I rarely paint male faces. But he is too beautiful not to paint 😂 #aquaman #jasonmamoa the thing about painting is you get to stare at the subject for a long time, what a treat😊 and it is interesting the details you pick out. His eyebrow and hair are so fun to paint! The beard was tricky… it was a fun exercise. Who should I paint next….

Making art is a process. A journey I usually begin with an inspiration but most often not knowing how the end will turn out.

It’s an interesting journey…. I find there are 4 or 5 stages in this journey. I have seen a funny quote about this but can’t find it anymore. Fellow artists out there, I am sure you can relate.

Want to use this piece to illustrate the 5 stages. Here goes.

Stage 1. Inspired by a reference photo on Pinterest. The crazy spiky hair. So I draw it out and think, oh this looks good! Let’s paint!

This is the stage where I think…. hmmm, the hair is trickier than I thought. She looks kinda crazy.. I wonder…

Now comes the OMG stage where I think..,. this is terrible. She looks hideous. 😱 I am a terrible artist. I am way in over my head…🥺

Now I tell myself, ….. it’s ok. You know this is the ugly phase. Paint in her eyes. Will give her some life. It’s what you enjoy the most anyway… don’t give up. You can do it.

Now you say, hmmmm, the eyes really made a difference, maybe I can do it after all…. and after noodling and fiddling with it for a while…

You look up, after being in the zone for a while. You like what you see. You think to yourself, I am not so bad after all!!

Lol, yes, this is a familiar process I go through. And even though I do get more confident with each piece, I still hit the stage where I am certain I am way in over my head… and I remind myself, what is the worst thing that can happen if it is truly ugly? I just throw it away!!!! It’s just paper and paint. Or apply gesso to it, turn it into a mixed media piece! Nothing goes to waste!

So there you go. Hope you enjoyed this peek into my mind as I paint. Let me know if this resonates with you! I am sure I am not the only one who feels this way.

Strength. It’s there. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find it. But it’s there.

Thankful for art to get me out of my funk…

Trying my hand with pen and ink. Wasn’t easy. See below for my first attempt, epic fail😂 second attempt was better as I made it softer so she doesn’t look like a hairy gorilla 🤣🤣🤣

… for love casts out fear and gratitude can conquer pride – little women. Words of wisdom that still ring true after more than 150 years.

10 words. Seem so simple yet so powerful and meaningful. Thankful for writers like Louisa May Alcott.