I don’t know about you, but there are times when my confidence seems to fly out the window when I am painting. I am working hard on a piece and it just isn’t cooperating.
Perhaps the colors are off, or I can’t get the right shapes worked into the painting. Whatever it is, confidence in my ability to paint goes away.
Does this ever happen to you?
Since I have had to deal with this I decided to come up with some ways to make the situation less painful. Here are just a few ideas that might help when and if you experience this death of confidence.
Stop thinking you are just a pretend artist. I know the conversation in your head:
If I were a real artist I would be able to paint without any trouble
WRONG! All artists have days of failure.
Stop comparing yourself to the artists you admire. Those artists have struggled hard and long to develop the voice you admire. They probably have more years of experience under their belt but trust me they have had their share of failures.
Take a break from the demon painting. I know when my painting is fighting with me I need to just walk away for a while. When I return I usually can see where I have gone wrong and can fix the problem. But perhaps you just want to start over and say good-by. This is not giving up but being smart.
Get over the awful disease of “painting a masterpiece syndrome”. Masterpieces don’t come very often and when they do they are wonderful. When you always expect to create a painting that is fabulous you set yourself up for disappointment.
Give yourself a “trash can painting day”! Oh such fun to know whatever you paint today you are going to put in the trash can. But what actually happens usually is you will create something you really love. Why? Because the pressure is off and you are willing to risk trying new things.
