What do you prefer?
14 Comments
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.
This is so great….I’ve been thinking about this, especially since starting the Art2Life course. I’m looking at the art on my Pinterest boards and thinking about what it is that really made me pin them…and how can it actually inspire my work.
Perfect Mandi….
Years ago I began keeping a notebook where I took pages out of magazines and pasted them in. It was then my task to look at why I felt attracted to it and how it made me feel. A lot of these pages were from ads in art magazines or “decor” magazines, so there were a lot of actual paintings in my notebook. I came to realize that if I wanted to emulate what I loved about any particular photo I had to get to the part of it that resonated with me. Mostly it was a color or a color combination. I have admired many artists throughout my life and continue to look at their work in history books and art books and catalogs, And naturally it is always a huge thrill when I can see some of that work in person. What that does for me is make me want to go immediately to my studio and squeeze out paint. I can’t do anyone else’s work but I can be inspired to paint.
Yes, I love clipping from magazines too…
LOVE this. The idea of asking those questions makes so much sense and really gives value to the inspiration I feel from other artist’s work!
Intriguing! I’ve been painting less than a year…formerly focused on photography and ceramics. As I said in the Intuition discussion, I don’t have much experience informing my painterly intuition. In order to ‘stock my intuition’ I’ve turned to favorite artists to get ideas about all the ways I can apply paint — techniques, shapes, colors….. At first I worried about copying but I realized what drew me was already in me. Like Nicholas’s squares or series of dashes — I was putting those on pots decades ago. So I decided to let myself be guided and inspired by others knowing everything would become my own. Afterall, my marks and messes are mine and mine alone.
Yes we can overthink it–everyone is somewhat derivative..best to just pay attention to what we are doing!
Thank you for your insightful posts. I appreciate them more than you know. It has been 40+ years since I was in art school. I am now in a revival stage and have been painting the last couple of years. At times, I feel very confident. At other times, I look at the work of successful artists and feel that not painting for 20 years has really taken its toll. In the end, art comes from within as a creative expression of our uniqueness. Thank you, for the reminder and suggestions on how to look at the work of others in a way that will inspire rather than discourage.
Absolutely Rose…
Another brilliant blog! Thanks for everything, Nick!
Thx Leslie!
What a great framework to use instead of falling into “compare and despair” as I heard it called recently. Thanks Nicholas!
Thanks for the timely wisdom, Nicholas. Whenever I am moved by a piece of someone else’s artwork, I look for what it is trying to teach me about my own heart.
When I find myself jealous and comparing I know I’m going down a very slippery slope as they say.
Just reading the title of this post gave me a stomach ache. I read it and put it away. It wasn’t until weeks later that I realized I was in a ” everything I touch sucks” place. I needed to go in the studio and paint and not let anyone see for awhile. Sometimes the studio needs to be a sacred place not open to the public. Try out new techniques and do it for me with no comparisons. I just reread this piece and am so excited to try out the questions before going in the studio tomorrow. I’ll do it before I meditate. Thank you Nicholas you are always an inspiration!