Ugh. That messy middle. It can stop you in your tracks! You may feel like quitting. You don’t know how to get through it or if you should even try. And yet, as you grow and develop as an artist, you come to know that the messy middle is all part of the process of painting. Unless you’re painting by formula, it’s probable that you will get to this phase in your painting every time you step up to the easel. I know I do.
I was recently watching one of my older demo videos on YouTube with a person who isn’t an artist but who loves art. As we got to the part where everything looks a bit chaotic, I remember thinking, I know this turns out well but eek, it looks awful at this stage!
Yup I’m talking about the messy middle where everything looks…well, messy!
You know that stage right, where the painting is at a stage where there’s just a bunch of colour marks on the paper with no way of imagining how it could ever turn out! As the video played this completely unresolved part of the painting, I kept my mouth shut as I cringed inside with a kind of embarrassment. (Interesting that I felt that way after all these years, even knowing the messy middle is just a phase a painting goes through.)
When I spoke to my friend afterwards, he commented, “It was mesmerizing to watch you work but I really wondered at times how you were going to pull it all together. It looked like a mess there for a while!” Yup. Indeed it did! But that’s the magic of the messy middle—it’s a necessary step towards a successful piece.
When we paint, we have no idea what the result will be. We can guess. We can hope. But everything is uncertain. This is part of the joy (I mean, we like to be surprised by an ending don’t we?!) and also part of the struggle of painting. And, when we get to this phase of the painting, unless we know in our mind and heart that this is just a stage in the process, we may decide to quit. Yet this is the time to say, Ahhhh there you are, I was expecting you. Acknowledge the arrival of the messy middle and then keep going!
So this post is a reminder that when you get to that messy middle it’s okay. It’s uncomfortable and that’s okay. Know this is all part of the process.
Yes, not all paintings will work out but until you follow the painting through to the end, you’ll never know. And the thing is, it could turn out to be your best painting ever! So accept the messy middle and then go through it.
In case you’re curious, here’s that video! (It’s about using the constraints of a limited palette.)
What did you learn from this post and/or video? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Until next time,
Gail
PS. I haven’t been posting on YouTube regularly (truthfully, until recently, nothing in nine months plus!) but my plan is to get back to creating videos so look out! I’ve appreciated the prods and subtle pokes (and not so subtle ones as in, When are you going to do more videos??) to get back at it!! So all encouragement is welcome lol. The start of my determination to get back into YouTube started a few weeks ago with the video in this post.
PPS. The painting of “Backyard Plums” first appeared here!
![Pastels on black aper: Gail Sibley, "Untitled [at this point], Mount Vision pastels on Sansfix pastel card, 5 1/2 x 7 3/4 in](https://www.howtopastel.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_9649-2-300x209.jpeg)
18 thoughts on “The Messy Middle – Don’t Quit!”
Love this term! Thank you for it! The “messy middle” happens so often in creating something…. And not just creating a painting…. Perhaps it’s a business, a house plan, learning a new sport, …. or trying to figure out a career!
Thanks for this shoutout to persevere… and to remember that’s it’s ok if it doesn’t workout.
You are so right MJ…about there being a messy middle in so many aspects of our lives. We need to muddle through and we will move forward no matter the outcome!!
No matter what medium I’m using, I almost always get to the place that I just hate my painting. Once when in a class of painting peonies, I was ready to give up; I simply hated my work and didn’t know how to save it. My instructor (God bless him) saw my frustration, and patiently took over and finished the painting before my eyes, turning it into a thing of beauty and one of my favorite pieces. I will Never sell that painting. It gives me hope every time I look at it.
Thanks so much for sharing your story Judy! It’s so easy to let our frustration get the better of us! Knowing that this place will predictably happen as we paint can help us move through it. I love that the painting you have gives you that hope…and courage too I think.
