Some good advice I received as a young person was not to consider the finished product, stay in the process. Years later it still feels like good direction but I do think more about where a painting or drawing is going, recalling results that worked, didn’t work, what to keep, ways of improving. My history will inevitably influence decisions so I shake things up by using different materials, subject matter, palette, application.
Hopefully for the artist the act of painting remains new and mysterious while with maturity a positive, growing feeling of control over the outcome. It feels like walking a fine line, staying open to what may happen while knowing.