative thinking and critical thinking, analysing one’s work in a critical but constructive way (because I find I can be so negative about my work it can really hamper continuing anything I start)

I agree one hundred percent there is benefit in negavtive thinking. I worked on one painting for almost a year. I suffered with it, corrected it, dreaded it, and was very critical of myself. However, I completed it almost to my personal satisfaction. It is – without question- the best work I have ever done. I get comments like “I couldn’t do that in a million years”. I will never sell it for any price.

Unfortunately, Bob Knight is known for temper tantrums, which are indicative of immaturity, lack of self-control, and inharmony. I do not want to live my life like this even at the expense of great achievement. The late John Wooden, legendary Hall-Of-Fame coach with UCLA, won games and championships as readily as Bob Knight and rarely, if ever, threw a temper tantrum, pushed a player physically, or expressed inharmony either emotionally or outwardly. I submit that there are an infinite number of ways to ‘live a life’, that what works for one does not reduce to a platitude that will work for everyone. I, for one, would want to learn what brings me contentment in life, PERIOD. Were I smart enough to learn this on my own I would pursue this course with attention, focus, and discipline. Were I too exhausted to learn this on my own, I would want to learn it from someone whose actions and statements appealed to me as having learned how to live contentedly. This is all we are all after, contentment. If you think that winning at all costs, or having lots of money, or being a successful artist, is going to bring you contentment, then you are not paying attention to the many who have gone before you and left a written record of what they have learned. Each of us must incisively pay attention to the activities that unerringly bring us contentment, then pursue these things and add to them until your entire life is filled with the things and activities that bring you contentment. Then how could you not die satisfied that you have lived a good life? Make no mistake, I am not talking about lying on the beach 24/7. Mother Theresa works pretty hard at an advanced age, but she has identified that this work brings her contentment. I have never forgotten one of the remarks made by one of the artists in this forum directing us to pay no attention to the judgments made about our art. Allow the critics to do what they do, it makes no difference to you if what you love doing is to paint. Ignore positive and negative judgments, simply go on to the next painting because THAT is what brings you contentment.

Lights just went on when I read the latter part of todays message. The President of the Artists society that I am a member of( newer ) member does just that with any new Artist that is juried into the group. AT some point during the year they get a call from him telling them that he’s in such a down spirit questioning his work etc etc really “poor me poor me” will you come over and look at my work and tell me if you think it looks like”paint by number” work etc etc. This man is now in his 70’s and his entire life has been in the Art field as illustration and architectural and then watercolors. Hew paints BEAUTIFULLY but you’re so right, he is seeking accolades from the newbies so they gush about his work. He never seeks out the Artists that were founding members like him, just the new ones. Then when another new one joins he no longer has anything to do with you basically, sad,sad, sad. Anyway it just hit the nail on the head, my husband had actually mentioned something to that effect some time back but I dismissed it but he was right. I am thankful to be a part of your email family and learn SO MUCH about Art and myself and others, thank you so very much Robert for this priviledge:)

I think Anne O’Hara (above) has the right answer. Bobby Knight was certainly no model of self-control. Robert Sesco (also above) who brings up John Wooden makes a terrific counter-point.

mmm…I don’t know….it seems like Winnie the Pooh was a bigger success than Eyeore…certainly more fun!

“Negative thinking” is not pessimism. It takes courage to face the negative aspects of one’s work/habits/life. It’s easier to be in denial and give too much importance to egotistical self-esteem. Most of us, most of the time, will choose the more comfortable Pollyanna outlook of making ourselves feel good, distracting us from focusing on excellence in our work.

Hi, Robert, thank you for your newsletter, I enjoy reading it and get a lot out of it. I agreed with you and Bob Knight in your last post “The art of negative thinking” until I got to this: “And by the way, keep God out of your equations.” Respectfully, I strongly disagree. I am quite sure that God is responsible for every “success” I’ve ever had and every good thing that has ever happened to me. I know for certain that there have been many times when I’ve been able to accomplish far more than my skills, talents or intelligence would allow me to do, both in my artwork and in other aspects of my life. Those happy accidents? God did that. That final little touch that makes a painting sing? God is the one who pointed it out. That compulsion to paint a certain person or landscape, the one that won’t leave you alone until it’s done? God, again. I use the symbol of the Christian fish in my signature for all my art and every transaction as a reminder to myself, and to others, that this was possible because of God. And by the way, saying that God is responsible for your success does not mean he screwed the other guy, just that this time he blessed you so you could bless others. In my humble opinion, artists, and those like me who are striving to be artists, are simply trying to copy and interpret the artwork that God has already created. I’m quite happy to give Him the credit that is due. Respectfully yours, Kathy Fediw Part-time artist, full-time believer

Interesting philosophy. If being hard on oneself worked for everyone, I would be rich and famous. No, I am neither, but that is ok. Thanks for taking G-d out of it. I am heartily weary of people who use G-d to justify just about anything.

