by Jill Stefani Wagner

“River Light” Oil painting    15 inches x 30 inches        See Pricing

One of the things I’m trying to work on in this series is to not over-think it. I’m really good at over-thinking. Almost as good as I am at over-detailing. Instead of looking at the big picture, I often get caught up in all kinds of unimportant minutiae. “Does this piece fit perfectly with the others in the series?” “What will be the next painting?” “Should I put in all those little flies on the surface of the water?” “What if people don’t like olive green?” You can see that my mind becomes pretty pitiful when allowed to go to the anxiety stage.

I know I paint best when I DON’T think. It seems counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? And maybe it’s not technically true. Somewhere in my mind I must be accessing the years of experience, knowledge and selectivity that I have learned over the years. But when I’m in “the zone,” I am not aware of it. The brush just moves and the paint flows. It’s an awesome state to be in.

The trick is to stay in that mode and not revert to nit-picking, both in my mind and on the canvas. When I figure out how to do that I promise to let you know asap.

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This artwork was created on: Canvas
Medium: Sennelier, Gamblin, Utrecht and Richeson Oil Paints