What are you thinking when painting?
Quoting Nicholas Wilton this week.....
"If we are thinking about other people’s work when we are making art, then we are not really making our own art. The activity of comparing, admiring, and imitating other people’s work is a very different activity than making your art. These two activities should be kept far apart as they don’t help each other. Making strong art is accomplished more easily by looking within ourselves."
His thoughts this week really rang true with me. So often I have been inspired by a particular artist whose work I admire and found myself painting thinking about how that person filtered the light thru the trees, or how a particular symbol gave rich meaning to his/her work. Now that doesn't mean that I should never use that symbol or something like it in my own painting, but what it does say to me is that, the use of a symbol in my painting should come from within me. Filtering the light thru my painting should happen because the painting itself calls for it.
If after completing a painting I cannot find myself there, it usually gets put on the back wall until I can figure out what the problem is....and sometimes I realize I failed to follow my own muse.
My advice for the day....follow that inner voice that speaks so clearly when we shut out the comparisons, the admirations and the imitation.
You can find more about Nicholas at www.nicholaswilton.com
"If we are thinking about other people’s work when we are making art, then we are not really making our own art. The activity of comparing, admiring, and imitating other people’s work is a very different activity than making your art. These two activities should be kept far apart as they don’t help each other. Making strong art is accomplished more easily by looking within ourselves."
His thoughts this week really rang true with me. So often I have been inspired by a particular artist whose work I admire and found myself painting thinking about how that person filtered the light thru the trees, or how a particular symbol gave rich meaning to his/her work. Now that doesn't mean that I should never use that symbol or something like it in my own painting, but what it does say to me is that, the use of a symbol in my painting should come from within me. Filtering the light thru my painting should happen because the painting itself calls for it.
If after completing a painting I cannot find myself there, it usually gets put on the back wall until I can figure out what the problem is....and sometimes I realize I failed to follow my own muse.
My advice for the day....follow that inner voice that speaks so clearly when we shut out the comparisons, the admirations and the imitation.
You can find more about Nicholas at www.nicholaswilton.com
Follow Your Dream
Mixed Media
$700
Mixed Media
$700
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