I call it “the ugly stage”. It always happens when putting in the lights, mediums and darks and always shocks anyone watching the progress of my painting. The joy of using pastels is layering, tidying and finessing make it all worth while.
Yes – the ugly stage! It’s good you know exactly when it happens and can move through it. That comes from experience and paying attention 😁
FYI, I had trouble with the link from the e-mail. I had to go to How to Pastel to get here.
Ack, not sure why that happened. Thanks for letting me know Kyle and glad you found your way here!
When I first got back into art nearing retirement, I took a REALISM LIVE class- kind of by mistake. But, there was much I learned that could be applied to other mediums other than oil. One of the art presenters, Juliette Aristides, gave a lovely analogy about that messy ugly part of a painting when we cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. She likened it to having children (particularly in the teenage stage) and she said…You wouldn’t give up on your children, would you? So, I like to keep that in mind when I’m painting, and yet to get over the hump of dissatisfaction and reach the point of …”I’m happy with this.”
Ohhhh that’s a great sharing Valerie! Wonderful that you heard that from Juliette and still keep it in mind as you paint. Thanks again for sharing it with us!
Hi Gail,
This is so much fun to watch! Thanks for posting it. I’ve been using a limited palette with pastels recently and it a lot of fun but the middle is so bad! I really identified with your video. It seems horrible but then suddenly it’s done.
The great thing about painting from life outdoors is that I get tired and have to stop. At that point I am thinking I have about ten things to finish on my painting but when I get it home I realize that I only have to add one or two accent marks. One of our biggest problems as artists is over finishing.
Susie Q
Hey Susie, love hearing this! Yeah, we just need to push through that ugh-y middle part.
And you are so right about painting on location. Energy flags and it’s time to quit. And then as you say, what we find, sometimes to our surprise, is there’s hardly anything else to do to a painting when we may have thought it needed so much more.
Yes! This hits home with me. I always start with the thought it will be easy to paint this picture. Then the ugly middle. Often I just want to quit and put it on the shelf. When I persevere and struggle through, it amazes me when it all works out.
Janice, I love that you shared this! I know exactly what you mean about the start – This is going to be easy! And then, its not. So yay to you pushing through – that’s often where the magic can happen!
Yep, we all get stuck in the middle. At times I don’t know whether to add more or let it be. I’m trying to avoid overworking my art, and it’s a tough decision. Anyway, thanks for posting. It’s good to know other artists have issues with this as well.
Yep!
I think the messy middle is the part where it looks like there’s no way it will come together and there is a tendency to quit too early. And then there’s the end where the tendency is to overwork, to not leave the painting alone, to fiddle faddle 🙋♀️ I hear ya Rhonda!!
Hi,
I certainly can relate to this thought process! I can’t even remember how many times I’ve scrapped what I was working on and started over entirely.
I still do…in fact, just this evening I redid something I’d been working on for a week and had been so frustrated with it not coming together, I simply sanded the canvasses and began anew. Thankfully, so far so good. It’s a pastural theme with cows as a gift for my little sister. She stated how she loved a recent trip and adored the cows just meandering so I thought I’d surprise her. All that’s left in the current revision is to put the cows in. Hopefully there won’t be any more “messes” as I’m not doing a portrait of them. Just vague representations with a miniscule amount of detail.
Anyway…
I certainly appreciate everything you have presented for us plebes and want to say thank you so very much for all your hard work. You must have extra batteries to keep going like you do as I would be at wit’s end if it were me. Kudos to you and all you efforts! Looking forward to the YT vids.
Again, thank you!
Be well and satisfied,
Michael C.
Hi Michael, Thanks so much for sharing your own frustrations when working on a piece. I think its reasurring to all of us when we know other artists face the same problems and conundrums!! I hope the cows were inserted successfully – do let us know.
And obviously my batteries must have run out as I totally missed your comment until now 🙈 Better late than never I hope!
Thank you for your appreciation – warms my heart and energizes those batteries!!
Gail