CHALLENGE 15 
Identifying the skills that need developing
THE FIRST STEP IN ACQUIRING NEW TECHNICAL ABILITIES IS TO IDENTIFY WHICH SKILLS NEED DEVELOPING AND TO PRACTICE ON SMALL EXERCISES. WHILE IT IS OBVIOUS THAT IN DANCE YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOUR FLEXIBILITY AND BALANCE, AND IN MUSIC YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOUR SCALES, IT IS LESS INTUITIVE WHAT APPROACH TO TAKE FOR PAINTING, FOR EXAMPLE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE TEACHING YOURSELF. THE TENDENCY IS TO WANT TO PRODUCE A FINAL PRODUCT RIGHT AWAY, AND THAT OFTEN MEANS THAT PEOPLE ARE DISAPPOINTED WITH THEIR RESULTS. THIS CHALLENGE ASKS YOU TO IDENTIFY THESE SKILLS THAT NEED WORK AND BE AWARE THAT THE LIST WILL EVOLVE OVER TIME AS YOU MAKE NEW DISCOVERIES. BRAINSTORMING (CHALLENGE 13) WILL ALSO ALLOW YOU TO GENERATE MORE IDEAS.
Initial inventory
Make a list of the skills that you consider to be essential for your practice. Even if you’re starting from scratch, make a stab at this. You can either record this list in your creative journal or else keep it on cards where you name the skills. See my research on watercolors, opposite.
Twyla Tharp, the American dancer, choreographer, and writer, undertakes this exercise in her book The Creative Reflex and suggests the following list:
athletic skills (coordination, balance, flexibility, endurance, etc.)
theater skills
the ability to work in a group
memory
sense of rhythm
mastery of illusion in order to make everything look easy, etc.
Here I gather some of the basic techniques for watercolor: wet on wet, wet on dry, water-to-paint ratio, and control of one’s stroke.
Your models
In challenge 14, you observed the practice of your favorite artists and undertook a preliminary analysis of their skills. Which of these would you like to develop for yourself? Return to challenge 14 and add those to your list of skills to develop there.
I admire the color palettes, the cityscapes, and the use of negative space in my favorite artists.
Your creative sensitivity
The choice of skills that you want to work on may vary depending on your creative sensitivity. You will see my definition of creative sensitivity in detail in challenge 30. For me, it is a matter of balance, in my projects, between technique, personality, and message.
Your goal
Look back at your artistic goal (challenge 8) and compare it with your first list of skills. Is your list missing anything you need to achieve your goal? These might be complementary skills that are not artistic per se (communication, computer, or business skills, for instance).
I would like to be better at digitizing my watercolors, creating patterns, and improving my drawing of peonies.
When you’re just getting started, it is often your technical skills that get developed first. Have you also dug into the skills that are connected with your personality or with the message that you would like to communicate?
As for me, I have just started expressing my personality, but I am not yet communicating a message. That might be something that I could work on. If that is a goal for you, you can add that kind of skill to your list.
skills having to do with personality: self-expression, feelings, interpretation, improvisation, how you approach process, etc.;
skills having to do with your message: expressing an opinion, sharing your thoughts or questions, telling a story, etc.
I would like to get better at: improvising with acrylics, telling stories with my art, and letting my personality come through more.
Your Turn 
- 1. Identify the skills that you would like to get better at using the four exercises in this chapter:
- essential skills for your artistic practice
- skills that will allow you to achieve your goal
- skills that you admire in your favorite artists
- skills for nurturing your creative sensitivity in one of the three realms of technique, personality and/or message (challenge 30)
- 2. Write down these skills in your creative journal or on cards.
- 3. Of the skills you have identified, which do you already possess, whether wholly or in part?