That’s a scary title, is it not?
When I paint, I listen to lots of things. There is music, podcasts, talk radio, books on tape, and voices in my head, including my own.
An aside: Someone said we should talk to ourselves the way we talk to our best friends. You know how sometimes you say things to yourself like, “How could you be so dumb?” (Maybe you don’t – please just play along for a moment. . .) If your best friend did something dumb, you’d be more likely to say, “That’s okay – stuff happens and we can learn from it.” Or, “Don’t worry about it – it is a small thing that can be fixed.”
This is what I have chosen to believe and follow:
- I am a studio painter who works from photos.
- Good paintings take a long time to finish.
- Precision and accuracy are attractive.
- I love detail.
Here are what the voices in my head have been saying, and here are my new responses in light of my recent decision (see the September 12 post):
VOICE #1 – “You are drawing with your paintbrush”.
Me – “So what?”
VOICE #2 – “If you paint standing up, you’ll paint with more energy.”
Me – “If my foot hurts, I will paint with more pain.”
VOICE #3 – “You need to listen to cool music while you paint, jazz or classical”.
Me – “This is a great time to listen to talk radio, podcasts about the business of art, interviews with artists and authors and inspirational speakers, sermons I’ve missed from my pastor, and audible books.”
VOICE#4 – “Real artists don’t paint from photos.”
Me – “Okay, I’ll be a fake artist.”
VOICE #5 – “You need to step back from your painting to see how it reads from a distance.”
My – “Thanks for the reminder. I am so into the detail that I forgot!”
Loves Cotton, Loves To Knit, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100
2 Comments
I need to take that advice about talking to myself like I’d talk to my best friend. Thanks for sharing that, Jana. By the way, those little girls remind me of when my two daughters were little blonde girls 🙂
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