Photo caption: Learning how to get your art into galleries is one of the key components of becoming a professional artist. Photo courtesy of the Milan Art Institute.
As artists, we face challenges. The source you picked wasn't exactly what you were going for. Along the way, you lost your original drawing, and your form is flat. Your painting feels like it will never get out of the ugly phase, and now you have lost hope and wonder if you should just start over.
You start to think, "Maybe I'm just not meant to be doing this. Maybe I should accept it and put my energy into something else."
But what if you're being tested, and this is the defining moment you need to overcome to see the painting through to its finish?
No matter how frustrated you get or how many times you have to repaint that nose to get it right, your perseverance is worth it in the end.
By not giving up, you are building faith in yourself that you can critique your own work and find a solution that will bring your painting to the refinement it needs. Quitting early only reinforces the idea that you don't know what you are doing and fills your studio with half-finished paintings.
Challenges, frustration, and ugly paintings are often signs that you are on the verge of something great. They force you to innovate, to find new solutions, and to dive deeper than you might have if everything had gone smoothly.
When you are uncomfortable, you are growing. You are expanding your boundaries and pushing past the limits you thought you had.
Staying in the safe zone of familiarity and only painting what you feel confident in will hold you back and prevent growth. A combination of pride and fear keeps us locked in to not testing ourselves with more difficult subject matter. This comfort zone becomes a habit and transcends into other areas of our lives beyond our art.
Be willing to push the boundaries in your artwork, in your professional life, in your relationships. Expect more and believe you can achieve anything you put your heart into and practice.
If not, you will risk trapping yourself in a small comfort zone and never realizing the expanse that awaits you. This realization is not about being uncomfortable for its own sake but about recognizing that true growth, the kind that stretches us and molds us into our fullest potential, lives just beyond the familiar.
So, see each painting challenge as an opportunity to become someone who faces difficulty and comes through the other side as a finisher. See your painting victories as stepping stones to becoming your best self in all areas of your life.
Let's challenge ourselves to not only accept challenges but to seek them out. Let it be your guide, not your barrier. As you push through, you'll find that what was once daunting becomes familiar, and your capacity for creation expands.