The Artist's Dilema or How to Quit While You Are Ahead

Every artist I know has had this happen to them. You feel your painting may be finished, but you're just not sure. Perhaps if I added a little more here, and a little more there, it will be perfect. Or maybe we should lift off this area (with watercolor we do this a lot.) Before you know it we have ruined the painting. I had this experience very recently in fact. I had finished (or was it?) a watercolor painting and had it sitting out in my studio. Several family members and visitors commented on how beautiful it was. It did look nice, I'll have to admit. But I thought it should be better. So what did I do? I started working on it again, fussing over this part and then that part. Before I knew it I was left with a painting that was ruined. It was not the spontaneous, lively painting it was before.

So how do we avoid this? Here are some tips that help me and I need to REMEMBER them!
1. Continuously step back and look at your painting from a distance. It is easier to see any mistakes this way. Also you will see what you need to do to correct it (hopefully!).

2. Join an artists critique group. I know this can be frustrating sometimes because you get so many tips and advice it's confusing to know what to do. But remember, YOU are the artist so you can decide what advice you want to follow and what changes you want to try. The benefit of doing this is there will be many more pairs of eyes looking at your painting and they are also seeing it for the first time. Sometimes we get too close to our own work and become very myopic and obsess about every little thing we think is wrong.

3. STOP before you think your painting is finished. Put your painting away out of sight for a week or two. When you look at it after this time has passed you will see it as if you were looking at it for the first time. Any mistakes or errors will show up right away.
Or you may find it is perfect just the way it is.

I'm sure there are many other tips other artists have used to avoid this all too common dilemma. Feel free to post your suggestions here in the comments.

Happy Painting!

The Journey

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end."

                                                                                        Ursala K. Le Guin

The struggle of being an artist. I'm not sure if non-artists understand this or not, but it is not easy to be an artist today (and maybe it  never has been easy!). I love the time I spend painting, sketching, and thinking about new paintings. I'm not so crazy about the business side of things like marketing, framing, bookkeeping, etc. But it has to be done and I'm the one who gets to do it.
I have a blog about my art. Who reads it? Mostly other artists. My website? I find that most of the visitors are other artists. Not that there is anything wrong with this, of course. I too, am curious about other artists websites and many of their blogs have great, inspiring ideas.
But how do we get our artwork out to the non-artists of the world? If we are trying to make a living from our art we need people to see it! Most of the artists I talk to these days say their sales are few and far between. It is not always easy to show up in your studio every day when sales are slow. Will this stop me from creating art? No, probably not. Creating art is what I do and it feeds my soul.

Recently I was talking with a young woman I used to work with before I left my 9 to 5 job. She told me how her past few months had been filled with new creative past times. She took a belly dancing workshop, art classes and attended poetry readings for the first time. I was impressed that she realized at such a young age that we all are artists and we need to do something for ourselves beyond our 9-5 jobs. Something that involves using the other side of our brain. Something creative. Experimenting with other media, using words as images in a painting, writing poetry or stories, making music, cooking, and other creative hobbies all add to our well-being for both artist and non-artist alike.

I enjoy inspiring others to try watercolor painting and all of its quirkiness, moodiness, glorious accidents and wonderful transparent glowing. There is no other media like it. It is wonderfully freeing and wildly spontaneous. I am not trying to be a famous painter. I am just paying more attention to Life, to my environment, the sights and sounds around me and painting what I feel. This is the journey we are all on, the journey of life. Enjoy your journey!