Constantly improving

Sometimes I go to my little "gallery" in the garden just to look at my artworks. I have them all displayed on the wall.. I try to do my best to look at my paintings with a completely fresh pair of eyes. I look at every singular piece carefully and I wonder what could I do better? What could I change to make it look different? I truly believe we should master our craft every single day until we get to that moment when we feel satisfied. Or... maybe it will never happen? Maybe this is part of our role as artists to constantly improve our skills and what we think is good today, in few years time will prove to be only a little step to become better.

I remember once my friend, who is an artist as well said to me: "When I don't feel like painting I do not do it, in case I destroy what I started. I just wait for the inspiration to come... " I could not completely agree with that statement. Painting, drawing, singing or other activity are simply our skills and the more we do it, the better we become at it. Of course, there are days when we do not feel like painting, however practise is the best recipe ever.

Do you have days when you do not see the progress or you feel disappointed with yourself.? Well do not. I feel like that very often. Every time you are trying, you are moving forwards. These steps are so small you can barley see them but trust me they are there. You become faster at painting, you see more details that could be improved, you choose colour palette wiser and probably add different techniques to your paintings. What happens if we make a mistake? Well so be it! These can be happy mistakes. It happens to me quite often. In fact mistake can become interesting surprises and improve the paintings. Therefore my advice would be: when you do not feel like painting, try to paint for a moment and see what happens. I find it that painting relaxes me, helps me to switch off and focus all of my thoughts on what I am doing. Emotions will have an influence on my choice of colour and the type of marks I add to the artwork. Do not block, just allow they to come out and guide you. This is a way to constantly improving your style.

I have presented two paintings above to compare the differences. It is not exactly the same view however the composition is the same. I can say that even though there is only a year difference, there is an improvement. I have used less colours, which is better. There are more shades of colour spread out to tell the story rather that busy marks with various of different colours. I think I will be painting a similar landscape every year to keep a record of progress and the improvements.