A Better Way to Think About Failed Paintings with Dean Mitchell

When artist Dean Mitchell (Ep.30) starts a painting, he goes all in. No hesitation. Which means sometimes things don’t go as planned.

But when things go sideways, the artist doesn’t look at these as failed* paintings. Instead, he thinks of them as something much more important.

He sees them as studies.

How does this distinction help the artist create his award-winning work?

Mitchell can’t do bold work if he’s not taking risks and if he’s not constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone. The very act of pushing beyond his known techniques, means he is increasing his chances for a failed painting.

But he sees those failed paintings as the very necessary stepping stones to great work. They teach him what to try next. And then next again. And then next AGAIN.

He lays them out on his studio floor and studies them. And then he takes what they are telling him and he gets back to work.

Put it to Practice:

Failed paintings never feel good. But if you want to be an artist who is constantly pushing herself, failing paintings are a really important benchmark. They mean you aren’t playing it safe. They mean you are pushing yourself into unknown territory.

And so if your goal is bold and/or unique work, failed paintings are part of the package. It’s not if, it’s when. And at that point you have two options: (1) let it get you down, or (2) learn from it and try again.

*Failed paintings can mean many things. Here we’re using it as shorthand for “A painting that didn’t go as planned.” But that’s too long to write every time.