i've noticed that effect, from time to time, with playing music.
a similar thing i notice is that i'll arrive at a new level, but can't execute it well. when i do get a better handle on it, boom i will go to a new level - again my vocabulary is increased, but i don't have a good handle on it yet.
This exact same thing happens to me with art haha. I've gotten to the point where whenever I feel frustrated or super dissatisfied with a drawing, I just back off for a bit and do something else instead of forcing it because that usually precedes a huge improvement spike out of nowhere
Because every time I let it rest for a bit and then go back to drawing afterward, it's like I suddenly gained a level and my drawings are way better. I dunno what causes this pattern lmao, but it's interesting
I've heard that it's basically because your tastes/technical eye have refined and the dissatisfaction is being able to identify where your current work doesn't match up. And then when you go back and try again, you're actively working out how to solve the problem.
I think this is why learning a technical skill doesn't necessarily fix it and sometimes makes it worse; I'll learn a new way to draw hands and be like "this looks AWFUL I don't GET it" and then when I come back my brain has somehow solved "it's a box with sausages on" enough to make hand of it
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a similar thing i notice is that i'll arrive at a new level, but can't execute it well. when i do get a better handle on it, boom i will go to a new level - again my vocabulary is increased, but i don't have a good handle on it yet.
Thanks for framing it that way