There is no point to painting things from life
Using photos is a waste of time
You shouldn’t use an eraser
Photoshop isn’t painting
painting landscapes is pointless
Doodling isn’t drawing
cartoons aren’t art
you won’t make money
you can’t use white paint with watercolour
Abstract painting is for people who can’t draw
people won’t be interested in your work until you are dead
there needs to be an artistic statement to paint anything worthwhile
and so on and so on
I’m sure these statements (or others like them) have either been over heard, said to you, or maybe even echoed inside of your head.
Perhaps you have even ascribed to some
At their best:
these statements boil down to a rule that is meant to bind or box a person into creating within a set of boundaries
which some times is a really good thing
we all need rules if only for the chance to break them
At their worst:
these “rules” are designed to crush our artistic drive, belittle our creations, or stop us altogether from painting
they are limiting beliefs
saying to a child that they are too short to play basketball is a limiting belief
and we can all think back to a time in our youth when we were told that we were
“too short to play basketball”
Now I could wax poetic about the need for outside pressure
how a piece of coal needs all of that pressure and heat to become a diamond
but we will save that for the spiritual side of instagram
The reason I bring this topic up is as a reminder
to myself
Rules are important up until the point that they stop me from creating
Even some technical rules to painting can be disguised limiting beliefs
Under drawing/no underdrawing
brushes vs palette knives
planned out or in the moment
Painting a subject or object
representational or non-representational
photographic reference or none
please insert as many limiting beliefs as you need to drive the point home
Limiting beliefs stop us from clearing the first hurdle in painting
And make no mistake
there is only one real hurdle to painting
and all of the limiting beliefs
whether
technical or intellectual
Anchor us to the ground
so
Without further ado I present the first hurdle:
To make painting a part of your everyday life
Some times a day of painting looks like:
sitting on the couch and reading
drawing
going for a walk
cutting up magazines
writing in your journal
breaking down colours in life to coincide with tubes of paint
discussing with another artist
thinking
If painting is the physical act of creation
Then the first hurdle has more to do with keeping my mind and spirit open to
creation
Whether you believe this or not
you have the seed of creation within
and guess what