Do You Actually Want to Paint This?
Have you ever started a painting feeling strangely disconnected from it?
You picked a reference. You set up your materials. You sat down with good intentions. And yet, from the very first brushstrokes, something feels off. You are not excited. You are not curious. You are just pushing paint.
Often, the problem is not your skill or your motivation. It is the reference itself.
When a reference does not truly grab you, it quietly drains your energy before the painting even begins.
Julie Gilbert Pollard (Ep.25) solves this problem long before she ever lifts a brush.
Pollard paints from observation, meaning she works from something real. That might be life itself, as in plein air, or photographs. When she chooses to work from photos, she has a ritual she never skips.
She looks through hundreds of images.
Not on her phone with a quick swipe. Not as small printed photos on paper. She views them on a large computer screen where light shines through the images.
These are photos Pollard took herself. Seeing them large and illuminated helps jog her memory of the physical sensations of being in that place. The light, the air, and the feeling of standing there all come back. The photo becomes more than an image. It becomes an experience she can return to.
This step matters because it makes it easier for Pollard to recognize when a reference truly grabs her. When one image sparks something, she knows that is the photo she wants to paint.
Only then does she move on to the next step in her reference process, editing.
Put it to Practice
Painting takes resources. It takes paint, but more importantly, it takes your time and energy as an artist. Think about how often you have worked on a painting you were not fully invested in from the start.
That lack of engagement often traces back to the reference.
Whether you are using your own photos or others’ with proper copyright permission, try creating a small pause in your process to ask one simple question. Do I actually want to paint this?
Some days, regardless of the answer, you may still need to paint just to paint. That is okay.
Begin to notice which references spark curiosity and which ones fall flat. You may find that this early decision has a bigger impact on your painting than anything you change later.