Everyone’s work sometimes looks a mess. But what matters is what it looks like at the end. For example, the other day, Stephen caught me “softening” some trace-lines, and he was struck by something he saw me do. (Softening is where you lay down a wash or matt on top of unfired trace-lines, then blend gently while the wash is wet. This turns the trace-lines into gorgeous shadows.)
What he saw me do was: he saw me carry on – even though what was on the light-box looked absolutely awful.