"it"

"It" is that precious quality which lets you make artwork which is better than good and sometimes "it" allows for work which is truly inspired. I learned early on, you can't rely on "it" to get you out of a mess. It is capricious and wispy, disappearing for periods at a time, sometimes only half returning, or returning for only half as long as you need it. It's also a problem to have to work without "it". That is killer. Too much of that kind of thing will sink you into a strange kind of self-loathing, hard to describe, but which makes it hard to face yourself in the mirror. And sometimes it just inexplicably goes away. But you can get "it" to come and stay with you when you have great discipline and work hard without distractions. That is why I've always liked working for three days straight, and why I built a trapdoor for "it" so it can come and go quickly when I lose the three day luxury. I find if you keep working until "it" comes back, "it" always does eventually. It eventually gets curious and wants to see what you've been doing while it was away. When I'm feeling most discouraged, and begin thinking I've lost it, I recognize this as simply the lowest ebb of the process of making art and ride it out."

- Paul Pope