How to paint intuitively

Intuitive painting is a wonderful thing but comes at a price – many miles of brushwork!

If you paint seriously for years and cover miles of canvas I believe you gain intuition eventually. When I demo, the audience wonders why I did what I did and I don’t know until I have to think of an answer to the question asked. Painting intuitively is a must for me in order to connect with the work. I don’t want to think about process or the method when I work. Doing this interferes with the creative (intuitive) process. It’s what we have all been told when we started. First you learn all the rules, then, eventually you forget them and just paint. It’s a wonderful process that non-artists can never understand.

Intuition, you either have it or you don’t. Call it a sixth sense if you will, only women are supposed to be born with this. Anyway that’s what I’ve been told.

What we now know to be intuition, we used to refer to as letting the Canvas talk to you. When I teach I still ask my students to listen to the canvas, it will tell you what is wrong and what it needs but before it can be heard you need to get your Ego out of the way.

The “distraction” is so necessary. I listen to podcasts when I work in order to give my intellect something to focus on. NPR babysits it nicely. And with my head thus occupied, the editing, or censuring, or self-conscious part of me leaves me alone to work intuitively. When I need to critique my work, I turn off the radio.

So if you follow directions on how to paint intuitively, how intuitive is it? I would expect that intuitive painting would be different for everybody, depending on their experience. Interesting though, that the directions are pretty much how I work naturally. I don’t do a deliberate minute of meditation before…uh, oh, but if I try that, will it still be “intuitive” for me?

I have been reading the twice=weekly letters and find them inspiring, informational, and useful in everyday duties….as well as my art…..thank you, Robert. I even copy some and post them on my studio wall….

A parallel life or a strong passion outside of art can also be of great use in getting into that dreamy intuitive state that you discuss. Passionate collecting is mine.

You can only paint intuitively and automatically when you know what you’re doing to start with. Beginners who try to paint intuitively end up with a mess in my experience.

I agree with all of the above comments, practice and I-pod casts/recorded books, and would like to confess a common distraction that occurs. If I pick-up the phone call while painting, talk for a minute or an hour, then hang-up…. I can’t remember who I have talked to, what I have agreed to do or much else….BUT, My painting is done and boy did I make some great color choices that I am not sure I would have made had I ignored the call. SO, I am stuck in my dilemma, do I answer the call and get in trouble later on for not following through on a commitment…. or answer and create something wonderful.

In creativity, contradictory dualities are emblematic. Being both “calm and excited”, working for perfection when you know it isn’t attainable, combining a sense of freedom with discipline, being open to ideas of others while at the same time rebelling against them, is all part of the game/serious endeavor. Do something meaningful, and have fun with it.

A crowded closet, A crowded work space: Oprah`s Clutter guru says – This shows you are a creative person. That’s because creative people like visual clarity around them, and are known to be not-too-enthusiastic about tidying up. Closing the door on clutter gives them respite from it, so they can focus on the thoughts and ideas in their head. What they may not realize – cupboard clutter does hamper one`s thinking at a subconscious level. If that sounds like your place, take time to sort and organize your things, your hardware, your clothes, keeping the most frequently needed items at eye level so you are more aware of when they start to go awry. You will free your mind and open up new ideas that refresh and revitalize you! Don`t like throwing away – even small things. … He tells us:`They fear that losing these objects would mean losing the memories themselves. If that describes you, reason with yourself. There is no storehouse more permanent than your heart, and the memories that matter will always be stored there.

Timely advice. As our world focuses more and more on problems, we must focus more on play in our creative practices. I enjoy listening to books on tape while painting and it works as that semi-distraction you describe. Wonderful insight.

Beautiful! You give words to what I am at..always on target Robert..love your letters! You are one of the treasures in my life!! fly on!

Whatever might be said regarding doing anything intuitively, it does not come without constant practice and time. Our first experience driving a car shows us that – we think about every single action we take. Such is the case with painting. We are released to intuition when we don’t have to consult colour charts, think about how we handle a brush or even squeeze out some paint! After we have been painting for years it is easy to forget the myriad of things we had to think about when we worked on our first paintings.

