Are you stuck in a rut and dont know what to do about it? I've noticed recently a few people asking how they might improve their skills. I've experienced this myself a few times over the last five years, I've felt uninspired, and a bit fed up of not improving despite trying over and over. It seems that practicing isn't enough, probably because it's too easy to just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Perhaps not mistakes exactly, just lacking the skills to perform on canvas the way you want to. That's why practice practice practice doesn't always work on its own. I knew I wasn't improving. But worse than that, I was slipping back, my trees were worse than when I first started which led me to take a long break. I found that watching other painters other than Bob Ross rekindled my interest so I came back with a couple more Bob paintings, a couple of improvements and a couple of slip backs, so not much difference really. Then I had an attitude change. I tried painting a glass vase, something I thought I'd never be able to do. I just plonked a few flowers in my favourite vase and had a go. It's not a brilliant glass vase but not bad for a first attempt. Then I painted a wicker basket, something else I thought I'd never be able to do. Again, not the best basket in the world but at least you can tell its a basket. Then the abstract event, something that never interested me because I never understood it before. So if you feel stuck, deflated, or uninspired, look to your state of mind and change your thought process, expand your horizons and get back on track. I hope this helps you guys who are looking for answers. If anyone else has had similar issues and overcome them, please share it here. Happy painting everybody.
Are you stuck in a rut?
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TheLandscapePainter Thank you so much for posting this discussion topic. Reading your post made me feel like I am not alone in these kinds of moments of discouragement. And you are right about how sometimes it is an attitude thing. Sometimes you need to refresh, and come back at it with fresh eyes or a different perspective. I have Parkinson’s and some days painting is difficult, but I refuse to let it defeat me in these things that I love and want to do. My husband pulled out an old piece of baseboard in our basement and we devised a handrest to lay across the easel to steady my hand. So there is a way if there is the will. And I remember Bob talking about how painting tree branches was good for people with “nervous hands” and he said to just let it happen. But most importantly I am so struck by all of the really talented people here, willing to encourage and help each other. Everyone here is so nice, and welcoming! I am glad I found this site!
Marshwiggle Love your attitude and well done for sticking with it! Acrylic one stroke painting might be something you'd like to try if you like florals. The technique could suit your shaky hand.
TheLandscapePainter Thank you! I love florals, but haven’t painted much in the way of flowers. I don’t know why, because I do find them beautiful. I even did some extensive gardening over the years, to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, which I would photograph so I have lots of pictures I could use for reference photos. I will look it up and see what I can learn. I imagine there must be some YouTube videos I could watch…
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Marshwiggle Yes, Donna Dewberry is the one to watch, she's brilliant at one stroke acrylic. Gary Jenkins is the one to watch for oil floral, also check out Lowell Speers if you want the easiest oil florals to start with.
TheLandscapePainter Thank you! I did see a video of Donna Dewberry painting pansies - beautiful! One stroke painting - ahhh makes sense now! 
I will check out Gary and Lowell too!
I don't allow myself to get stuck in a rut, the way i avoid this is to paint everything. When i discovered Bob i would just sit and paint landscape and i did this for months and eventually started to get in a rut, this was when i made the decision to paint all subjects, basically anything that took my fancy.
This made painting interesting again, i could be sat watching TV , maybe a war film and i would suddenly decide that tomorrow i will paint a war scene, i just allowed my imagination to run wild.
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tel You're doing your own thing tel, I love that. Did it surprise you when you first realised you could do it?
No not really, some results are better than others of course but it,s all about the process for me. I would be bored if i tried to "specialise" in one subject
tel I tend to go through phases where I want to paint seascapes all the time, at other times its florals. I seem to have gone off landscapes a bit recently.