Creative Style

I started out working on a collage for today’s post but ended up walking away from it. It just didn’t feel right and I felt I was forcing my thoughts onto the piece instead of letting an idea come to me “organically”, as I like to describe it. It wasn’t so much the work itself as much as how I was feeling trying to make something. My actual thought was, “this sucks!” lol!

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”

Marc Chagall

Walking away was a wonderful lesson. Instead of giving up, I paused for a bit then came back to work some more. The quiet time allowed me to listen to my heart, a wonderful companion when I am trying to make things. The technique above is called “line and wash”, it’s been around for centuries, it is a style I like for no other reason than I feel good when I am using it. You draw out your sketch and then you fill it or wash over it with watercolors, or in this case, watercolor brush pens.

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.”

Kurt Vonnegut

Practice! That’s the operative word here. Practice also includes using the right emotions that allow you to feel good about what you are doing. Who cares what I think or don’t think about the work, that can be someone else’s job. My job should always be feeling good about what I am trying to create, that is what is going to open me up to listen to my heart.

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.”

Neil Gaiman

Indeed! We are who we are, and when that voice in your head tries to tell you otherwise, don’t be afraid to walk away until the real you shows up again. This is when it will be time to put your heart to work, this will be your best time to start creating!

“Follow your heart and your mind will create.”

Roy Wilkins

Talk soon…

G