Who’s This Bad Art Teacher Anyways? | The Lesson Plan by Ember Hill

If you’re an artist maybe you’ve been here too:

Another human takes a look at your artwork that you’ve shared, and even offers you a compliment on the finished product.

My human, masked-self, might say something like: ‘thank you’, out loud; meanwhile I might be tearing my work apart mentally. Picking apart every detail that did not form just as I intended.

Sometimes I'll even find myself pointing out what went “wrong" with the creation that’s being complimented, directing this “acknowledgement of failure” at this poor, innocent person who maybe, actually, genuinely, likes my work.

Is it all just proof I'm failing?

Shouldn't I get to love my own art too?

At some point along my humanly journey in this life, I thought maybe that's just how I measure my worth as an artist; but I have since realized it wasn't me, it was the curriculum I had swallowed.

And that's what the Bad Art Teacher is here to un-teach.

Welcome to the class that doesn’t exist.

I’m Ember (they/she) your anti-teacher, and your co-conspirator in mischief and unlearning.

I can’t grade you. I can’t hand out diplomas. I can, however, help you question everything. If you’re looking for step-by-step how-to instruction, please keep looking. But if you’re looking for liberation from the inner rules you’ve been forced to swallow without even knowing it… pull up a chair.

The Bad Art Teacher concept came to me when I was practicing radical acceptance within my creative meditation ritual.

Procreate sitting open on my iPad and Apple Pencil in hand, I heard the familiar voices: ‘I hate how messy this looks’, and ‘it would look so goooood if it were perfectly spaced and even’ in reference to the lines of my Zentangle-like creation. And in that moment, I consciously chose to create ‘bad art’ as a form of rebellion against the perfectionist voice that lives in my head.

I played with how messy I could make it without overlapping the lines. And I played with how fast and how slow I could pull a digital line across the screen, messily, honestly, while still keeping the image legible as this growing, repeating linear design.

I was able to enter a flow state, in this messy, imperfect mindset while doodling away— and all at once, The Bad Art Teacher arrived to meet my consciousness (where ever that was at the time!)

My initial impression of this energy that I could feel coming through was that it would be a programme of sorts that would focus on eliminating perfectionism in creative spaces through the now obvious antidote: creating bad art on purpose. Radical. Creative. Acceptance.

But the truth of the matter is, this one creative exercise of radical acceptance didn’t do all the heavy lifting on its own. Tackling my own perfectionist tendencies has been ongoing inner work for many years now. And I have the receipts to prove it!

As I’ve sat with The Bad Art Teacher energy over the past few weeks, I’m also realizing this isn’t just about healing perfectionism… and that making bad art could be a bigger movement that connects folks across the world(? maybe? who knows?! dreaming big!) in a deep remembering of our inherent creative nature, and our mission as humans to create.

I believe that if you’re human, you’re an artist.

Making art is our birth right.

If you’re ready to remember what creation feels like outside the binaries — where art and life blur, where perfection loses its meaning — welcome in.

The Bad Art Teacher isn’t here to grade your art; this practice is here to hand you back your crayons, your voice, your curiosity. It’s a way of remembering that art isn’t something we earn the right to make.

We’ve got a lot to unlearn. So let’s begin.

Navigating The Bad Art Teacher Non-Curriculum

The Lesson Plan

This is where you are. It’s set up as a blog, but this space is a hub for all of the “Bad Art” exercises, and essays for unlearning.

Office Hours

This is The Bad Art Teacher’s e-mail newsletter, it will have similar content as The Lesson Plan (blog) but with a bit more intimacy, and where you’ll be notified of special offers/events.

The Workshop (Soon)

Coming soon — a video class to dive even deeper into The Bad Art Teacher content.

Who’s This Bad Teacher Anyways?