What is the Emotional connection and how do artists create connections?
The last post on Curiosity talked about knowing your 3 taproot words. This exercise is important to complete before we move on to this next post, which is responding to your scene.
Your taproot words will change throughout the seasons of your artist’s life. I’ve been using the same three for several years and I’m pretty comfortable with them, but I’m always open to swap out one or two as time moves on.
You will need your three taproot words – got them? Let’s continue.
We are not copyists, we are artists. Whenever you’re painting and your ego mind says to you, “that’s not how it looks!” “What are you pretending to be… an artist?”
Answer back confidently, “Yes, I am an artist and No, that’s not how it looks, that’s how I want it to look for my story. Now shut up! and get out of the way. I want to finish this.”
This is important. You are not the voice in your head. You are the one merely observing it. You do not have to do or say what it tells you to do or say. Being able to separate yourself from the voice in your head is the first step to taking control of your mind and bringing the mindfulness you need to make the art you want.
Now that you have your three taproot words, and have a mind that is right for painting, you’ll want to bring an openness to experiment with your scenes.
Here’s what I mean.
This next time you’re at the easel, ready to capture the scene, challenge yourself to pause for one minute and ask one question… What’s the virtue here?
Then use that answer to help you paint your scene. Don’t use a long drawn out answer; boil it down to one or two words at the most. This way it’s easy to remember and recite throughout the painting process.
Here’s a few examples of the virtues your scenes may be displaying:
Love and Courage
Strength and Kindness
Patience and Faith
Beauty and Adventure
Honesty and Compassion
Generosity and Integrity
Fairness and Self-control
Loyalty and Justice
Wisdom and Happiness
Joyful and Discovery
During this process of responding to your scene, a title will more than likely come to mind. Once you have your title, your two virtue words of this scene, your three taproot words for this season of your life, and a tuned-in and tuned-up mind ready to paint, the painting will feel like it’s painting itself.
This is one way to respond to your scene. It’s not necessarily the right way or the best way, but this is what’s working for me at this time.
I hope this helps.