Scientific approach to matters like intuition is fine, however, it cannot be scientifically analyzed or completely defined since it has many forms and comes to expression in many ways, and most often as a part of somebody’s activities. Intuition of an artist is distinctive from a gambler’s or mother’s intuition, so on. I’d like to describe it as something which one cannot learn or obtain with conscious means. It is possible to study intuitive approaches, but it is rather like a sixth sense, a special power, ability to observe or see and feel more than other people do. Some people have it, and some never will. There are many who can intuitively do much better than some others who have specifically learned or studied certain skills, methods, etc. Art (music, poetry, visual art) proves it because we can see all the time how so-called self-taught artist can do just fine without having studied e. g., classical art or composition principles, color theory, etc. Intuition can lead there where conscious research and systematically categorized learning won’t be able to. It might be sharpened by larger experience or better visual memory and observation skills. A very good example is watching how women would choose their outfits for some event: it becomes very clear who possesses the intuitive feel of wearing something that is all perfectly right for the occasion and person (and some others together with paid stylists just won’t make this happen). This doesn’t mean spending lots of time. Intuition can sparkle in a millisecond. We don’t always trust it, but I don’t think intuition can ever be wrong.

Now that I have put in more than 25 years as a professional artist- I currently find joy in creating most of my work intuitively. Yes, my early years included the quest for the real and the endless, never ending rules. Now my “teachers” are artists not living and my school is museums. I try to take in everything that makes a painting sing, the colors, the passion, the brush stokes, the mastery. I take endless notes and dissect with my eyes, analyzing the layers. It is my goal to fill my subconscious with many tools. When I get to the studio- I put on the music and paint. Some it is dramatic soundtracks from movies or orchestra covers- but it takes me to my creative place. For me I try to “get out of the way” of my limited conscious thinking and try to dig from a deeper well.

I have painted in acrylic since 1972 using only intuition. I did it as an experiment at first and found I liked the results so much, I continued. I developed my intuitive abilities even further over the years. A year and a half ago I decided to add thinking and feeling to my work. I now plan my paintings more but I use my intuition throughout the process.

Red wine also helps the process!

Intuitive painting for me is a pulling together of everything I know about painting; composition, color, drawing – all of it. When in front of my painting (love your tips), I go forward only on what my soul tells me to do. Paintings emerge from me; then my brain takes over and my training helps me make them work.

If you hope inspiration will strike, there is a tendency to focus on the head area, right? The term “wracking your brain” also comes to mind when looking for inspiration or considering what shall I paint today. Reading Robert’s letters often gets the ball rolling. But I would like to offer another option that often helps me…and it was Robert’s comments listed in today’s letter. “Stand at your easel,” he began. Which then gave me a picture of myself standing at my easel and reminded me what I have told students. I usually say something like this…”When I am in a quandary, of WHAT to paint or HOW to paint it, instead of looking to the brain, focus the attention on your solar plexus….just above your belly button. Breath softly…look down…make contact there with your “inner artist”..the confidant that really knows you, the muse within that knows “things” from an open rather than a critical judging platform. This results in taking the pressure off your head and brain…the “distraction” Robert talked about. It may take quite a few times with nothing jumping out…but eventually your inner artist gets the message that you are REALLY serious about wanting it to speak up. Then, when something does pop up, resist the urge to stifle it or judge it. “Paint something upside down today” it may say. (So turn your resource photo upside down and see your subject from a fresh viewpoint. You will be painting shapes instead of things you know intellectually.). This exercise can lead you in many promising directions!

A big part of intuition is being an observer of life and allowing ourselves to not have to follow. My thought to get to intuition is for artists to trust themselves more. Try painting from your inner guide. You might be surprised!

While I do believe that some release of inhibition is needed to fully reach ones potential as an artist, too often I see that some use the idea of painting from intuition, or process painting as an excuse to be lazy. Intuitive painting can only flow freely if it is based on experience. This means doing the stuff of drawing practice, learning design, color and pigments and so on. With lots stored in the mind, and many hours of looking at natural subjects and painting intuition can have free reign. So, I think it is important to build a good storehouse of memories based on lots of directed practice with emphasis on skill building and knowledge of materials, composition and intentional focus on content.

I rent a very small studio spot in my local art supply store which has north light. I wondered about the distractions of phone calls, customers, and now after reading your article understand the benefit, and believe it to be true. The kind ladies who own the store placed a cupboard between me and the flow of traffic, so distraction is not over powering.

I have been reading your letters for years and love them. This one may be the all time best!!!!!

Another great letter, the latest on intuition. Your points are much more sane than my approach which is to work myself into a totally crazed state, hit the proverbial brick wall and then go for a long walk in the woods. Somewhere along the wooded path intuition usually strikes, (for me). However, I supposed you can take my technique too far as I understand Vincent did.

Those “distractions” as you call them, are ever changing influences that give every painting session a unique feel. As if the painting life is a series of different, hopping universes, connected by what’s on the easel. Some of them are crisp, clear and focused while the others are muggy, color-blind, value-blind, or just plain confused. Sometimes the tomorrow’s intuition discovers a completely different view of the yesterday’s work. It’s quite amazing, but it appears that there are many good and bad intuitions that may show up on any given day. I don’t know if anything can or should be done about that. Perhaps everything we create just has to somehow fit into our overall body of work. Looking back may not be a good idea after all because a new day has a potential to bring something entirely new.

