Journal - Stepping Out of my Comfort Zone

I wanted to do something for @aksinya posting on an art contest on impressionistic art that ended yesterday. I wanted to try something different and paint a picture digitally from photo reference without tracing or mostly using filters. This is not something I’ve done much of and most of my past work was with Photoshop and Softimage.

I’ve been trying to learn GIMP and MyPaint because I have easy access to these programs, they are free and they keep updating them with new features. I don’t want to pay for any more high priced software and I rarely use my XP machine anymore and have kind of forgotten how to do some of the things that I used to know.

So I’m struggling along trying to learn MyPaint and get something done for the contest. Many of things that were easy for me before are not available. I’m disappointed that the “Impressionist” brush isn’t making my painting look like what I want it too.

Usually I have a picture in my mind about how I want something to come out but many times it just doesn’t come out that way. Sometimes it is easier to hold on to the fantasy of being able to do something much better than being faced with the reality of doing it. At least I’ve gotten somewhat better at judging my own work.

There is also the big frustration of feeling like I used to be able to do things much better but as software gets discontinued my work-flow has not been able to keep up with all the modernization.

So after spending a bunch of time learning MyPaint I finish what looks like some ‘kid art’ for the contest. My first reaction is, “You know that really sucks”. LOL.

Breaking with my own self imposed rules of not using any filters or processing, I try putting it into Digital Auto Painter to see if I can rescue it. It comes out looking a bit better but way to ‘modern art’ for my liking. I briefly think about posting it to the contest anyway.

I’m not really comfortable putting something out there that is the result of my struggling with learning a new program. Unfortunately what often happens with me is that I learn all the mechanics of a program but then struggle with getting any kind of good result with it, so I give up and start learning or doing something else.

Most of the stuff I do ends up in the ‘morgue’ - dead projects that might possibly be cut up for parts to use in other new projects. If I don’t like it much, it gets buried in the archives of the hard drive, where few human eyes dare to venture.

Some people are lucky, they follow some instruction and slap some paint on the canvas. They bring it home to a good reaction and it gets framed and hung up on the wall – instant artist at five years old. I guess I never had that reaction in my life. But I still like trying. The funny thing is that sometimes when things come too easy it is no longer appealing to keep trying - so I’m counting my blessings. ;)

One thing I really like about Steemit is that it is good at getting me out of my comfort zone. It keeps me learning and trying new things. I try to get something out there even if it is not world class writing, photography or art. I like to try and support other people too who are not the best writers, photographers, or artists.

To me the process has been a big part of the fun. I’m not really looking for a template to follow to get my posts onto the treading page, or my art into the Louvre, although it would be nice to do something that others enjoy. How about you?

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Thanks for reading! The photo was taken recently on my Galaxy S7.