80% of painting lies within the “ugly stage” (and why you should push through it)
If you’ve ever stood in front of a half-finished painting and thought, this is awful, you’re not alone. Every artist, from beginners to professionals (even finalists on Portrait Artist of the Year Australia) knows about the ugly stage. That middle phase where nothing works, the painting looks wrong and you start to consider giving up.
Portrait Artist of the Year Australian contestant Anne Smerdon taking reference photos of Margaret Pomeranz
But here’s the truth: the ugly stage isn’t a mistake. It’s a vital part of the creative process! It’s the 80% slog that gets you to the final 20% of magic.
The 80/20 Rule of Painting
In episode 8 of Smerdon Toast, we explored the 80/20 rule, the idea that 80% of results come from 20% of effort. In painting, that translates beautifully. For roughly 80% of a portrait, everything feels unresolved. Details are missing, shapes aren’t quite right, subtleties need fixing. But in the final 20%, the structure locks in and the work transforms from chaos to coherence.
So don’t quit in the middle of a painting!
The ugly stage tests every artist’s confidence. It’s where most people give up. But it’s where professional painters learn to persist.
Lessons from Portrait Artist of the Year Australia
When I competed on Australian Portrait Artist of the Year, the pressure was high, cameras were rolling and I hit that ugly phase hard (the crushing pressure of having your work watched and judged on national TV can be tough to say the least!). But I pushed through, I kept painting and that final burst of focus pulled everything together. It’s often the smallest tweaks, the flick of a brush, the adjustment of a value, that elevate a piece from “almost there” to artwork complete.
Being part of Portrait Artist of the Year Australia was a masterclass in working through the discomfort of the “ugly stage”. You just have to keep painting until your time is up. And that forces you to keep painting, despite how ugly the painting may look at the start. That’s the beauty of PAOTY Australia. It shows the real process of painting: the awkward stages, the wrong turns, the desperate corrections. And it shows that despite all of these, if you persevere through that ugly stage, something beautiful and honest emerges. The key is not quitting in the ugly stage.
Australian portrait artist of the year contestant anne smerdon with her PAOTY self portrait entry
The Ugly Stage Is Where Growth Lives
So if you’re standing before a painting that feels like a disaster, remember: you’re in the right place. The ugly stage is a vital step along the path of making a good painting. Every good painting has an ugly stage. So don’t fear it. Push through it! Trust that in the final 20% it will all come together.
Anne
Key topics:
Portrait Artist of the Year Australia, Australian portrait artist, PAOTY, Australian portrait artist of the year, painting process, ugly stage in painting, portrait painting tips, how to improve your art, Australian contemporary art, artist mindset, painting perseverance, Smeared on Toast podcast.