Leaving My Comfort Zone
Examining the unnecessary pain of self-inflicted stress.
A few months ago I had a spur of the moment idea. I held a drawing to do a couple of pet portraits. It was an instant hit and I people started sharing photos, and the stories of how and when their pets came into their lives. For many, they were also remembering beloved pets that had passed on.
For several days I was immersed in a new reality, one that centered around cats, dogs, birds, frogs, snakes, and our love of them. It was fantastic!
On the day of the drawing reality set in. It was in that moment that I remembered that I am a landscape artist who occasionally draws illustrations of cats. My husband always notices my micro expressions and he instantly honed in on me. “What’s wrong? Your eyes are darting.”
I think for a second I was trying to look for an escape route because the random drawing just chose four dogs. One beautiful great pyrenees with a bit of chow and three adorable dachshunds. What had I just done?! I had only painted one dog in my entire life.
A little voice was telling me to cheat or run. I could easily just pick out a couple of cats and call it a day. Or I could disappear completely from Substack Notes and no one would be the wiser.
The title of
’s post keep circling in my head… “Do something that scares you.” What if I screw this up? Dog parents might not be forgiving.I finally announced the winners and went all in on my self-assigned commissions.
I printed out my reference photos and did some sketches and color studies. My confidence was coming back slowly and surely. I did some larger sketches and then pulled out my watercolor paper.
It was go time. I had two identical sketches prepped for each project, thinking the first would be my practice run and the second would be the final painting. When the paint dried I was NOT satisfied. The paintings felt flat and heavy. It looked like I was trying too hard.
Whenever I try too hard the painting knows it. I walked away for a couple of days. And then I changed my approach. When I paint my cats I sketch, ink and then add color. I had been approaching this like a landscape, and my style for pets is more illustrative.
Everything clicked in. New sketches, ink, and then color. As soon as I gave myself room to play and permission to shut out my inner critic I could see the change in my painting. It is a lesson I keep needing to learn.
I was really excited to share the finished product with the pet parents…the pictures had happy energy. Let me know if you agree!
I rarely do commissions and (as already stated) am not a usually pet portrait artist. There are some amazingly talented animal artists on Substack that I encourage you to check out. Below are a few of my favorites… and I am sure I am missing many!
- (website maureencberry.com)
- (website crystalbeshara.com)
- (website tarynokesson.com)
- (website parkerthornton.com)
Shop Update
Thank you to everyone supporting my creative adventures. Today, I am launching a new card pack (see below) on my website klrockwell.com.
A secret about pet parents: If it even remotely looks like their pet, they love it. Kind of like your kindergartener in the school play was so good they get an Oscar. I really like the things you've done with animals, and I thought your pictures for the raffle were wonderful.
I would have called it a (s)purr of the moment idea 😉.
It's good to step out of your comfort zone once in a while. It's a good way to grow and improve as an artist.
I especially love the painting of the golden retriever and the cat. They're just purrfect 😀