Artists are known as emotional creatures, and because we are, we’re encouraged to channel these emotions into our paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc. Whether or not these pieces driven by emotions are actually ever successful is up for debate, but boy is it cathartic, and actually probably a healthy way for us to channel our happiness, sadness, anger, even frustration. However, I would like to make this week’s post a quick public service announcement…while emotions can be a great way to add energy and spontaneity to your piece, be careful when you’re feeling FRUSTRATED while you’re painting. Too many times I have gone into the studio frustrated about something unrelated to my art, but as soon as I get to the canvas, my frustration is projected onto whatever piece I’m working on, and I begin to get very self-critical, and start changing up the painting in dramatic, and often irreversible ways. While I am all about experimenting with paintings and taking them in new directions, if you do it too often out of pure frustration, you’ll end up with a lot of screwed up canvases that look much worse than when you started messing around with them out of frustration. While it’s good to channel your emotions through art, sometimes, it’s just as good to walk away from the canvas and let yourself breathe before you come back to it with a clearer mind.