Whenever I’m struggling to be loose in my art, I have to take a step away.

I’ll look back at my past work and discover little things I love: a circle of turquoise ink on an owl’s belly, a splash of cobalt teal acrylic paint in the corner, or a rainbow of water soluble oil pastels. Then I keep those small elements in mind and add them to my painting.

This helps to keep it simple.

I can’t look at my finished paintings for too long.

If I do, I start to forget how many layers went into them. I get even more stuck, thinking every painting came easily and fell right into place (which never happens).

The other day, I was working on a few paintings, and each face sat at an ugly stage. I just couldn’t get them right.

So I grabbed one of my backgrounds and sketched some simple shapes.

Soon this woman emerged (she’s called ‘In Peace’ 11” x 14” on canvas *SOLD*).

I’d been trying SO hard to paint eyes that I’d forgotten my trick of painting someone with their eyes closed. This brings instant peace and calm (to me and the painting).

From there, I can paint from my heart instead of trying to make things perfect like they seem in my head.

I’ve also put together a Free Painting Workshop to share more of my favorite ways to loosen up and let go – from covering up the white space to finishing a painting

Click here to Join My Free Painting Workshop

It wasn’t until I snapped in-progress photos of my paintings that I realized every painting has an ugly stage (especially the eyes and faces).

And at that stage, I’d always get frustrated and feel like I couldn’t finish another painting.

That negative self talk completely took the fun out of painting. But once I realized it happened to me every time, I learned to turn off my inner critic.

If you’ve been wanting to paint together, but feel like you don’t have a lot of time, I’ve also put together my self-paced, Happy Painting mini course, which has five instant-access projects. This online workshop is perfect for beginners or anyone looking to feel more connected and creative.

In this video preview you’ll see how I create whimsical animalsusing all sorts of supplies like oil paintsticks, pencil and acrylic paints, inks, watercolors, soft pastels and paint pen to create a soft-looking face with lots of dimension and character.

Click here for more details about Happy Painting.

“You’ve really inspired me in the VERY FUN CLASS of Happy Painting. I’ve gone from cut and paste to fearless, throwing paint on paper and actually painting and trusting in the process. I’ve been actually creating little beings.” -Nancy Rose

Happy Painting!

xo Juliette Crane

P.S. Want to watch a painting from start to finish? I’ve posted a fun owl painting project from my Whimsical Animals class here on my blog.

P.P.S. You can also learn more about my FACES – Mxed Media Portraits class right here.