Failures can devastate you if you don’t believe you can achieve. And I feel you should allow yourself to say. “That painting is pretty good” and know that ones in the future will be better. It is most important to be able to say. “I learned something” even if the painting itself was a failure. I REALLY hate when people throw tantrums if things don’t go well. Throwing brushes, canvases, easels OR golf clubs is juvenile.

I am of the opinion that a lot of negative thinking can so cloud the room that there is no space for creativity. I work best from a clear canvas, embracing the joy and infinite possibilities from a positive perspective. Clear focus should not be considered in the negative column nor the positive for that matter but how we attain, maintain that focus is an inside job left unexpressed outloud.

You’ve just described the essential difference between Americans and Canadians! Loved it!

You made some good points with a poor source. People who know Bobby Knight would not read his book. He is not respected as a human being. He uses his negativity in harmful ways. His anger management is very low.

have a somewhat melancholic personality. When I saw the title of today’s letter I thought “Oh great, another slam against the non-bubbly personality” but was pleasantly surprised by what I read. Maybe there is hope for me and my art!! Ha!

Lately, I have been reading a book on shamans and much of their philosophy comes through on your emails. Be still and concentrate on the nature you see, lie on the earth and feel connected.It also says that if their is more than 3 coincidences their is something weird going on and take heed. I was also so intrigued with the art of being negative. being an amateur I have always been critical of my work and hardly like to show it to people as it is so private to me. I also know that this positive thinking thing can be a huge trap which I have fallen into with dire circumstances. I also get so fed up with sportsmen thanking god for their success. What a time the poor man must have trying to decide which side to support

Bob Knight is an ass. But, of course, he would like that.

I am a realist. Reality is sometimes positive and sometimes negative or both.

It’s called being humble. Humility is good. Be humble, be humbled. Nobody likes a bragger. Not even a bragger.

This book sounds very shallow to me – sensationalistic approach by making an unusual argument and defending it with weak examples. I had family members who have embarked on many short-lived projects to “change our lives and prosper”. Every single one ended after a brief impatient attempt and conclusion that “the world was against them”. They look at my art as just another such project, although they can’t explain how come I am sticking with it for all those years and how I managed to “cheat the world” into believing that I am an artist. The first thing they always ask is if I sold anything recently. If I didn’t, they can’t hide satisfaction that they were indeed right that successes are impossible for “people like us”. Failure feels comfortable to them. If my answer is that I did sell something, they get suspicious and try to “get into my scam”. Interestingly they never ask about any other form of success – e.g. peer recognition, personal satisfaction etc. I was only able to lead a good life after I left my family and went through lot of learning from healthy successful people. So negativity does not breed success. Learning from positive examples and role models can help get you out from the influence of negativity. This is a meaningful process. I am sure that nobody believes in being successful or a failure just by being negative or bubbly. I wouldn’t favor either way – different strokes work for different folks and different circumstances.

Balance is the Key, be neither too positive about yourself or too negative. Be real, make mistakes in front of your students then show them how to fix them and above all don’t take yourself too seriously

Hmmmm….weeellll, It sounds like a title to sell the book. It’s kinda in your face silly. I did laugh when I saw the title. Hopefully the book says how negative you should be for effecting a change in each endeavor of your life…I mean…Knight-Negative or Hitler-negative???? hmmmm and he was a painter:))

We Texans had a love/hate regard for Bobby Knight long before the time he coached Texas Tech. I was firmly in the hate column, mostly due to his uncontrollable temper. Theatrics like his has no place in college athletics. I refused to believe any coach or associated instructor at the college level deserved the praise he garnered. I considered him a negative influence that surely couldn’t help a young person. Neither would I have sent my daughters to the same university that hired him. However … one needs to evaluate him within the generation that he coached. Knight schooled gifted athletes who were praised from kindergarten how wonderful they were, how talented they were, and everything they did was positive. Life isn’t like that …. Knight told these athletes the truth: you’re not wonderful, you’re above average but if you’ll listen I hope to make you better. Life isn’t easy, it’s full of disappointments, and you will fail at some point in your life … but there is the next game, and that is what I’m preparing you for. He also said, (Charlie Rose interview) “No is the most positive thing you can tell someone. No to praise when it isn’t justified. No to mediocrity when it isn’t good enough. No to complacency.” He said another thing in that interview that convinced me to buy his book. Knight told parents, “Your son may not win the NCAA Championship. But I promise he will get a college education.” That is the deal breaker – the whole purpose for the NCAA, and hopefully after Bobby Knight’s negative tutoring these young men left with the mindset, “Nothing is easy. I have to earn my way.” That is a life lesson that needs to be repeated.

