Thinking stops me thinking?

If you read my previous post you will know I was battling my two inner artists; the “drawing artist” and the “painter artist”. At the end of the post I had concluded that the drawing artist had triumphed. 

It has been a week since that conclusion. I’m not so sure that is correct. About halfway into the week the painter escaped and started taking over again — damn you painter artist.

The painter managed to escape because I watched one too many YouTube videos. These videos preached the virtues of painting with hard edge brushes and large brush strokes.

This is arguably great advice for new artists jumping straight into digital painting. In retrospect this was not good advice for me. 

I have been painting/drawing for many years. I know my process, and that process is to always lead with a strong underlying drawing and solid composition. I have progressed to the point where this is mostly intuitive. These how-to-vids make me think too much about what I am doing. Thinking causes me to stop thinking, yeah I know it makes no sense.

I would like to believe that I “allowed” the painter to emerge so that I could try the advice offered in the YouTube videos. The painter did all right the first few images.

As usual, after too much freedom and “thinking” the painter has created a dud. Time to give up art — again.

When I think I don’t think.

Me, who else would I quote?

Fortunately everyday is a new day and the following day I arose with the drawing artist fully in control. I shoved the painter back into his place. That place is subordinate to the drawing artist. How do you “like them apples” painter artist?

Upon placing the painter in his place I was able to reflect on how he had escaped. It was not so much the how-to-vids but rather it was me. I had abandoned my process. In fact whenever the painter arises this is me thinking about what I’m doing.

When I think I don’t think. To get back to not thinking I do this one simple thing. I locate a “real” piece of paper, a real ink pen and start sketching. I just doodle until something appears. In order to not think I like to start with a tree and everything grows from there.

This sketch usually takes about 15 minutes. Thinking is buried deep within myself and the creative juices are flowing. The tablet drawing/painting now has a high probability of surviving.

In conclusion I now realize it is not the drawing artist nor the painting artist that is in control but rather it is “ME” that is in control.

Of course this is easier said than done. Don’t tell anyone but “ME” is easily kicked aside by those two inner artists.

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Talk at you next week. Hopefully “ME” is still in control.