I took a 2-day workshop from Melinda Borysevicz here in Savannah in 2019 (the only formal training I've had). Melinda asked everyone, "What do you want to learn here?" I replied that so much of art feels like trial-and-error, or “pushing the paint around until it looks right, and that's frustrating. I'd like to get past that."
"Sorry," she said, "It's always going to be trial-and-error."
We laughed and I dug in, resigned, to create the piece Keep Asking Questions. And that's the trial-and-error process right there: does this color/value work with that color/value? Does the sum of the colors and values create something cohesive? And of course there are infinite answers to those questions.
There was a special, creative twist to the figure painting in Melinda’s workshop. Every painter portrayed the model holding something different - a candle, a drapery, a protest sign, etc. I asked Brandi, the model, what she'd write on her sign and she replied, "Keep asking questions". That's a good practice all the time. It is all trial-and-error. And a fun exciting adventure!