Bogged down. In a rut. Off track. Stuck. It happens to anyone who takes the artistic journey seriously, even (maybe especially!) professional artists. Hitting a wall is painful and the wall will not go away on its own. You must figure out how to deal with it.
Because, as Renoir suggested, painting is easy until you know how. If you want to get better, if you want to bench more juju, you’ve got to stretch your muscles, and there are GOING to be growing paints.
Many an artist falters at just the wrong point. Once they’ve developed a decent technical foundation and more or less mastered a couple subjects, they start procrastinating, putting off the next painting, losing motivation.
Maybe you don’t know where to go or what to do next. Or maybe you actually do know what you want to do next, but you have no clear idea how to get there. Either way, congratulations, you’ve just plateaued. That thing at your back that seems to go on forever disappearing into the sky? Yeah, that’s the rest of the mountain.
Look, I know it stinks, but it’s a sign of progress.
Robin Cheers, Glassy Water, oil on panel
You’re not unmotivated, or you wouldn’t be dreading the next blank canvas or facing a full-stop dead-end – you’d just happily move on to Netflix. See, you ARE motivated – but you’re being blocked.
Take a breath, step back, and you’ll see: Being stuck is a sign of sincerity and high standards. It means you’re well into the journey. What does the valorous knight do when the dragon shows up to “harsh the mellow” of the quest? That’s just when commitment becomes a thing.
Procrastination, like apparent (but false) lack of motivation, is not what it seems. Procrastination typically isn’t about laziness or “work ethic.” It’s 100% psychological. It’s a neurotic self-defense behavior we develop to protect our sense of self-worth.
Procrastinators tend to be people who equate performance with their value as a person. This makes failure or criticism disproportionately painful. To such, to fail at a painting must mean you’re “not an artist” and “not talented” and “really have no business” doing this art thing. NOPE. Wrong. None of that is true.
Robin Cheers, Afternoon Stroll, Cassis 16”x12”
If you’re committed to painting, you’re an artist. Talent is overrated – hard work can
match 90% of it, and many if not even most talented individuals fail for one reason or another to pursue their craft. Art is for everyone – we know this because children are naturally creative artists – they haven’t falsely been made to believe it’s “not their business” yet!
Robin Cheers, Small Town Texas, oil, 16” 20”
It’s inevitable, as you gain skill and knowledge, to see your work fall short. It’s a natural result of understanding more and more of what painting is capable of, of intuiting what art is all about, and learning what makes a painting “good” in your eyes.
THERE IS NO WAY AROUND EXCEPT THROUGH. Winston Churchill’s got it right: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
If you’re feeling trapped in a stale, “same-old” holding pattern, it can help to literally loosen up and quite trying for a while to “get it right.” There’s a duo of videos on special right now that might help you blast through the doubt and free up your brush. Check them out here.
Robin Cheers, Morning Delivery, oil, 12” x 16”
Learning How to Paint en Plein Air, Together
Picture this: A cool, burbling river running alongside a forested valley trail; or a golden, open field at the base of tree-covered mountains leading up to a perfect white-cloud sky. Which would you choose to paint? This was the choice attendees had at Day 2 of the Plein Air Convention last week.
Joining the hundreds of us there was also a fly fisherman (perfect for adding a figure to the landscape), roaming chickens, and even majestic elk at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center of the Great Smoky Mountains in Cherokee, North Carolina.
Many painters found a cozy place to set up along the bank to paint, including our “Basics of Plein Air” group
Other painters lined up along the edge of the park’s open spaces.
‘
We were lucky enough to be on-site when several elk came out toward the end of the paint-out. NPS.gov reports that elk are the second largest deer species in the world and the third heaviest mammal in the United States. Look in the center of the field to see the elk – we kept our distance!
Studio painter and PACE first-timer Debi Timko walked the grounds and watched as everyone painted so she could get a feel for how to paint en plein air.
“I’m learning how to get equipped at this point,” she said, adding that earlier in the day she took helpful painting workshops from Kathie Odom and Jacob Aguiar. “I’m really glad I signed up,” she added. “It’s just been a wonderful event.”
Painters also lined up along the Visitors Center; one of the benefits of painting en plein air together is seeing the wide variety of artistic choices everyone makes.
“I’m overwhelmed with the love and acceptance that we have here,” said PACE first-timer and faculty member Michelle Held. “Everyone is so kind and everyone is so passionate about painting. It’s nice to see a lot of artists who speak my same language.” She added that her favorite part so far has been shopping in the Expo Hall, aka Candy Store, and taking the hours-long pre-convention workshop with Joe Paquet.
The Expo Hall is filled wall-to-wall with art suppliers and manufacturers here to answer questions about which product is right for each person.
Our faculty members are also available for guidance during the paint-outs. Here, Fen Rascoe helps a fellow artist.
Christine Lashley and Lon Brauer critiqued paintings submitted by attendees, Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff led a special demo, the art show and sale continued to fill up with available (and sold!) works, and the Plein Air Convention expo hall buzzed with shoppers getting special discounts on their art supplies. Many vendors led in-booth demos throughout the week.
We wish you were here! Stay tuned for when we announce the location for next year’s PACE, and reserve your spot ASAP: PleinAirConvention.com.
See more highlights from the Plein Air Convention here at OutdoorPainter.com.