Excellent analysis, but as advice it doesn’t do much. I don’t know anyone who took advice to be more clever and less dumb. We are what we are. This analysis explains why more intelligent people are more successful. I think that calling it negativity doesn’t fool anyone. Actually, I understand the God thing in the case that they describe – sometimes a lousy shot gives you a win that you know you didn’t deserve and feel the urge to thank someone for that gift. Your Bob and Bob seem to be missing some obvious stuff, perhaps they lacked resources in the empathy department?

Thanks. I needed that. You are definitely my kind of person. The only way I got past hiding my work was to realize that no one is ever happy with what they’ve done. Oh, yea, they can pass it off as good enough but certainly not something to sing about. They have to learn to just accept it and know they will do better, in my opinion. And, the whole God thing seems to say, I’m the one he favors. I am the holiest. I am better than you in ways other than painting or singing, or playing ball. It has a way of leaving you with the kind of feeling you get when you’ve just stepped in a little dog shit. You smell it when you move a certain way but it is hard to identify just what it is that is bothering you.

This is fun and with a lot of truth in it, since the best results come from NOT clouding the issues, in either positive or negative directions. I was just laughing – image how your second-to-last paragraph look done up on ONE embroidered sampler to hang on a wall, just like grandma’s Golden Rule.

My ongoing critical appraisal of my work has shown me areas in which to improve. I’ll study and recheck an image many times to make sure that it says what I meant, with empathy and economy. I expect my works to be successful only after deciding what decisions needed to be improved. My “negative search” has reaped positive rewards.

There are too many studies, real scientific studies that include measuring the levels of “anger hormones, comprehensive brain scans and longevity that are associated with the benefits of positivity, optimism and a happy, satisfied disposition to make me give this load of piss and vinegar another thought. Sounds like it occurred to a grumpy, negative person that they could make their fortune selling the benefits of negative thinking. Humility, which some others have already mentioned here, is something much different than negative thinking or pessimism and most artists I know have it in spades. I always taught my children that no one likes to be around a gloater who is constantly puffing up their chest. This doesn’t mean you have to be negative or not have pride in your work. Negative thinking. Bah. No thanks.

“My personal bias is that Bobs know better than everyone else. Bob Knight and Bob Hammel have a point. Be negative.” Then why is my name Bruce? In my REALITY Bruce’s know better! I also saw this (gentle)man interviewed by Charlie Rose. I laughed and laughed and laughed! I’ve read ‘all of the above’… God is everything- NOT Him- but Him Her AND It. Both positive AND negative- good AND bad- male AND female- right AND wrong- arrogant AND humble- successful AND a failure- nice AND not/nice- effective AND ineffective- Light AND Dark- and as evidenced by the human species- both smart and stupid. The one thing God is NOT- is mediocre- and boring. Those are human traits. But guess what!? It is ‘I’ who is in the middle of doing a 4-day gallery installation- and God ain’t doing the work- ‘I’ am. ‘I’ also made the work. When I didn’t have enough money to pay my rent and eat. Ooops- no God around paying my rent and buying my food. But my homeless friend did provide some peanut-butter sandwiches left over from the homeless shelter. Hmmm… Contentment- how about Contempt-ment… I’m content! I’m working. Good enough? Published- with awards? Absolutely. A positive thinker? And a negative one too!!! Tolerant of bullsh*t. Not any more. Sorry. Insidious- relentless? You bet. Don’t waste my time. And the whole temper tantrum thing… People don’t like it when their emotional bodies get disrupted. We’ve all been fed a lot of crap around the free expression of all of our emotions- but guess what? If you judge against that free expression- YOU are the WALKING DEAD. Thank you Jackie Knott! Just because some of us ‘appear’ to not be empathetic to your bullsh*t- doesn’t mean we have no empathy. It just means we’re not pathological about it. In order to survive and then succeed at your art-making- you have to gain some recognition- and that requires both being good at what you do (because you actually worked at it for however long it took) and having big enough balls to actually go out and market it to others. Wimpy-ness will not get you anywhere. Getting a trophy for just existing will not get you there. I did the work. I came to know myself decades ago. I’m a brat. A fire-breathing dragon. A skin-shedding snake. A poisonous spider. A relentless badger. A gentle dove. An arrogant prick. A humble ass. I- TOO- am child-of-god… or is it dog? Thanks- Robert- for the really high complement. Disrespectfully and obstreperously yours!!! And I do so hope the pitcher enjoyed getting screwed by God.

