My Creative Process

As I have mentioned before in previous posts, painting – as well as everything creative – plays a very important part in my life. But in this specific case I will refer to oil painting and the process that I go through to finish a picture.

Quite often, when I tell people that I paint they tell me how lucky I am to have found such a relaxing activity… I just listen and smile and say nothing about how painting, for me, is anything but relaxing!!! It’s too long to explain… It is a difficult and sometimes exhausting process!!!

It begins when a shape or a thought draws my attention – it can be a tree, a flower, a person’s movement or maybe a particular feeling – something that I may read or study can also generate the form that I want to paint.

Once I have conjured up an idea, I resort to clay to sculpt it so that it can later be used as the model for my painting. This is the first battle that needs to be overcome. I need to find a form that is proportioned, well-balanced and able to convey what I want to express. And given that these are not real objects, it is entirely up to me to decide whether they feel right or not.

When the sculpture is completed I need to find the right setting for it; it has to be placed within the context of what I want to tell. At this point the composition of the painting becomes the main focus of my attention. It needs to be balanced, the drawing needs to be exact and the lines need to carry the feelings that I want to express.

And then I face the final battle: color. Colors are ruled by specific laws, with some being analogous and some complementary. You may think that a particular color can look beautiful until you place another color next to it and, suddenly, the painting is no longer peaceful but actually screams out at you. This, for me, is the most difficult part. Given that my forms are not real, I have no reference as to what the actual colors could be. As I make my way along the painting, it can get to be quite frustrating when trying to find the right color that could work with another color that I have already decided works well in another part of the painting.

When I finally finish a picture after this long process I feel like someone who has been able to overcome a series of battles. And, as far as I’m concerned, these are battles that are worth fighting! The satisfaction of a finished painting is something beyond compare!! I cannot presume of being a great artist nor of having paintings that can be ranked with those that I admire the most, but at any level, the creative process is a profound and, for some of us, difficult one. However, it’s a challenge I hope never to give up!!