Have you ever noticed that when you are making your art and it is all working out that it is almost as if you are not entirely there? You are driving the bus but it seems like you do not have to try very hard. Almost like it is driving itself. Art making sometimes can feel that easy.
I love it when that happens but it rarely stays that way for long. If I overthink and concentrate too much I lose that ability to just let the art unfold naturally. Instead it feels hard and somewhat forced.
I realize I tend to tighten up when I am over focusing on a new technique or, perhaps, trying something I haven’t before. It seems like the making of the art just goes slower. It becomes more effortful.
It takes a long time to become young -- Pablo Picasso Share on XHowever once I have learned that new something, once I have done it a few times it starts to become second nature again. I think it just takes time to integrate new information. And then I start to get those days that art making feels super easy again. It is like I am not even trying.
It reminds me of how I did things as a child. I remember just naturally getting involved in something, following my curiosity wherever it wanted to lead me. There was no agenda. No particular reason to do anything except for the simple joy of doing it. Everything was approached that way.
This is actually how I wandered into art in the first place. It was simply enjoyable.
I found this quote the other day by Pablo Picasso “It takes a long time to become young”
Which got me to thinking.
Maybe that is why it feels so refreshing to occasionally get totally in sync with our creativity. When our art just flows. It feels good, especially now, as busy adults with a world of concerns and long to do lists following us around. Maybe when we fall into that easy place where art making is simply effortless it is a reminder of what is still possible. The way it is supposed to be. Or rather the way it all started out being in the first place when curiosity and joy were simply enough.
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Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
Join me and artists from all over the world in our Free Art2Life Artists Facebook Group or learn more here about Art2Life.
One of the best compliments I received about my artwork is that it reflects a childlike curiosity.
And one day I overheard my husband say to someone else, “We’ll be on a long road trip and she’ll just sketch and sketch. It is like she turns on the spicket to her imagination. Art flows out. So I totally can relate to this post for sure! I find I do my best sketching and my best thinking when I am in motion. Thanks for the wonderful posts. I treasure each and everyone.
Boy you said it exactly how it is. I did one painting that I hardly remember painting it was so easy. Then the next one was just not right. It was something new I was trying. I kept on working with it. Drove me nuts. I finally just took it off the wall turned it to the wall in a corner and maybe I’ll come back to it some time.
I love this painting. It is playful and mature at the same time.
Yes yes. This is very timely for me, as I have a large commission to do. Of course I don’t want to “freeze” while doing it, and I have some scaird feelings …like what if I can’t pull it off. Lol. But even further, the collector wants it to look most like a painting I did that was begun with the mind set that it could be a throw- away. Used an unfinished birch door for a painting surface, used house paint that was left over from decorating projects. Totally no risk. And to top it off, where I stopped in the painting was supposed to be only the beginning. It was so free because I wasn’t even thinking about it. But when I stood back, I loved it and decided to stop there. So how do I recreate this for a $2000 commission? I think I can do it, but it will take some mind tricks. Good thing I did some acting in high school ,haha. I think I can trick my mind into believing it doesn’t matter. Either that, or study every action I took for the first painting, and then consciously recreate the method. Fun, fun.
It’s so true… when you fall into the groove…it’s so fun, easy, everything else recedes … it’s those moments that keep one going, making art. They come and go, those moments… when we are in total tune with the universe. The funny thing is you can’t really make them happen…. they are magic!
I saw your show… it looks great! I’m going to try to come
Thank you Nick! This came at such a great time. I have been over-focusing, over thinking my art and it has been exhausting. Yesterday I had a little breakthrough of joyful art making. I worked fast and furious, throwing paint around and loving it. My pieces actually exuded the joy I was feeling. I was in the FLOW.
Thank you Nicholas – that is a great quote and so very true! I teach graphic design here in Atlanta and one Picasso quote I use in my class is “It took me 70 years to learn to draw like a child”. As we get older the cares of this world can deplete our creative energy. To stay fresh and ‘in the moment’ we have to release our control, at times, so our art has the opportunity to flow and grow.
