Paint More Now

Every artist needs to paint more often. It is essential to your growth and development. You won’t have any successes until you take the risk of putting the brush in the pigment and on the paper or canvas. The more you do it the more it will work for you. It will become increasingly rewarding. That isn’t to say it will be easier. I’ve been painting for many years. It might be easier for me to pull out the paper, paints or canvas because I’ve done it so many times. I still look at the blank canvas and have that moment of hesitation before I jump into it.

Working on a painting is exciting, it charges me up and makes the world around me make more sense. It is agony when it is a failure. Fortunately, I don’t always know that when I’m working on the painting. I can enjoy the feeling that it might be a success. It’s easier to discover it’s not, later. I put the painting away and check it a few days later and see it with fresh eyes. This is when I realize that it needs a makeover.

Keep in mind that even when the painting is a failure, that you still had th experience of paintng it. That process makes you SEE the world around you better, helps you be more sensitive to color and composition and will help propel you to the next painting. It is never a loss, even if you end up cutting it into strips and turnng it into bookmarks.

The important thing is not just talk about painting more but to paint more NOW.