vince’s ear

What Is Expression?

Expression is communicating your emotions and inner vision. As an artist, this is your way of satisfying the urge to create artwork which can be enjoyed and interpreted by others. Your vehicle of choice may be painting, writing, sculpting, composing, or any other endeavor. How you express yourself in your chosen method is dependent on a number of things.

For better or worse, we can catch a glimpse into an artist’s life and mind when viewing their works. When authors write, they can’t help but bleed themselves onto the pages of their material. The same is true when painters bleed their feelings and intimate ideas onto the canvas. When you create something, there will never be another artwork exactly the same. You are unique, and not one of 6 billion other living souls on Earth is capable of producing your individual output the way you can.

However, though you are true to your own identity and have your own beliefs, ideas, and style, no person is an island. Isaac Newton said that he was able to come up with his brilliant theories because he had the opportunity to work with and learn from other great scientists. He said, “I am able to see for miles because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” In our communal society, we can’t help but be influenced by our surroundings and fellows. Unless you live in a cave, of course.

As we can see with Sir Isaac, sharing our brain power is not a bad thing at all. Our potential is greater as individuals and as a race if we learn from each other’s experiences, mistakes, and innovations. When I first started the long and rewarding journey of learning oil painting, I studied Vincent van Gogh because he inspired me. Vincent, when he was first learning art, studied and copied Jean Francois Millet. Millet studied and emulated Honoré Daumier. And so on and so forth.

If you are just learning an art or are seeking to find your artistic identity, look all around you for inspiration. Study the great artists of yesteryear and see how they achieved their genius. Follow their brush strokes and copy their paintings (never perfectly), and eventually you will find your own personal methods and style. I’m always learning, and no matter how good I get there will always be inspiration from the history of art. I just recently copied a Caravaggio painting, and though it is not my creation, I am definitely a better artist after having completed it. When I look at the copy, I see something I painted, the attributes of which I am now capable of. I can now paint a hand better, an eye, hair, etc.

After gaining a little skill (loads of which can be learned from copying famous paintings) you will eventually spread your wings and leave the nest. I’m talking about creativity and finding your own voice. But first, a little regression is needed- to your childhood.

When we are young, we doodle and scribble on everything. The younger we are, the more tolerant the parents are for our seemingly nonsensical scribbles. As we get older we are told to color inside the lines, and eventually we make perfect colorings hanging on the classroom walls. We trace our hands to make Thanksgiving turkeys and we follow our art teachers’ instructions to the T in order to get an A. See anything wrong with this?

What the parents don’t know is that the young child scribbling outside the lines is creating something of their own that they see as masterpieces as opposed to nonsense. Over the years our true creative potential is suppressed so that we develop into useful little left brain members of society. If our early potential wasn’t squashed, who knows what we could have accomplished?

So put yourself back in the shoes of a scribbling youngster, ignoring the mass produced coloring book templates. Don’t think of what is expected of you and don’t try to be perfect. Don’t be afraid of others’ opinions and judgments. Look to role models for inspiration and pick and choose strong points which you want to emulate. Just make sure you do as much as you can, when you can.

Above all- always color outside the lines.