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5 Tips To Improve Your Confidence With Painting

Joanne ONeill

Blog #74 of 118

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October 14th, 2014 - 09:30 AM

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5 Tips To Improve Your Confidence With Painting

Painting can be difficult. It can be difficult trying to master it, whether you’re painting for leisure, for work or for both. Many artists are unable to realise their full artistic potential because they lack confidence in their painting skills, for one reason or another. Here are a few simple steps you can take to boost your confidence with painting.

Be your own artist

If you’re constantly comparing yourself to others, it’s not going to do your confidence in painting any good. Painting is largely about self-expression and interpreting the world in your own way, or showcasing your imagination. Use painting as a means of self-discovery. Treat it like a journey you’re on. Remember it’s your journey and ultimately it’s about you, no one else. Sure, you’re probably painting so others will be impressed by your work and even buy some copies, but you have to follow your own initiative and satisfy yourself first. Painting isn’t a competition, so don’t make it competitive.

Learn to appreciate and overcome obstacles

Painting is never smooth sailing for anyone. Even the most famous of painters had to overcome numerous obstacles. Sometimes it’s a personal problem, sometimes it’s a health problem, sometimes it’s painting itself – the point is you are never going to be able to prevent any obstacles getting in your way so you have to learn to deal with them when they come. Take negative experiences and turn them into positive ones. If you’ve just overcome a problem, take all your feelings and emotions and channel them into a painting. Obstacles are challenges that build up our character. To be honest, life, and painting, would be a lot more boring without them.

Become part of the community

A really good way of improving your confidence is simply to speak to other painters. This is a great way to pick up a few hints and tips. Other painters will know exactly what you’re going through, so they’ll be able to offer some advice to get you back on track. You can also build up confidence by showing other painters your work and asking for constructive criticism. Go on painting trips and visit local galleries. Become part of the painting community and you’ll feel more confident about your painting than ever, because painters support one another.

Learn to deal with money

If you paint for a living, painting becomes more than just filling a canvas with paint. You have to deal with money and there’s a lot that comes with it. You have to value your art, promote it, sell it, sort out your finances…the list goes on and on! If you want the luxury of painting for a living, you have to deal with money and it can get burdensome. You can easily lose confidence in your painting if, for one reason or another, money becomes an issue. If you’re not making enough money, is it your painting that’s at fault? Thinking like that can really knock your confidence down a few notches, so don’t think like that. We all have to deal with money, but the key is not to let it affect how you feel about painting and your confidence with it. Painting is one thing, money is another. Keep the two separate.

Plan ahead and prepare

You’re more likely to end up frustrated and unmotivated if you randomly decide to do a painting and haven’t thought about it at all. Sure, many great paintings have been done in this way, but if you want to improve your confidence with painting, planning and preparation are going to help you greatly. Set yourself goals – you’ll feel great once you’ve got a list of things checked off. Learn about everything you’re going to be doing before you start painting. Make sure you’ve got everything you need and you know everything you’re going to be doing. It may not sound like much, but having everything sorted will make things go more smoothly, which in turn will make you feel better about the whole painting experience.

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