I do love this quote, as it reminds me to enter the realm of play in the studio, you become a child again and have more fun. Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks so much for reminding me about childhood curiosity being so simple. I have been waiting iN that Place wit my work occasionally and didn’t have a word for it.
Hopefully I can remember to let that thought come through more often.
Thank u
Gaile
It’s always been easy for me, thus I love the blissful feeling of creating, but I always knew it was not “my” art but a creative force working through me to create it. So whether I like the end result or not, I know that piece was meant for someone who did.
Nice blog. It’s good to hear over and over again. Some of my best paintings were done with our thinking. Not that I didn’t have some knowledge but just letting go.
I paint with my 3yr old abstract paintings. She is way better than me. I love to wAtch her mix paints, put in on the paper and swish it around.
Thanks for the bloh
Thank you, Nicholas for your generosity in sharing your art, thoughts, ideas and journey. This post is very helpful – I have experienced that space where the art flows, AND the space where it doesn’t and usually it is because I’ve lost focus or am thinking/trying too hard. Or maybe I’m worrying about how it will turn out – which I do struggle with overcoming. I’m nearly 63, but always nurture my child and appreciate her – but I think I override her at times and become the like the centipede who when asked which leg do you move first? it thought about it and then couldn’t move any leg at all, he was so focused on which one moved first! ya’ know? it is good to laugh at myself.
Yes! And it takes a long time to find out who i am as an artist, and what my authentic voice is! Thanks for the reminder if why i started in this journey in the first place!
I’ve found when I place too much attachment to the outcome, it becomes hard and doesn’t flow. When we are childlike there aren’t those self imposed expectations.
I love these art booster blogs. Thanks so much Nick. Best of luck with your show opening tomorrow.
I’m totally an intuitive artist. It has not always been that way. I have meditated for years. In my art I would keep journals of drawings I wanted to do, little sketch ideas to help me later on a canvas. But one month I noticed I was no longer using the journals, but I was using nothing. Art just happens and I honor it.
A very spiritual approach Nicholas! Love it. Ties in very nicely with the law of attraction and following one’s joy. Thanks as always for inspiring.
Reading this post is ironic to me. A few days ago I began an article for my website. I referenced another Picasso quote about staying childlike. It was about painting from that place of innocence, before rules were formed. Just for the pure fun of creating without concern to fit in. I remember the very first time I painted. That is when I knew I wanted to be an artist. Your words are so familiar and true as they reflect the same subject I wrote about, too. Ahh, if we could bottle up that childlike spirit and drink from it whenever we go into our studios. Great article, Nicholas.
The key words I read here are “in sync”. I’m a retired chef and some nights when it was really, really busy it felt like we cooks were dancing and everything was coming out smoothly and delicious. We all had our skills and knew the moves, we just had to get out of our own way. It’s such a great feeling when that happens.
So right Nicholas & share a quote from our famous living Australian artist John Olsen “stay with your dream & learn to play “
Feels like inner freedom. When I’m in this unjudgemental space there isn’t a mark on the canvas that feels wrong or right, I can feel the artist and the work. Your work for me carries this kind of weight. Thank you for all that you share.
So true….love it.
My latest job involves teaching art to children. Quite the opposite is happening…they’re teaching me to get in touch with the child artist in me! I have greatly benefited from your videos Nicholas and I love your work. Thank you. You inspire.
We have so much to learn from the spontaneity of children. I really like this comment.
I always love reading your posts Nicholas, they are so much from the heart. Thank you.
Thank you for your lovely post. After more than five months of stopping at all, I am trying to find some inspiration to begin “something”…
There’s a term ‘hypnotic driving’ when you zone out and suddenly realize you that you’ve gone a mile without really watching the road. I think we experience ‘hynotic painting’ at times. The conscious allows the subconscious to take us to a place where time does not exist. Thanks for your post…gives us something more to consider.
Another thoughtful post.. thank you so much for your incites. I am trying to find that inner child and help her come out and play… I think she is still playing ‘hide and seek’ from me… but your love and joy in art plus your take on things is helping me get closer to finding her hiding place… thank you again.