Not that I have never been there standing in front of a blank canvas with a few knots in my stomach... but for the most part, once I get to that point, I have already thought out the painting and I will have done a sketch or two.
If I still feel uncertain about what direction I am going to take, I just stop, and work it out either with more B/W sketches or an oil sketch or a head study, anything to get me painting. I am not one who can visualize my finished painting in my head without doing some (or a lot) of preplanning.
I have heard other artists who claim to have the completed painting in their head and can work from one corner or area direct to finish as they go. I am not one of these artists. For me, the success or failure of a painting all comes down to hard work both in the planning and throughout the painting process.
My problem is the days when I spend several unproductive hours working. Days when every brush stroke is a struggle, each color I mix seems off and I end up wiping out hours of work. Often this is just a bad day. I suppose I would be better off just stopping on these days and doing something else, but when you must paint to make money and the bills are piling up it is hard to say, oh, I just can't paint today.
It may be those bills on my mind or some other distraction that causes these problems. Who knows? On these days, I often question my ability and feel very bad and really berate myself. I read somewhere that Sargent had days like this when paintings where not working out and he would do a day's work over. I guess I should not be so hard on myself. When it is happening it is hard to rationalize it as just a bad day.
Oh well, maybe we should start a thread titled "Group session for troubled artists". We can all discuss our art-related neuroses. We could save a bundle over going to a therapist. Since we are discussing it with other artists, no one will tell us to get a real job and just forget it.
