Hit 50 sketches for one design before I finally got it right

I've been working on this one jacket pattern for like 3 months and kept trashing every version. Yesterday I counted and I'm at 50 rough sketches just for the collar and sleeve connection. Thats wild to me because I used to settle on the first or second idea. But this time I forced myself to keep pushing even when something looked okay. Now I get why my professor always said the first 20 ideas are just warm ups. Has anyone else had a project where you went way past your normal number of tries?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_olivia1mo ago

Read somewhere that creatives hit gold around try 30 to 40.

blake_black471mo agoMost Upvoted

Figured it was closer to try 100 or something, feels like you never really know when it'll click.

casey3931mo ago

but like, who decided that's even a real number? sounds like some made up stat to sell books or get clicks. people act like creativity has this neat little schedule and it just doesn't work that way. some folks burn out fast, others get better with age, and a lot of it is just luck and being in the right place at the right time. i'd bet most of those "studies" are just cherry picking a few famous examples and ignoring everyone else. honestly, putting a number on it feels like a way to make creatives anxious for no good reason.