A big part of painting, and life itself is learning to recognize the signs that tell you when to stop. By stop, I don’t mean quit. Stopping and quitting are two different things. To stop is to assess the situation, recognize when you are getting diminishing returns for your efforts, putting the brushes down walking away and coming back with a fresh mind inspired and motivated, whereas quitting is stopping for good. Often with Plein air painting there are many elements to negotiate in order to produce a successful painting session, and by successful I don’t necessarily mean producing the best painting, the most finished or the most beautiful scene. I mean successful by achieving the majority of things you set out to study and practice. On a number of occasions the odds start to stack up against me, and yesterday was one of those days. I explain the rest in my video blog, there’s no painting in this particular blog because I came back to my studio and recorded a tutorial instead. This blog is just insight into my mindset which you might experience or have experienced yourself. Enjoy
