Painting Failures And Mistakes – Should I Give Up Or Start Over?

The odyssey of one of my painting failures begins…

Life is full of failures. I’ve had small painting failures before, but this one had me starting over. I had primed one of my panels improperly and the painting just wasn’t working. This painting was a commission and had to be done within a specific time frame and a mistake was not part of the plan.

Painting Failures image

It started out great, or so I thought…

Above you see the progression of the painting I’m talking about. It might look good in the photo, but the first two shots are of the panel that failed.

I started the drawing and captured the likeness, but as I continued to work I noticed I was struggling with the paint on the surface. I had just started painting in oils, so I really didn’t know if this was a normal thing or something going terribly wrong.

All I knew is that the struggle was getting really, really, real!

Step 1: The pain begins:

Painting of Sammie step one - painting failures

Sammie step 1 – a disaster waiting to happen

For step 1 on this little painting of Sammie, the cutie-pie Cavalier King Charles, I was feeling pretty good about how the drawing

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combine painting

Cool Combine is #2!

I painted this combine at the beginning of the year. It’s only the second oil painting I’ve ever done as an adult!

The Start of Something New…

At the beginning of the year I decided to expand from acrylic painting (which I still love) to oil painting.

I did oil painting as a kid, but the smell of the turpentine made me a little light headed.

Fortunately there are now more non-toxic ways to paint in oil, which has allowed me to breath a little easier.

Out of Iowa…

I’m originally from Eastern Iowa so any scenes that are reminiscent of the farmlands I (more…)