Training Yourself

For the great doesn’t happen through impulse alone, and is a succession of little things that are brought together. -Vincent Van Gogh

 

Where are my dog people at? 🙋‍♀️

 

Did you know becoming an artist can heavily resemble the relationship with the dog?

 

When you start, it is exciting, but you have to calm yourself to sit, stay, and train at your canvas. And that excitement? Well, it can easily turn into frustration, especially when you are not accomplishing what you had in mind with your brush. Too much excitement turns into setbacks from racing around your ideas for paintings and can easily get you on the path of being burned out in energy. So, it all has to be kept in balance and handled in moderation. Too much control? Stifling spirit. Too much freedom? Exhaustion.

 

As you spend time training and figure out that balance, you get more comfortable and more reliable in pulling off those skills. However, there is still room for growth and learning more. So, the awkward growing pains set in of being able to do some but not as much as you would like.

 

Finally, when you reach maturity, it is easy to get caught in the pitfall of "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." You're comfortable with your skillset, and you can get stuck in a rut of laying in front of the canvas rather than venturing out to stretch your artistic muscles. The important thing is to keep believing in yourself, like when you were a beginner. That puppy phase can now be looked back on fondly, and you can appreciate all of the growth.

 

Renew your spirit, your vigor, and your discipline. Your training is far from over, and that is worth being excited over.

 

Hand-painted in Adobe Photoshop CC using the Wacom Intuos Pro and the Wacom Art Pen.