Paco’s Speedo 🩲

And Jesus’s Baby.

November 11, 2024

In a past life, I got a BFA in painting.

Yes, instead of studying to become an accountant or a nurse, I was painting a half-naked man named Paco in a navy blue speedo because the Mormon gal in my class didn’t want to see Paco’s penis, which was fine by me. Penises aren’t fun to paint anyway.

After two years of painting Paco’s spandex-covered penis, fake apples, bones and a few naked women in animal masks arm wrestling…

I was told I’d mastered the foundations and could PAINT WHATEVER I WANTED!

I’d been waiting for this my whole college career… You’d think I would have been painting up a storm…

But no, instead I CHOKED. I couldn’t decide what to paint or make. I missed deadlines. I was stuck in my head, creating nothing but anxiety. 

I spent my time in class “thinking” in my sketchbook while watching the hot guy that looked like Jesus paint portraits of his new baby.

That is, until my painting professor gave me the best creative advice I've had in my life.

My painting professor told me to JUST MAKE SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

And to stop worrying about it being good. 

Because it likely wouldn’t be good—at least not at first.

But if I kept painting, one day, it would get better.

And maybe one day, good.

I’m forever grateful for that advice.

This teacher taught me how to fall in love with the process of making art.

In the end, this advice helped me finish my senior year with an installation with hundreds of pieces. (Maybe thousands.)

And I’m convinced it helped me build a successful creative freelancing business that’s almost 10 years old. 

Now it’s helped me create Paper Ghosts, and hopefully it can help you too. 

So, I urge you, if you want to make art and you’re stuck in the thinking phase, to just get out there and make some shit. 

Yes, it's going to be a shitty first draft. Everyone's first draft sucks balls, even if you're Glennon Doyle or Frida Kahlo.

No, you aren't making the next Mona Lisa. 

You're building your creative muscle. You're starting small. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day, even if it's a sketch—that’s something.

And trust me, even a half-baked doodle beats immortalizing Paco’s spandexed goods.

P.S. Please share your shitty first drafts with me. I’d love to see what everyone is making out there <3

P.P.S. Looking for help with your next creative endeavor? 

Do you have unfinished essays, blogs, podcasts, businesses, or a newsletter sitting on your computer that you’ve never showed anyone? Do you need help editing, polishing and getting it to a place you feel proud to share it? Or do you need a plan for your art? 

I got you.