Paint The Impressionists – Sneak Peek
September 24, 2021Menindee Lakes Timelapse
August 9, 2022I Quit!
That’s it … I’m giving up!!!!
How many times did I throw my brush down in frustration and quit this stuipd painting thing?
So many I lost count 🙂
Luckily I picked up the brush one more time than I threw it down.
The frustration of learning to paint is real. It is something we all go through.
The good news is its actually part of the process you need to go through in order to acquire the skills you need. The fundamentals of good painting. They have to be learned.
But here is the problem.
During those moments of frustration it is easy to assume that you have no natural talent.
It’s easy to conclude that maybe being a good artist is not meant for you.
It’s easy to look at other more accomplished artists and assume that they must have IT and you don’t.
These feelings of lack often mix with other self-esteem issues that send us spiraling into a negative place.
And we quit!
Stupid painting.
Never liked artists much anyway lol
Think I will take up golf instead!
I get it.
I had more than my fair share of hissy fits.
I had more than my fair share of despair not knowing how to improve my paintings.
I had more than my fair share of jumping around on YouTube videos from one artist to the next.
Luckily in the moments when I quit I thought back to my training in human behaviour.
I remembered that we all go through various stages of learning anything.
The frustration stage is natural and follows the early enthusiasm stage.
So if you are stuck in frustration right now here is what to do right after you quit.
- Examine why you want to learn to paint in the first place
- Check in with your desire level. Spend time looking at and studying artists you love.
- Spend more time studying the Fundamentals of good painting
- Don’t judge the outcome of each painting
- Don’t spend too much time trying to save paintings that aren’t working
- Find one thing in your painting attempt you did well
- Find one lesson from your painting to take forward to the next one
- Paint more
It may take time to move past frustration so when you are in it just know you are on the right path.
In time it moves out of your conscious mind into your unconscious and you break through to the next level with your painting.
Give it time. Be patient.
And learn to love the process.
The two things that I found helped the most was to study the fundamentals consistently and paint consistently.
Have faith that if you are inspired to paint that its in your heart and soul.
So after quitting start again.
You can do it!
Click Here If You Are Ready To Move Beyond Frustration With Your Painting
Oh, yes, I get these moments too where I am frustrated at my (seeming) lack of progress. Besides that, I don’t have as many years ahead of me as many of my younger contemporaries. I’m 78. So I’ve decided on a level of painting that works well for my age. An acquaintance wants to purchase one of my paintings. Wow!!! So now I’m struggling with an autumn landscape, hoping it will turn out nicely. I keep the fundamentals of what I learned here in mind and so far so good. But the pressure is on. I need to produce something that will be harmonious in terms of composition, color, perspective, etc. Once I’m done I will share the painting with everyone. Wish me luck and a steady hand. I’ve observed how Rod uses one arm to steady his painting arm. I’ve adopted that method. Works really well. I don’t know why I love painting. It must have something to do with nature. Capturing nature on my canvas and turning it into art seems almost like slowing nature down and studying its beauty and complexities to understand the mystical substrate of nature itself. I live in Michigan and everything is in glorious spring bloom. I will be taking a photo trip around the Michigan Peninsula to capture the beauty of this season.
Erika, thank you for sharing. You are so inspiring. Good luck with you photo trip.👩🏻🎨📸
Hello, Erica. You Go, Girl!! My name is Joni and I live in Kentucky. I am 68 and seem to rotate between quilting and painting. I love just following my instincts as to which direction I am pulled. What amazes me sometimes is that I can often make breakthroughs in quilting related to color or value and that translates to the painting that I do. My mother was an oil painter for many years and died from pancreatic cancer.I have often wondered if oil painting played a part in her cancer. For that reason, I switched to acrylics and am beginning to learn about them. Happy painting!
Yes I have quit too!! Thanks for the tips on not giving up!! Cheers
Heather
Man, was that an eye-opener! I re-took-up painting in 2007 after 30 years away, I painted until 2011 when I was made redundant. My life became a constant job hunt and art was on the farthest back-burner. I’m 68 now and am only just getting back into it. I figured that after over 380 job applications I’m not going to be working again. I enjoyed painting as it was a perfect foil for working in IT where everything action is prescribed – brushes and paint were the complete release and I wish I’d just staying doing it. Thanks for gee-up Rod. Now, which paints haven’t dried up …
I often felt like giving up painting and doing something else instead. It seemed so complicated until I learned the basics from Rod. His breaking the process down has made my painting journey quite manageable. I feel I have more control over my work, which of course, gives me more confidence that even when I run into a problem with a painting, I know I can paint myself out of it again. I also find that working with oils is quite forgiving. You can fix so many mistakes. The only thing about it is the drying time takes a bit longer than with acrylics. But I’m willing to pay that price. I am indebted to you, Rod, for finding my niche in the painting world. Your enthusiasm, passion, knowledge, and ability to instruct so clearly are much appreciated.
Thank you for your encouragement. Learnt so much from the 7day challenge a few weeks ago especially values and colour mixing
This is exactly where I’m at right now. Thank you for encouraging me to rethink it.
I’ve been painting for 10 years now. But I,m at a all time low on enthusiasm.I started when on rehab from a back injury.But after surgery.Got back to work.And stopped because of lack of time.However on my doctors advise I took early retirement.I thought I could maybe have a art career.I was lucky as I did have some natural ability. So that side was ok . But sales and IT were not even on my radar. I have sold many paintings and had two solo exhibitions. It’s just not going to be a living. Just a side hustle.I had four paintings to do before Christmas.And now nothing .And I’ve lost a bit of desire.
I am 82 years old and feel like I don’t have a lot of time left, but many a time in the last 10 years I have thrown the brush down and packed everything away.I have now started again I am very slow as I have macular degeneration in my left eye and can’t see out of that eye at all now but I am still painting.
I have just finished a 7 day Learn To Paint with Rod few weeks ago and I think I am getting on top of everything using Rods method of painting. Thank you Rod.
I just got back into painting at 40. I have drawn, coloured and doodled since my college years, but never really painted since then. However, I keep asking myself why I’m taking it up again now when my skills are limited and I’m middle aged. I just can’t seem to get to where I want to be and wonder if I’ll ever get there.
I started painting seriously in early 40s. You can get where you want to but you need to study the fundamentals and consistently apply them by painting a lot