Robert… ONE MAJOR THING YOU DID NOT MENTION, or even REALIZE: the two artists you speak of… THE ONE GUY COULD JUST HAVE BEEN A SUPERIOR ARTIST, Even with a lousy attitude!!! DID YOU EVER think of that!!!

That is so true and the last paragraph so funny. It makes me feel so good that I can now carry on with my negative thoughts and feel comfortable with them despite the criticism I get for always being just so negative about my work.

I think you confuse your terms. My interpretation is that if one is negative, they don’t even try while one who is positive tries until they get it right no matter the odds against success and that includes self critiques. And yes, the optimist sometimes does jump in where angels fear to tread but they are the doers of the world not the nay sayers. Don’t confuse negativism with humility which many religions teach. One should always be proud of their accomplishments – this does not equate to a better than thou attitude but to self esteem – that which comes from within not from affirmation of others. Give me an optimist any day over a negative, never satisfied or unhappy person or artist.

As others have noted, I also think of this half-empty pessimist attitude as “humility” over “negativity.” I was raised in a family that practically lit candles under a Norman Vincent Peale shrine but I always remained firmly on the uh-oh-worry side. Maybe it’s a Slavic thing. Despite any evidence to the contrary, my DNA keeps sending messages that crops are going to fail, it’s going to be a hard winter, and I’m probably going to get invaded by Mongols or Hitler so hunker down and don’t pay attention; keep on farming. “Assume the worst ’cause if it happens you’ll be prepared but if it doesn’t you’ll be extra happy,” seems to be an anthemic thing not limited to my generation. Anyway, this sort of humble realism has given me the ability to stop, drop, and roll when I lose a sale or get ignored or slighted or whatnot, which happens all too frequently as an artist. Weird thing is that my paintings are always seen as joyous and celebratory. Maybe it’s the everyday defiance of the illogical negativity that works best, at least in creation and appreciation. I hold the negative stuff for managing my career.

“I did the work. I came to know myself decades ago. I’m a brat. A fire-breathing dragon. A skin-shedding snake. A poisonous spider. A relentless badger. A gentle dove. An arrogant prick. A humble ass.” You are right, you sound like an arrogant prick! Now am I being negative here??

look where Bobby Knight’s negative insights landed him- rage does not inform or protect us from mediocrity- just kind,self-critical reflection.and as far as God goes or whatever you call the source of our creative need- he/she/it is the equation. amen

My mother used the musical metaphor, “Don’t be sharp, don’t be flat, just be natural.” Personally I don’t like people who have a fixed attitude, just one that is usefully responsive to the issues at hand.

In reading all the previous comments about various states of minds in approaching our art, I must say that the few pieces of watercolor that I completed from start to finish, including matting and framing, were all done during periods of my life that involved sorrow and loss. One I completed in a hotel bathroom so as to not wake my husband and 15 years later I gave it to a friend. It’s title is Funeral Flowers, and by giving it away, I’ve let loose of feeling the need to study and restudy books and magazines on technique that I damn we’ll have known for over 45 years. Lesson for me — JUST DO IT!!

“Just Do It” is my response also. I find too many people who hold on to their work as absolutely priceless works of art. My best work to show comes from the archives of stuff that flowed at the moment even before I knew entirely what I was doing. I didn’t see it at the time and later could see it for what it was and could see the possible value as insight.

Hey Robert, I think the term “negative thinking” is an incorrect label for the actual thought processes that are going on. The artist was actually using critical thinking skills, observation, and discernment. One artist was focused on the process of painting while the other was focused on expressing himself as an artist. I’ve mentioned this here before: google Dunning Kruger effect. ” is a cognitive bias in which unskilled individuals suffer from illusory superiority, mistakenly rating their ability much higher than average. This bias is attributed to a metacognitive inability of the unskilled to recognize their mistakes.[1] Actual competence may weaken self-confidence, as competent individuals may falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding. ” We’ve all watched American Idol. You know the ones – they think they are really great when they actually have no talent. The fact is – the more you know, the more you realize what you don’t know. Ignorance is bliss, but it ticks the rest of us off.

A light bulb just went off when I finally read the comments. For some reason, people get confused with critical thinking skills — discernment, dissecting information, critiquing, comparing and contrasting ideas, measuring, analyzing, questioning, revising, correcting… with being negative. Being negative is belittling, getting down on one’s self, complaining without a goal in mind, giving up, taking shortcuts, getting stuck and not try to get out, being inflexible, comparing without the intention of improvement or understanding, becoming jealous, focusing on one’s self rather than the effort/art. One strives for betterment, while the other strives for belittlement.