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Jackson Pollock’s Overnight Success Was a Lot Like Most People’s

Despite claims made and repeated for decades, Pollock did not paint his epic Mural canvas in one great, glorious burst of nonstop creative fervor.

Instead, a painting revered as a turning point, both for the artist and the history of Modern American art, evolved over many days and perhaps even several weeks.

Link: The Real Pollock Story

The story that a great work of art was created all at once is just that: a great story. A myth.

It turns out that the truth is much better than the story. Pollock had to work on his masterpiece for a long time—just like most of us do.

There are layers and stages to our work. Chipping away at something day in and day out is a lot easier than relying on bouts of genius to spring forth at 3am.

Better to be an overnight success that takes some time.

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