Every mistake can be an opportunity

The most important artistic advice I ever taught my son was that mistakes aren't the end of a piece. They can be opportunities to try something new and previously unthought of. As a young budding artist he would be frustrated and sometimes heartbroken when he "messed" up on his artistic creation which was usually for a school project. He was not a lover of anything scholastic so being creative in his school projects was usually a great way for him to connect with the assignment. However one mistake after working so hard on something almost had the power to derail him. I had to work really hard to convince him that "mistakes are opportunities"

I'm happy to say he's grown into a very talented artist with awesome creative problem solving skills.

The reason I bring this up is as a parent we put so much effort into nurturing, encouraging and inspiring our kids to try their hardest, be the best they can and to be proud of themselves.

I just forget to apply some of that tutelage to myself.

I'm a chronic re-doer. I'm constantly painting over major parts of paintings that I can't quite get to work. I start out each piece with a vision but the vision and direction often changes. Sometimes because of "mistakes".

This painting is a perfect example:

Now this piece.......my Styracosaurus

This piece has really challenged me many times.

I've stopped and restarted so often. I think my problem is I'm still clinging to the original vision but not in a good way. In a hold me back way. Now while I can't say I've got a total handle on this piece I can say I had a bit of a break through.

I tried something new.......didn't like it so tried to scrub it off before the paint fully cured and got a big surprise. Gotta say that mistake (painting on the skull face)turned out to be a great opportunity to discover a new technique!

It makes me think of tattoos

Which started out like this

To me there's a very ancient tribal mask quality to this piece.

Now if I can just finish it.......