Fear

Sometimes I run across a student who is fearful of painting. Fear is not good for creative types. Fear will tighten you up and lessen your joy.  Your painting will show your temperament. I think this fear is sometimes fear of making a mistake.  Mistakes in life are common. I make mistakes every day.  I try to learn from them.  And we make more mistakes when we are learning a new skill.

Isn’t that a good sign?  

Making mistakes is a sign we are stretching ourselves, learning a new task, enriching our life. This is why you should plan to make bad paintings at first when learning from a new teacher. You're learning their way, their process, which may be very new to you. If you have truly relinquished the ego and given yourself over to TRY it the instructor's way, just for the class or course, you may find something worth "stealing" and incorporating it into your painting process. Then practice, practice, practice and make joyful mistakes and "bad" work while you are learning. And, in the end, if it doesn't suit you, you've given it a shot.

On the other hand, you just may find some painting magic .

I truly believe lifelong learning and evolving as an artist (and person) is one of the keys to a happy life. You can learn my painting process in my online course, "Essential Elements" now.