Fear and your taste holding back your painting?

A blank canvas is staring back at me. Afraid to make that first mark in case it's wrong. Worried that I can't finish what I start.

Norman Rockwell. Blank Canvas.

You're not alone in feeling like this. Let me state now, that I am not one of these people though, but I do understand that it is a paralysis for some and nerve wracking for many. There are lots of great art teachers on the internet who can help with this and no one is better in my opinion than Will Kemp. I can't add anything to his advice and I'm not the one to help you overcome these feelings. This helps me, but whether it will help others I don't know:

• I started painting with watercolours and you have to be brave, bold and prepared for the worst: a sort of aversion therapy for the hesitant artist.
• I plan and prepare and think a lot about what I'm doing before I even pick up a brush.
• I'm not a very spontaneous artist (see above)
• Just turn up and work!

However, I'm not immune to a feeling of excitement and some nervousness before starting, and as with every artist, I often feel like giving up on a painting (sometimes I do give up!) if it's going all weird on me, or just not coming together, or life's distractions are stopping work-flow.

The other BIG problem is taste. This applies to all artists, but Will Kemp quotes this in the following site and should help you if you think the problem is just you:

 http://expertenough.com/1774/good-taste-creativity

Ira Glass on Storytelling on Vimeo.

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste.

But there is this gap.

For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.

We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”