What to do when I don't know how to paint this & that

When I got stuck on something
How to paint furs, detailed / loose, how to paint this and that, etc etc
and that got me frustrated.

- I'll simply take Time off,
- Go out and not think about my painting
- maybe watch youtube for free painting tutorials
- Look at other people's art that I love (from books),
Look at them and imagined what kinds of techniques they use.
- go to online forums to ask questions or just read others' techniques. (www.wetcanvas.com)
- If you have resources , painting DVD, artists friends, use em, ask em :)
- and Reflect on what technique I can do on my painting.
and usually in the end of day 1, motivation is back.

What I do to make me love painting

I like painting
but sometimes it feels like a burden and I feel like I'm walking alone in the dark.
Yea yea... complaints aside....
I want to love painting, make it relaxing, perhaps like a therapy too
It's not going to be work..... It's gonna be something I've been wanting to do & can't wait to do it, again and again.
Like escaping daily routine, having time for myself,
I want the thought of "painting" makes me feel that excitement like I'm going abroad to travel or like eating desserts
Since this is becoming something that I can't wait to do.
I won't feel lonely while painting, I won't feel like I'm missing out on that few family-friends time, I won't care what others think of my art
well... I do have to care, because sometimes their critics push you to learn more and be better :)
but I won't let it make me feel like I can't paint at all.

I have to be brave in making mistakes
It's okay to make mistakes
It's okay to wreck a halfdone painting
Have confidence in what I do.
Always learning
Always having Fun
I want to like like like painting, loveeeeeee painting.

Leave the guilt part behind
Learning process always involves spending money
So If I want to experiment or paint whatever
I'm not going to feel guilty that I may be wasting canvases / paints.
I'm learning. It's a process.
and having said that, Right now, I'm going back to smaller canvas so I can explore different techniques and not waste as much paints.
Maybe use cheaper paints, we'll see.
(I'm still using professional-artist grade paints now - I know - it's my ego)
I'm going to learn guilt-less
I'm starting small, learn, have fun, be explosive impulsive if I feel it
or maybe therapeutic like
whatever.....
then when the time is right, I'll move back to bigger canvases.

If you're wondering about the guilt part
I'm the kind of girl who buys high quality sketch book and since I care for it so much I ended up not using it.
I can't work freely on it because I'm afraid I'll fill it with ugly drawings.
So I use scrap books instead, plain papers, and I work better there, no guilt.
Psychotic I know ;p ahahha but I know I'm not the only one.

So..... imma start painting again for me :)

Why I've been avoiding painting ?

So aside from :
- I'm lazy.... yepp.... working on it....really hard... won't be lazy anymore now !!
- my always wanting to paint a good painting all the time, self-expectation too high
- my fears of ruining a painting that's half done
- my lack of knowledge in painting
- and not to mention I lack patience and oh,
remember the I'm kinda lazy part (esp the clean up part)
- the long hours of trials and errors and not knowing what to do
making mistakes and getting frustrated where I should just take it lightly and have fun in the learning process
- the alone time
Alone for hours n no one 2 talk to sucks,
and when I'm done, everyone's asleep
or I take too long to clean up and I got left behind alone at home ;p
combined that with laziness.

- I also got scared from the expectations of others.
how they become kinda disappointed when I paint something that they don't like, but I like it (technique wise - colorwise, etc)
not necessarily a bad one, but simply I like it and they don't
they don't have to say it, and they'll deny it if I ask, and I'm not being over sensitive about it, but I can see it in their eyes.
okay sometimes they say that they don't like it.
I know this shouldn't be a problem, but it makes me feel bad because I've failed to impress them
o wait, the problem's probably mine
but no, it's more like I feel I've wasted time and money to paint something that actually turn out not 'right' to them.
sometimes they don't want to see the I'm-still-learning-how-to-paint results, the not-so-perfect painting.

Expectations from others suck
"You need to fix this, you need to fix that" like it's like flipping hands
But I should use that constructive critique to encourage me to be better, to be more skillful

sometimes the expectation's too high
another critique in the family, would come and point out all the details that I need to fix,
not that it's a bad thing, but every painting I do becomes subject to her wanting me to make it right.
and if I don't fix it, she'd go on and on and on and on about it.
So it becomes a job rather than just painting for fun and for me.

sometimes the expectation's too low
I did this one painting on a large canvas, colorwise is pleasing on the eyes :)
the propotion of the object of the painting is good
but technique wise, it's sloppy
sometimes others like it, so when the color and the proportion is good, technique might not matter to them.

- feeling turned down
a lot of the time when I paint, and I'm all excited to show em my new painting, they're not 'excited' about it.
They're like "oh I'll see it after I'm done watching this soap opera on TV"
I think they make me feel like I'm inadequate and I'm only creating crap.'
I'm not writing this to get "aawww....you poor thing" and getting approval that they're annoying and I'm right
I just want to get this out of my chest.
I know I'm supposed to paint for me anyway, not for them.

all of dat
I think that's about all.....
Now I know why
I'm not finding justification not to paint
I'm just asking myself and finding out why I'm not feeling excited to paint anymore

I know these things shouldn't get to me and I should use it to prove to them that I'm actually good and that I can become better in time.
but sometimes it brings me down a bit and I don't like it.
so a combination of all of that is probably why I avoid painting.
but I've gotta fight it and just paint and have fun with it.

No pressure, no fear, realize it takes practice, be patient, it's a process
be humble, u're learning, paint 4 urself, courage and confident and experiment, make it ur own style.
Don't focus too much on 1 spot, don't overthink, have fun
Enjoy the process n learn from it.

Oh and prayers too....
I don't do this too often, which I should.
but in everything I do, I want to say a simple prayer, so that I can make use the talents that He's given me and be better and that the result may be beneficial for others.
I also wish that someday my paintings would be worthy enough to be involved in charity
and I wish for world peace *miss universe wave*
no seriously, I really want to master the wave....;p
no seriously.... I do want world peace and say a brief prayer before painting and give up my future paintings for charity.
and I want 'em to be sold, maybe auctioned, in a really really prestigious auction house.
kinda like Van Gogh's painting sold for millions, imagine what millions of dollars can do for charity.
Of course I wish to still be alive when my paintings are auctioned for millions of dollars for charity.
and of course, everything is possible :)
Peace.

Acrylic painting Instructional DVD - Tutorial

I found this clip on youtube when I was looking for 'How to paint fur with acrylic'
and this is quite useful........ even tho I wasn't looking for a detailed technique....it's always good to learn :)
I love love love detailed paintings, but I personally don't have the patience to do them ;p

The basic :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r88_8nzTEc

More detail on the fur painting :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu8YVsNVlIQ

The artist is Derek Wicks
www.derekwicks.com
and he sells the instructional DVDs on his website
He has more stuff there.... color theory, compositions, birds, flowers, etc
I haven't bought his DVD, I just found this clip on youtube to be quite useful and I think it's very generous of him to post that clip :)

So.... I hope it can be helpful to you too :)