“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
– Pablo Picasso
To confess, I’m definitely nowhere near the level of Picasso, far from it, as I’ve got so much more to learn and grow. However, these quotes made me realised that it’s so easy to lose our enthusiasm in what we love, if we stop learning, discovering, and seeing things with a child’s perspective.
One of my favourite writers, Landa Cope, said this, “You can't create anything that doesn't reveal who you are. You can't create what you want to be, you create out of what you are.” To paint from the heart is to paint like a child, I believe. I love to art jam with my nephew who’s turning 7 this year. He loves scary monsters and is afraid of the dark, but he enjoys creating and drawing new creatures of his own. Funny, right? Children build their worlds by reimagining the things they find or see around them. So what is the imagined world in my heart?
Palettes of Imagination
In my last blog entry, I mentioned that I really enjoy the moment when an artwork is created by design, yet spontaneous at the same time. It’s the spontaneity that makes all the difference. Spontaneity is where the fun begins. One of my go-to, warm up exercises, before I paint or illustrate, is to play with colors.
First, I select a palette of colors for the day and I just make random color blobs out of them. Then I re-imagine these blobs differently. Suddenly, I can see a hundred different things to the blobs. One blob can be a hat, another a mushroom, one is a chair, the others are a vase, a plant… and you get the idea. Try this method and you’ll be amazed at where your inner child’s imagination can bring forth.
Beauty of Imperfection
Sketchbook Drawings
In my early years of studying art in school, our artwork was often graded according to how well, or rather how realistic, the piece was. This was what turned me off art when I was a kid. Yes, I disliked art. Hahaha. My illustration journey only began in 2017 when I started a 365 project on Instagram. Perhaps I should share more about this journey of mine in the upcoming blogs, but that’s for another day.
When I realised that art is not just about how realistic it should be because there are so many different styles of painting and illustrations. As artists, we should constantly find the best way to express what’s in our soul, and hopefully, the end result, or artwork, will resonate with the audience.
I’m personally very drawn to abstract art. I also love work that shows an artist’s vulnerability and imperfection. I guess that reflects life, and where beauty lies. Those raw and loose strokes, be it in any forms, textures or colors, they resemble a child’s bold attempt of drawing freely, without having any cognitive process or overthinking things. I’ve learnt to appreciate mistakes in my pieces, and the white space on a blank sketchbook page is less daunting to me now.
These are images from the Wonky Series. I’m proud to say that this series was born out of simply just having fun and creating crooked strokes out of these architectural forms, buildings, and houses.
Wonky Series
Stay Curious
If we’re not constantly in a place where we’re trying to learn and figure out what we don't know, we won't be able to create anything new. This is food for thought for me constantly – when we think we know it all, then we know nothing at all. So, stay curious and inquisitive like a child, always. I know I am! :p