I was devastated.
I’d been working on a painting in a class for several weeks and I was pretty proud of it!
My pride quickly turned into shame when my instructor walked up and said, “Eric, when are you going to stop embarrassing yourself by making wimpy paintings?”
Gulp. I wanted to hide.
But then he went on, “Look, Eric, you’re a good painter, an intelligent guy, and someone has to tell you the truth. Your paintings lack life. They don’t stand out — they blend in with the pack. If you want to break out of it, you’ve got to get bold, be brave, and stop repeating your mistakes.”
Wow. That certainly got my attention!
He was honest, straightforward, and didn’t hold anything back. Nope, no sugar-coating the truth here. But he provided the feedback in a way that was kind and from a place of love and caring.
I learned an important lesson that day. Most instructors would have just collected my money, said, “You used pretty colors,” and never told me the truth I really needed to hear.
To make things even better, my instructor didn’t just provide the tough-love feedback and walk away so I could figure things out on my own. He stuck by me and taught me to see everything I wasn’t seeing on my own. Best of all, he taught me how to do things differently. Suddenly, everything changed for my art, and for me.
Sadly, no one may ever step up to tell you the truth about your paintings — the truth that you really need to hear so that you, too, can stop creating wimpy paintings!
But there’s good news!
I’m about to show you how to overcome wimpy painting problems so you can bring in strong light, an exciting feel, and create art that begs people from across a crowded room to come take a look!
The lesson I learned from that wise instructor so many years ago took some time to really soak in and become an inherent part of my work, but I never forgot it and I kept at it.
Now, as a publisher of art magazines, instructional videos, conferences, and many other types of art events, I’m able to spot wimpy paintings from a mile away. It always makes me sad to see an artist submit a painting for a publication — a painting they feel is one of their best — and it turns out to be wimpy. These paintings usually lack light, don’t express drama, and have zero pizzazz. Truth be told, wimpy paintings very rarely, if ever, make it into any of our magazines or online offerings.
But please understand, the whole wimpy painting problem is not your fault! You probably aren’t even recognizing the problem because no one ever had the guts to tell you the truth, or you’ve never had an instructor who knew how to provide the valuable feedback and help that you’ve so desperately needed.