The Fear Of White Space!

Today I'm going to share some wisdom I learnt from my extremely wise DAD!! When I started out on that first day at my parents I filled two lovely clean WHITE books, one a sketch book and one a watercolour book with stamps. I spent a whole day with my mum, chatting away stamping two of each stamp, one cop in my watercolour book and one in my sketch book, because I wanted to have a reference book for the colours I used and such and one for my watercolours.

Two weeks later I visited my parents and my dad excitingly asked how my painting was going and if I'd bring around my work to show them both. Now remember, they BOTH paint traditional watercolour, so they were really excited to be sharing there craft with me. I looked at my dad, kinda embarrassed and had to explain that I hadn't done a thing!!!

See every day I would get out my things on the table, so excited to be about to colour! and every day I would start at these CLEAN WHITE SHEETS OF PAPER and an over whelming fear and anxiety would hit me. Fear that I would STUFF IT, that I would RUIN this CLEAN WHITE PAPER and this anxiety would overwhelm me to the point of doing NOTHING!!! I would pick up paint with my brush, go to place it in the sheet and then lift my hand back up and...you guessed it, stare some more. This is what my anxiety ridden art sessions were like. By the end of my time sitting there I was PEED OFF... I would be stomping my feet and slamming around my books and things in an almighty 2 yo tantrum packing things up, mumbling things about "thought art was meant to be peaceful!!" grumble grumble grumble!!!!  yes, we as grown adults can act like toddlers too, especially when we have NO RATIONAL REASON why we are feeling the way we are feeling.

I explained this all to my dad, and he laughed! Which kinda peed me off... but then he explained "The Fear Of White Space", yes there is a thing!! and that it's really common with artist, especially those just starting out. That the anxiety your brain creates over wrecking that WHITE STARK sheet of paper prevents you from starting at all. He explained he had it really bad when he started and his art teacher told him about it. :) He said you just have to remember these important words... "Its Only Paper" , and just make that first stroke, even if it's not exactly what you want, once that first line of colour is done, the fear goes away and you can just move on with having fun.

I think this is one of the most important lessons my dad has given me in painting. Your not painting on GOLD... if you stuff it, it really is JUST PAPER, so relax...have fun...make MISTAKES, cause there will be many and let go of your fear of white space.

Xo

         My Gorgeous Dad! (love the hat daddy LOL) 
PRIVATE PHOTO'S REMOVED DUE TO IDENTITY THEFT

  My Gorgeous Mum.... and me!!
PRIVATE PHOTO'S REMOVED DUE TO IDENTITY THEFT