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

Jackson Pollock Mural

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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