I work with intuitive painting by facilitating process painting workshops. In these workshops the emphasis is not on the end result but on the process of painting. This way participants discover themselves, learn about their mental blocks for one thing and they gain more confidence. The brush is their guide, not their brain, so that they can create from within and get in touch that their unleashed creativity. It’s an amazing process. As an artist I have learned to trust my own instincts, I am not that worried any more about judgments from others, as well as my own and I paint the way I want to paint. Process or expressive painting gave me freedom, freedom to create my way.

I go to my studio, look at what’s there and choose what chooses me, so to speak. I can feel a sensation in my body, my gut and/or heart, when I find the “right” color to begin with. Then that color chooses the next one and so. I know by the same method whether to start on a fresh piece of paper, or canvas or to go back to something I’ve already started, or something I did years ago that I want to rework. I am always impressed with the intelligence of the unconscious. When I do repaint an old finished painting, I realize when I’m done that the new painting is directly related to the original theme and it informs me more deeply than the original. My work is abstract.

Based on The Da Vinci device I splash, dribble, rag, whatever onto a canvas and then just ‘look at it’ non-judgementally (which takes a bit of ‘non-practice) Turning, looking, turning some more until “Bingo” an idea/image appears. Then I just paint out the bits I don’t want and refine. Works for me and I don’t have to go through academic B.S.

I paint the most intuitively when distracted by annoyances and problems. Put me in a field with bugs, heat (and the resulting sweat); and I paint intuitively. Give me a life model who squirms a bit; place that model in a studio with low, low light; and I paint intuitively. The spontaneity that is so prized with plein air and sometimes with life painting is a product of working to a deadline, of working when distracted by annoyances. As we painters know, the light will change; the model will leave so you must think less. I don’t know if I agree with some of the advice in your letter. But I do agree that distraction whether wiggly models, bad light, buggy fields or some of your more pleasing examples call forth intuitive painting.

Then there are those of us who can’t paint intelligently, so we have no choice but to paint intuitively.

The problem in the art world is not the ability to paint or create art intuitively, it is having to explain it. I believe that is why conceptual art has taken over so strongly, there is more of an attraction when you explain a piece of work rather than just experience it.

Three women in the art field to watch out for as artists; Bev Doolittle, Martha Sturdy, and Judy Larson. In Britain Judy Kent-Phyra…

USE “SCAFFOLDING” TO PROMOTE INTUITION IN ART: In everyday language, “Scaffolding” is a framework used around a building under construction or renovation. The breed of psychologists called Constructionists also use this term when they talk about anything concrete that help us to learn creatively. When I am drawing or painting, I think of my first sweeping relaxed almost mindless faint lines or washes as “scaffolding” for myself. Once they are there I seem to able to “see” what needs to come next. The trick is to stop constructing when the person viewing your work has enough “scaffolding” to create the picture you might like them to have in their mind.

Very inspiring lesson at Hollyhock! Great images of surrounding area as well!

I loved this weeks letter. It inspired me to go my way and not be so correct. My son starts by squirting different colors that he feels and then begins to paint. I will print this weeks letter to read when I get up tight. Thanks for these great letters, Lynne.

You can plan all you want, but if things go well, a little guy named “Art” takes over!

Robert & Sarah, inspiring enriching video from Hollyhock. May join you one year. I Love your chair easel. Thanks.

Very inspirational.

That is so true. I have a game that I play with Elvis (my 1 1/2 year old German Sheppard) when I paint. He sits at the top of the stairs and I throw him a ball, he catches it in his mouth, munches on it a bit and lets it fall back to me. Sometimes I sit and look at my work in progress while playing, and go back painting. Once in a while it takes me longer to come back to the game with him and he grumbles, but waits for me. He knows. I tell him. I am working and he has to wait a bit. That games makes me paint in a very relaxed way and it makes me take a distance. I had never realized that it made me paint more intuitively but I see it now and agree fully.

This is one of the best art documentaries I have seen. I just loved the whole atmosphere and involvement in such a serene way. Wow!

I appears you can’t put in live comments in response to anonymous writers in the featured responses above. I just want to say something about Robert’s success as mentioned in “Intuition and Success” above. Robert is successful because he distributes not only widely but wisely. While many galleries might say they would rather have work from an artist exclusively, it is generally better that art is available in a range of geographically disparate places. People feel more confident in buying art knowing that an artist’s work is represented elsewhere. The net has indeed helped this perception.

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Lovely , Inspiring !!Thank You Robert !!

Great job on the video …Bob, Sara, Pete!