Artists create because they have a need to express themselves and putting paint to canvas is a fine way to go about it.
A student gathers up his supplies and begins learning the basics of composition, color theory, paint application and all the myriad details required to create a pleasing picture.
Once that little aspect is under control, the eager student will spend much of his or her time experimenting and working to perfect the craft.
As much as the technical skills are important, it’s also worthwhile to do personal internal data mining.
What is it you’re trying to say with your paintings? Are you painting pretty posies because you like the colors or is there something more going on in the grey matter that’s compelling you to create your floral fantasy? Whatever you choose to paint, the colors you use and even the method used can become a part of your own personal symbolism.
The Emotional Artist
Thinking about the why as well as the how of a painting is a good way to take your psyche along on your artistic journey. Emotional doesn’t refer to baring your soul as you create your masterpiece, but merely encourages one to consider how the scene or objects in the composition relate to your own experience.
This consideration extends not only to the subject matter, but can include the topic of the painting. Many artists wield their brush to support or object to a political, religious or humanitarian subject. This is vividly brought to mind in the powerful painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso. This image expresses the horror and futility of war in a potent personal statement that stands as an anti-war symbol and a tribute to the struggle of civilians during the Spanish Civil War.
Your own experience and emotions can set the stage for a personal examination or visual description of a topic that’s important to you. Portraying your viewpoint through color, shape and composition, your painting becomes your sounding board.
Personal Imagery
For some artists, a scene or a particular object is revisited over and over. Consider the compelling and sometimes erotic flowers of Georgia O’Keeffe. These close-up oil paintings of flowers without background or setting were part of a series of nature images that portrayed natural elements on large-scale canvases. These provocative and lush floral close-ups have been assimilated into the legend and lore of female iconography and are Ms. O’Keeffe’s best-known works.
Personal imagery can grow and become the main tenet of some artists’ work. The ‘Painter Of Light,’ Thomas Kinkade, used his warm, candle-lit cottages and bucolic landscapes as the basis for his artistic empire.
A return to a single theme can be an expression of something important to you as an artist and an individual.
Personal Palette
Your choice of colors can also become part of your personal symbolism. If you’re paintings tend to gravitate to the same color palette, this repeated choice of some colors and the disregard of other hues can almost be as personal as your signature.
Some artists become stuck on a color or color grouping. Picasso had his ‘Blue Period’ and ‘Rose Period.’ Claude Monet also had a ‘Blue Period’ and Paul Cezanne worked in predominately dark colors during a period of depression and anger.
If a color grouping begs to be used time and again, you may find that it’s because they sing to you or express an underlying emotion or memory.
Using your art and talents to convey a sense of yourself is really what being an artist is. Sure, painting pretty pictures to pay the bills is great, and most artists don’t feel they’ve arrived until that happens. However, communicating what’s inside is the fundamental reason for self-expression and the reason artists continue to paint.
