Patience Derived From Paintings and Portraiture

Painting a portrait has its moments. Seriously. It takes focus, endurance, committment and most importantly patience.

Of course this is also true for anything worthwhile. However, when depicting an image that is meant to convey a true likeness of a person or persons-- it can be a real challenge.

It seems that pre-conceived ideas of how things should be doesn't necessarily match the way things actually are. I have learned this lesson many times.



This is where discipline has to rule supreme. Many times I am struck with the impulse to simply abandon the work and quit. It just ain't workin' for me. That's the easy way out. However, it is precisely at those moments where I have learned from experience to just dig my heels in deep and stay the course. The work will be finished no matter what sort of alterations or efforts are required.



Yeah.


Easier said than done.


Whether it be for a piece of art, an interpersonal relationship, or especially in a business setting, it is tough to marshall your forces in order to "keep on keeping on". It is also tough to abandon my natural prejudices and faulty paradigms based on whatever limited experience I may have.



Yet, it is wise to do so with an open mind.






Having a natural bias on how I think things should be positioned within a painting is costly (in countless hours... How do I know that?). Just surrendering to the process and truthfully depicting the images as they are rather than how I believe they should be is a time and stress saving simplification.













The picture will reveal itself if you are patient. If you stay true to the original image it will emerge. Patience brother patience. I have come to believe that talent plays a relatively minor role in all accomplishments. Whether it be in the arts, athletics or indeed even business-- it is persistence, accurate self appraisal, and most importantly patience that is the most crucial component in ensuring success.












It's a human trait to want to abandon something if it is creating frustration, if it is getting too tough-- or it just ain't workin' the way we want it to.







I guess that's what being a grown up entails-- seeing something through to its completion. Man that takes patience...

Here's the really cool part though: If the final result (which happens more often than I care to admit) is a failure or it sucks, then I hopefully will have learned something and will come back stronger, wiser, and more resourceful.

Patience is a virtue.