Sometimes painting is the best thing in the world. You're happy with the result, everything has worked out and you feel like starting the next painting right away. Other times - and unfortunately this is not uncommon - painting is less enjoyable. My thoughts while painting are then something like this: “Somehow the colors aren't right... There's also something wrong with the shadows... and actually the composition is shi...”. You lose yourself in negativity and before you know it, you're completely demotivated. Well, actually, that wouldn't be so bad if you just left it at what it is. It's just a bad day. I've often cursed the painting I was working on and thought that it would never turn out pleasing, only to stand in front of the canvas the next day and - without having made a stroke - think to myself: “Hm. It's actually not that bad”. Painting is a rollercoaster ride. Sometimes you're on a high, sometimes you're on a low. In the following, I will take a closer look at the different phases of painting and explain my tips on how not to get completely lost in a negative spiral and how to combat the phases of demotivation.
Expectations are the beginning and the end
Of course, everyone wants to paint something they like. After all, you don't watch a boring movie for amusement. That creates expectations. These expectations are important because they make us wanting to paint something “better” than yesterday and hinder you from simply stoping if you don't right away like the painting you've painted so far. However, expectations can also completely undermine your motivation.
If the gap between your expectations and your painting skills resemble something like the Grand Canyon, you will probably get up after painting completely exhausted and ask yourself whether you really want to do it again tomorrow. I know this feeling much better than I would like to and after five years of painting I still have to remind myself far too often that it's okay if the image on the canvas doesn't match the one in my head. Besides, I once read that the “picture in your head” is not really a picture at all, but rather a mixture of a picture, feelings and different senses (smells, sounds, etc.). I think it's clear to everyone that you can't put such a thing on a canvas. So my advice: try to remember where you are with your abilities and don't expect results that are unrealistic. Believe me; you will get better faster than you think.
Another classic (at least for me) is wanting to paint a subject that requires a lot of experience, time and knowledge. A great subject is the classic still life. Sure, it's not everyone's favorite activity to paint an apple, a bottle of wine and some folded textile, but the great thing about it is that it's a relatively clearly defined problem. You have to paint three objects and a background. If you want to paint a busy street in Hong Kong's nightlife, you will probably quickly reach your limits and be completely overwhelmed within a short time. Here's my advice: Choose a subject that you can paint to a satisfactory quality in a reasonable amount of time. It is a much better feeling to have painted a pretty good-looking still life after 5 hours than a landscape that is only finished to a quarter and doesn't that good anyway.
One thing that always demotivates is the realization that I'm not as capable to make a nice painting when I'm not using reference. However, it is also questionable whether you will ever be able to paint any subject perfectly from the top of your head. Many of the artists I follow advise never to work without references. It took me a long time to realize this, but you can also work with references without copying them directly. For example, if you want to paint a dragon (which is hard to copy from real life), you can stick different pictures of lizards and bats on a mood board (or download them on your tablet, of course) and then use them as references for the different body parts of the dragon. For example, I personally would download at least one picture of a lizard where I like the posture of the animal, then several pictures of the wings of bats to understand how they are constructed and then a few pictures of the scales of lizards, as these are really not that easy to paint. This way you can paint a picture that is in your head, but always have someone to turn to for help if you get stuck. So my advice is to paint with references as often as possible. It's quicker and the end result is usually more pleasing.
For the last point on my incomplete list of things that can demotivate you when painting, we can probably blame our society: speed. Everything always looks so easy and quick on social media. You sit down and the picture is finished in 30 seconds. Of course, everyone is aware that these videos were recorded at 60 times the speed and then edited together, and yet painting often feels like a snail's pace. There are various ways of getting around this problem:
Ignore it. Yes, I know, ignoring problems is pretty frowned upon. But it's not like ignoring the flashing oil light in your car. You're just trying to ignore the false expectations (everything has to happen quickly) that have been drummed into you by society. I think that's good for all of us from time to time ;)
Paint several pictures. If one picture takes too long, put it away and paint another one. This has the further advantage that you gain distance from the picture and thus approach the picture with completely new energy when you continue painting it.
Music, podcasts, audiobooks. Personally, I don't like podcasts and audiobooks. Unfortunately. But I do love music. When I listen to music while painting, time flies by and the painting is finished in no time. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration. But music always helps. Music also helps me to get into a flow state. But that's a topic for another time.
In a nutshell: Painting can be demotivating. Don't let it get to you. Here are my tips to avoid falling into a negative spiral:
Try to remember where you are with your skills and don't expect results that are unrealistic
Choose a subject that you can paint to a satisfactory quality in a reasonable amount of time
Paint with references as often as possible
Don't let yourself get stressed if you are going too slowly. Painting is a process and the more often you paint, the faster you become. Besides: good things take time!
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