It’s been weeks since I created any art, and I was itching to get back to it. I’m still a beginner, so I picked a simple three-color palette for a fluid painting: a beautiful gold and brown leaf against a white background.
I watched the tutorial video a few times, took screenshots of the key steps, and prepped my canvas. Sometimes setup for a fluid art piece takes longer than the painting itself, but I was in the zone and loving the process.
The inspiration I was aiming for:
With the canvas ready and colors mixed, I grabbed my blow dryer. Now, full disclosure: this blow dryer and I have a rocky history. But today felt different. Maybe before I was impatient. Maybe I held it too close or at the wrong angle. This time I was determined—nice and slow. I was so excited about this one.
Well…long story short, it turned out nothing like a golden branch of leaves. Instead, the colors splattered across the canvas like a golden nebula exploding right in front of me.
My actual painting result:
I was sad. So sad. The negative voices in my head started chatting away, louder and louder, with every attempt to “fix” the piece.
I didn’t expect a perfect match to the tutorial, but I had hoped for at least a small resemblance. Nope. Not today.
There’s a saying in the art world: trust the process. So I let go of the vision I had and tried to see what was really there. Soon, I spotted an erupting volcano in the shapes and colors. A volcano is pretty cool, I thought. What if I added a touch of liquid black for a smokier eruption look?
It sounded good in theory. In practice? The more I tweaked it, the worse it looked. So I walked away, leaving it to dry, and decided to come back tomorrow with fresh eyes.
Being creative—or really, being anything—can be exhilarating and soul-crushing when our vision doesn’t match reality the first, second, or even tenth time. Learning a new skill is teaching me resilience. It’s teaching me not to give in to those negative voices telling me I’m not good enough. It’s teaching me to trust the process.
That’s hard to remember when all we see online are polished, perfect examples of what we’re trying to achieve. But the truth is, we all have bloopers, doubts, and failures.
So I’ve decided to document mine. Someday (hopefully not too far from now), I’ll have a journal that shows me what I’ve overcome. And maybe—if you’ve ever felt discouraged—my struggles will resonate with you too.
Because I really do believe it takes a village: to remind each other to keep going, to listen to the kinder voices inside us, and to trust the process a little longer.