When a Painting "Fails," Consider This...

When a Painting "Fails," Consider This...

Do you know that feeling you get when a painting just isn't working ? Maybe you are going over the same spot again and again (and again and again), or you are just frustrated because it's not how you thought it would turn out.

Is it just me? Or you, too?

If you do get what I'm talking about, let me share with you one small change you can make in how you think about your painting that will really help free you from those negative feelings.

View your paintings as experiments.

While your paintings are absolutely more than "just" an experiment, when you catch yourself starting to take what's happening on the easel personally, remember this.

If the painting is an experiment, what happens on your canvas is not personal. It's just an outcome of variables! Those variables can of course include personal things, such as your energy levels and emotional state, but they can also include a method you are trying, a color palette you are exploring, and countless other possibilities including brushes, size, and ways of mark making.

Don't love the outcome? Take a step away (for a few minutes, hours, or even days/weeks) from that piece and then reflect on a few variables that may be contributing to the outcome.

Do you want to try a different color palette? Take some time to practice the drawing? Or, possible, try it again smaller, or bigger?

Then do it!

Every thing you try that is new is bound to teach you something, and little by little, leads to a portfolio of work that expresses not only your creative voice, but also your creative journey.