Director George Lucas wearing baseball cap on movie set, 1970s, he says 'failure is another word for experience'. (Image credit: Getty Images)

If you've ever sat in front of a blank digital canvas, or a real one for that matter, and you're afraid to make a mark, then you're not alone. I have a weird thing: I love the sketching process, but I hate detailing too far or painting over my lines because I'm sure I'll never make the execution match the idea.

Failure is another word for experience

George Lucase

George Lucas, the filmmaker behind Star Wars and the recent opener of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art , offers a useful way to look at this: it’s less about chasing success than about learning to live with the possibility of getting it wrong.

“Failure is another word for experience” is how Lucas put it in a 2013 interview with the US National Endowment for the Arts .…