When mistakes happen (a new painting from start to finish)

“At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end” – Christine Mason Miller 

When I first started painting again in 2013, I was terrified to make any mistakes.

Each new painting was a little test. Did I have the talent? Would I keep coming up with new ideas? Would I be happy with the final result?

I would always get to a certain point in a painting and be afraid to add anything further – what if I made the wrong color choice or added a tree where there shouldn’t be one and then the whole painting felt ruined?

It’s so easy to get stuck right in this fear-moment and yet when mistakes happen, what to do? Mistakes are an inevitable part of any creative process.

These days when a painting takes a turn that I don’t like, I actually feel much freer to play. The mistake has already happened, so I no longer worry about keeping everything perfect.

And the result: I am pushed to add more color, more layers, and take more chances to get the painting to a good place. The finished piece is always so much better than it would have been had I stopped painting when I felt afraid to mess anything up.

This is not how the story is going to end. 

It’s a powerful reminder to carry around with us when we’re afraid to take chances. Even if mistakes happen (and they will), we always have the power to regroup and create something even better.

I was thinking a lot about mistakes while working on this week’s painting.

I don’t generally have a formed idea about the final painting at the background stage, and this was no exception.

I painted a second layer on the background and felt no closer to understanding what I wanted from this painting. In fact, I didn’t feel like the white/blue additions were working at all.

I had really liked the original magenta hues of the background, so I began to paint more, mixed with white and some red, over the blue. I also added some blocks of white, but quickly decided that wasn’t working either.

Honestly at this stage I was considering waiting for the paint to dry and starting over completely. I couldn’t see anything worth salvaging.

I’ve been really enjoying painting morning/evening skies lately, and so I started to consider turning the mess of pink into a sunset. I began to add layers to the top of the panel.

I already knew that I wanted the focus of this painting to be the sky. I experimented with some shadowy grass in the foreground, to help bump up the colors in the background.

And then I really turned up the color.

Here’s the final painting. What do you think?

I’m glad I didn’t stop working on it when I had nothing but a mess of disjointed colors and shapes. What a good visual reminder that there is always another chance to turn things around.

Here’s to seeing our mistakes as opportunities to grow.

With love, 

PS. I’ve just joined Instagram! If you’re also on Instagram, join me! I’d love to say hello: www.instagram.com/elizabethmcdart.