Practice…

There are days when I want to paint something spectacular. I imagine the finished canvas before I even begin…perfect mountains, beautiful reflections, trees that somehow behave exactly the way I want them to. Then reality shows up.

Practice is not glamorous.

Practice is painting another tree when I already know how to paint a tree because I want to paint it better. It is working on waves that still frustrate me. It is watching tutorials and noticing tiny movements of the brush that I missed the first ten times. It is preparing canvases, experimenting with black gesso, trying different brushes and occasionally creating something I would prefer nobody ever see.

As I work toward completing my Certified Ross Instructor training, I have become even more aware that loving something and being good at it are two different things. Passion makes me want to paint. Practice is what helps me improve.

There is something reassuring about that. I don’t have to be naturally gifted at every part of this. I just have to be willing to keep learning. Every canvas adds something. Even the ugly ones. Especially the ugly ones.

I used to think practice was what you did until you became good enough. Now I realize it is simply part of being an artist. There will always be another technique to learn, another challenge to tackle, another painting that makes me wonder whether I know anything at all.

Good. I hope it stays that way. I would hate to run out of things to learn.