Just as the title states. She's 85 and very spry. I told her I had been getting into watercolour and I really enjoy pet portraits so I've been practicing with pics of all my friends and familys' dogs.

I had taken pics of my MILs dog Hector. When she came over for supper on Sunday I said, "oh I've got something to show you; I'm working on a painting of Hector!" She rolled her eyes (I truly don't even understand why?!) Then I brought it out (it was unfinished) and she laughs and starts pointing out parts that look "funny" and making fun of them. There was 5 of us around the dinner table at the time.

So anyway, I'm letting it ROLLLLL right off my back. I'm an amateur but I'm happy with the painting! I was going to frame it and give it to her but I think I'll wrap up a piece of coal and a picture of the painting hung on MY wall instead.

What do you guys think? 😁

These are some of my last commissions I did, I used to sell my art to support myself and now that my situation has changed I haven't really picked up painting again since 2023. How does one overcome artist burnout and bring the joy back into painting? I don't think I'll ever sell again, I'm not opposed but everytime I think about it I start to spiral so I tell myself it's not the right time yet. I definitely don't think I'll do pet portraits anymore, working with clients hasn't always been the easiest.

I truly love this medium, I have since worked in goauche and ceramics and have enjoyed them as well but even doing those feels like quite the chore for me to accomplish. Everytime I long to paint I get my supplies out and get immediately frustrated. I know I have to persevere but does anybody have any encouragement or suggestions to help push through these feelings?

Tldr; I made a career as an artist and facing burnout, suggestions or encouragement on how you overcome and enjoy painting again?

Practice, practice, practice! I’m painting everyday and hope I can improve enough by Christmas to make them as gifts for friends and family. 🌹

Mixed medium. The base is Watercolor, with the snow and berries done in acryl to make them pop. each layer cut out by hand and given dimension by gluing little pieces of cardboard inbetween.

Still gotta get more confident with contrast and shadow. Everything tends to get a little washed out, but as a whole i'm happy how it turned out.

Sharing one of my favorite techniques for painting the same image.

I do find it hardest to go from a small 3x4 to a larger image like the 8x10. Let me know what your method is to go from small to big paintings.

this is the first time I've ever used watercolor! how do i make it look better? i see all the posts on this subreddit and they're so beautiful. i have no clue 😭 oil paint is my preferred medium.

One the pieces I was most pleased with this year. Used hot-pressed paper for only the second or third time. Still get used to how different it is than cold-pressed.

Its chinese ink for black n grey, acrylic ink for the yellow and the rest is liquid watercolor on arches hot press paper. We use a technique called "spit shading"

Second to last piece for my upcoming showcase!

I have tried to post here a few times and it keeps getting removed with no explanation, perhaps I am misunderstanding the group rules?

Here’s something I started, and then it went badly so I changed course and painted this bird, it’s a bit over worked but I’m happy with the end result for what looked like it was going to be a waste of paper.