This Week’s Art Practice: Balancing Life and Painting Challenges

This week has been a busy one, both at work and at home, leaving me with limited time for my art practice. Still, I managed to complete the Week 3 study from Bhavani Krishnan’s Study with the Masters course. These studies continue to be a great way to stay engaged with painting, even when time is tight. However, I do find them quite challenging, pushing me to refine my technique and stay focused on the fundamentals.

The rest of my art time was dedicated to working on my portrait of my daughter. For a while, it felt like things were really coming together, and I was happy with my progress. However, during my last session, things took a frustrating turn, and I ended up messing it up. Now, I’ll have to let the painting dry for a few days before I can go back and essentially repaint the entire face.

It’s moments like these that can be discouraging, but they’re also part of the learning process. With oil painting, I’m grateful that mistakes aren’t permanent, and I can always take another pass at it. It’s a reminder to be patient and to trust that persistence will pay off in the long run.

Even though this week didn’t go exactly as planned, I’m proud that I still showed up and made progress where I could.