Finding Your Artistic Voice

4 D A Y S T O F I N D I N G

YOUR ARTISTIC VOICE

C r e a t e d b y : C l a r e O ' N e i l l HEY, THANKS FOR JOINING 4 Days to Finding Your Artist Voice

I am so excited you are with me and committing to spend the next few days along side of me as I walk you day by day through some big stuff. These days will lead you, challenge by challenge, to deepening your understanding of how to develop your artistic voice.

I’ve put this mini-eCourse together because I think it’s the most important component of making art. I can teach you all the techniques in the world, but it’s your style and your voice that will set your artwork apart. This is a 4-day course that will help you gain insight into accessing the intuitive, emotional side of the creative process and finding your artist voice.

It’s the most important thing you can do for your artwork. Commit to these next 4 days, be serious about finding your voice, and take the challenge day by day.

Here’s to Findin"g Your Artistic Voice!

Along my journey, I’ve spent countless hours looking at other artists' work for inspiration. This is natural. But I don’t look at the work to copy it, I look at the work to gain insights and a sense of what draws me to a piece.

It’s important to recognize that the art you love holds important clues for you.

Sometimes it’s the techniques the artist used. How did they draw that line? create that texture? or embed that photograph? The first part of this process is to start to know what techniques and subject matter appeal to you so you can add them to your ‘toolbox’. Is it a certain color palette that really lights you up? Do you always find yourself looking at work that has contrasting light and dark? Do you stop and look at work that is loose and free whereas you pass by those that are representational? If you love wild and barren landscapes, what is it that draws you in?

But having a great toolbox isn’t what creates great art. It is essential for you to understand this if you are to grow as an artist.

I gain inspiratio"n from artists of all mediums. Certain artists remind me to be more loose and create more painterly effects. Others show me how transparent layering can be in encaustic. And yet others, show me how personal a work can be. The more you know yourself, the more you know how you want your art to look and what you want it to say.

© PhotoEncaustic.com I challenge you to really dig beneath the surface when looking at another artist's work. Don’t just study it for technique. Don’t just say, ‘I like it’ and move on. What do you really see when you look at the image? What emotions does it make you feel? Learn to listen to these emotions and responses. Trust them. There are no right or wrong answers. Pay attention to what excites and interests you.

“I do not literally paint the table, but the emotion it produces upon me.” - Henri Matisse

I am a big Andrew Wyeth fan. And Christina’s World is one of my favorites. I’m drawn to the stark landscape and the limited color palette. Her body is tense and uniquely twisted. Her legs seem fixed to the ground, yet her arms tell me she wants to move towards to farmhouse. The soft pink dress adds a sense of fragility. Every time I see the image, I feel lonely, isolated, and sad.

Now I don’t know what Andrew Wyeth intended when he painted this scene of his neighbor Christina. Others may look at the image and feel courage, strength, and determination. I don’t think it matters.

As artists we share our individual experiences in hopes to have viewers connec"t to our work and apply their own narrative to what they see. When you express something real and truthful, viewers respond to it because it speaks to them. Every viewer comes at it from a different perspective. So really all we can do is create from an authentic place within ourselves. Taking inspiration is the key to creative energy. Don’t just look at art, but read poems, watch movies, listen to music, go to the theatre, or walk in nature. Understand the feelings, moods, and emotions that draw you to things and it will become easier to create a unique and instinctive body of work. Be a keen observer of your life. Take notes and investigate what’s important to you and why it’s important.

Your aim should be to take a diversity of inspiration and translate it into something that is your own. Something unique to you. An extension of yourself.

Never be content to simply imitate others.

Shall we begin?

A strong personal vision can emerge when you learn to interpret and label your feelings, moods, and emotions.

You see hordes of images every day. Most of them get your attention for less than 2 seconds. But every so often there is an image that suddenly makes you stop—there is an instantaneous attraction, if even for a second. For me, I know these images as the ones that I wish I had created. Ones that I wish I could call my own.

These are the images that are my teachers.

I’d like you to search for 10 images (either online or in books/magazines) that get your attention for more than 2 seconds. Really look at the image. Relax and take 10 deep breathes. Notice how your body feels. Notice if any emotions arise in you. Search for the clues. What is it about the image that makes you look at it for more than 2 seconds? What is the underlying feeling or mood that hooks you? Does it bring you to a different time or place? Does the image communicate something to you beyond what you see? Saying you like the colors "is not good enough, what do the colors make you feel?

Find 10 pieces of art and fill in a feeling or emotion for each image.

1. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

3. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

4. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

5. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

6. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

7. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

8. This image makes me feel ______" (feeling, mood or emotion)

9. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

10. This image makes me feel ______(feeling, mood or emotion)

A) Alive, Angry, Anxious, Awe, Afraid, Admiration, Affectionate, Agitated, Annoyed, Awful B) Bold, Bitter, Bored, Blue C) Callous, Cautious, Cheerful, Content, Contrary, Cranky, Cross, Curious, Calm, Cheerful D) Defiant, Delighted, Depressed, Doubtful, Defeated, Dejected, Devoted, Disgust, Dread E) Empathy, Enraged, Excited, Elated, Exhausted F) Fearful, Fearless, Feisty, Frightened, Forlorn, Furious G) Gay, Generous, Gentle, Grateful, Greedy H) Happy, Hopeful, Hopelessness, Harsh, Hate, Honest, Honored, Hostile I) Ignored, Imaginative, Intrigue, Innocent, Intimate, Inquisitive, Impartial, Indifferent, Insensitive, Inspired, Intolerant J) Jealous, Joy K) Kind L) Lonely, Love, Lively, Longing, Lucky M) Mad, Mystery, Mean, Melancholy N) Nasty, Naughty, Nostalgic, Nervous O) Outraged, Overjoyed P) Panic, Painful, Pity, Powerful, Pride, Perturbed R) Regret, Relaxed, Resigned, Rage, Relief, Reluctant, Repulsive, Resistant, Rough S) Sad, Scornful, Shame, Silly, Sorrow, Stubborn, Surprise, Sweet, Sympathy T) Tender, Tired", Tame, Trepidation U) Uncertain, Understood V) Valiant, Victorious, Vindictive, Violent W) Wary, Weary, Weird, Wise, Wonder, Worthy Y) Youthful Z) Zeal

© PhotoEncaustic.com I challenge you to dig deep for the feelings and emotions. Stay away from ‘I like’ this work because of—its size, color, geometric shapes, feathering, patterns, use of organic material, ethereal look, blur, texture, etc. These are just techniques and materials. They are simply the toolbox in an artist’s arsenal. It’s not what the image is about. There is a big difference between liking a piece of art and feeling like you would be proud to be its maker.

If you are drawn to flowers and bright colors, stay with that…..hang out with it for a while and focus on the flowers and colors. How do they make you feel? Let yourself notice if there is a feeling that comes up and write it down. You might find that you like flowers and bright colors because they make you happy or joyful or calm.

Keep asking yourself WHY you are drawn to each piece. WHAT does the image say to you? How do you feel as you look at it? As an artist when you connect to a viewer’s feelings and emotions then you’ve done your job.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about your Intuition and Finding the Connections. "