This week we looked at the inkwork of the incredibly talented Leonardo da Vinci, who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect.

I’ll be honest, this one made me uncomfortable.

I’ve painted people before and I’ve used Indian Ink before (Inky Dog a few weeks ago) so it shouldn’t be that much of an issue, should it?

Stretching our comfort zone happens in stages. The more we do a particular thing, the better we get at it (well, usually) and the more comfortable it becomes.

Looking back to some of my early portraits, I was certainly more comfortable tackling this one than some of the earlier ones, and that shows progress.

It’s not one of my favourite paintings of the ones I’ve done so far, but that is also normal too.

Not everything we do will go as planned; this is a part of the journey.

The beauty of painting is that because it is subjective, there really is no right or wrong. Some people will like it, some people will hate it and others will be indifferent. And that’s ok and a safe place to learn to stretch yourself.

And anyway, there is always next week, right?

And that’s an important thing to remember. If things don’t turn out as we expect, we step back, we learn, we improve, and we tackle it again with improvements. It might take us years and thousands of iterations, but if we truly want to get good at something and succeed… that’s what we do.

Don’t let failure (there is no failure, only learning) stop you from doing something.

Just remember that it is one step closer to you getting the outcome you wanted!

Much love xx

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or struggling with fears or beliefs (or anything else for that matter) and would like a confidential chat, reach out jez@jezhunt.com

#acrylicpainting #lifejourney #continuousimprovement #stayfocused #accidentalartist #inthenow