Painting emotion

Emotional expression is subjective, not confined or limited by any standard or any variation there in. I suggest there is no limit to the range of emotional expression, and therefore no well defined criteria by which an individual emotional expression can be judged, as to its artistic value. This fact does not bar the minimal standards by which any artistic image are evaluated. Equally, individual emotional expressions can transcend any convenient evaluative perspective, if grounded in direct perception. Direct perception is the product of living truthfully, honestly, and applying rigorous disciplines. Please, indicate an easier path. No such luck. Work, discipline, discipline, Work.Truth requires Discipline, and Work. Deep Meditation, Spontaneous Insight, Right Thinking, Right Action.

What are you thinking? Easy answers. No such luck. Emotions are the substrate of all thought. What directs your thoughts? Love, hate, envy, lust, ambition, revenge, family, personage, success, God, and so forth. Each choice reflects an emotional connection, the validity of which lies within a subjective realm, not necessary amenable to outside observers.

Lovely paintings, Dan. The only thing I might suggest would be to introduce small touches of wild, to you, colors. Specks of pink and purple in brown rocks, slight orange edges in clouds, brightest light yellow highlights on water, and Alizarin Crimson bits in foliage.

Just for fun, throw away realistic colors completely, and try one painting with blue tree trunks, mauve and purple leaves, yellow grass, pink and orange water, haha, just for fun.

Spend time looking at any colorful paintings, the Splash series of watercolor books are good. The odd combinations will sink into your mind, and perhaps come out of your paintbrush. Oh, and if your paintbrush wants to jump into an odd color, let it. Brushes are smart friends.

Buy Robert’s book, and see it and read it every day.

LOL!! 1+5=6, no, three times. I then put 7 and it worked!

I can find flawless, inert paintings of my own in my store-room. These were mostly made from a single photo of the subject. Even when painting wiggley pet portraits, I learned to work from life and from multiple candid snapshots. Plein aire is good for landscapes. Enough “push ups” at plein aire painting will loosen up the paintings so you can sense wind and fragrance.

Part of the emotion is what we leave out.

Dan’s wonderful paintings leave nothing to my imagination. All the mysteries are answered already. This causes me to skip any involvement and move on.

Thanks, Robert, for highlighting Dan’s question on painting with emotion! As Melissa suggests, reaching for other colors on your palette to rachet up the feeling is one way to move beyond the subdued contemporary tonalist approach Dan’s work seems to represent. My work experience with engineers over my career long ago led me to conclude that engineers are both designers, creators, and careful observers of detail, but are often very introspective. So, snother way to generate emotion in one’s work is to look outward: include people doing things…the gesture inherent in people moving through time and space can create a full range of emotions, telling a story all the while. Watching folks move in and out of each other’s space can create many emotions. Try it and have fun!

Years ago I was a student where the prof was doing a demo on painting the human face. He picked a girl from the class to sit as his model and she was flattered but nervous. We watched as he built up the forms and tones of her face until there it was… an amazing likeness of a girl, both flattered and nervous! I asked him how he got that emotion to come through her features, and he wasn’t even sure what I was talking about. He said, “I just painted what I saw.”

I think the point is that he really looked.

Dan, I think your work is great but show some breeze blowing or current in the water. Motion is an enviromental emotion. Keep it up. I am an architect of 30+ years and a painter of 5 years so I do not necessarily consider myself an artist.

Learn to find wild shapes in every scene and include then in your paintings. Nature always shows us jagged, ragged, spindly,… shapes that don’t reduce to planes, cones, cylinders — you include some at the edges of your foliage. Find them other places. It’s hard to express feeling when things fit together easily and smoothly — the result is bland. Leave more touches of wild in; by choosing which ones to include, you’ll express your feelings about the scene.

Nature is orderly. Painting with attention to detail is not necessarily a bad thing. But, a comment by a WWII technician on what she hunted for in aerial photos looking for missles, tanks, structures, etc., was telling. She said, “There are no straight lines in nature.”

Dan, rather than abandon your excellent values and well developed skills in interpreting color, maybe what you are desiring is right at the end of your paintbrush. Instead of holding your brush like an engineering pencil, back off and use the length of your brush. Holding the far end rather than close to the ferrule may free your brushwork to give a more painterly rendering.

I say this because I admire those painters who attack a canvas with total abandon and who apply dynamic strokes with such virtuosity. I won’t ever paint like that. But I can work on my technique so my brushwork is not so taut. Looking at my early work and where I am now, that was the most singular difference, and something I’m still striving for.

Exaggerating the curve of a tree trunk, the cragginess of a rock, the fluid direction of wind on a field of grass …. all are interpretive, and thus, what inspired the emotion in you to paint in the first place. Hunt for elements in your landscapes to exploit.

Don’t disregard your engineer’s mind. That’s what you are. Emotion is there otherwise you wouldn’t paint. It is only a matter of getting in on canvas, and that may have more to do with technique than lacking emotion.

Dan, you say: “As an ex-engineer, I don’t have a clue what I feel about a subject except that I love being outdoors and being in the places I visit.”

As far as I’m concerned, you are already expressing your emotion, which is painting what makes you happy, in your personal style.

After a lifetime of being precise, it is difficult to loosen up and splash around – I know, because as a wannabe architect or engineer who became instead an engineering draughtsman, I understand the way you think.

I love your paintings – particularly Laker’s Farm and Last Colours.

Can these arts be related to the business of attracting a mate, or are they some form of mass or private beguilement? Further, has evolution hardwired some of us to our brushes? If so, what’s the nature of this wiring, why do we plug into it, and what’s it good for?

This topic is covered in an excellent book titled The Psychology of Art and the Evolution of the Conscious Brain by Robert L. Solso. The MIT Press 2003

Essentially, our brains started out small, then grew larger and more able to see and imagine to help us find food and mates. As we found better food sources this enabled our brains to stay healthy and grow more. We could learn, recall, socialize, and imitate, live in groups, share, make new tools, dwellings and clothes. A better environment meant more leisure time. “It is not coincidental that the first vestiges of wall drawings, amulets, and stone decorations appear about this time” (pg 116)

I’m very much enjoying seeing Dan’s work, and I must tell you, I read a lot of emotion from this “engineer’s touch”. I see a tender reverence, a sense of awe and respect for the beauty that he steals while he’s there doing plein air. I also think he has a unique expression that I wouldn’t want to see him change. There’s a freshness to his work that gives it a different quality. It doesn’t look “run of the mill”. You mention “stabilizing horizontality”, but I’m seeing lots of fun angularity too, so there’s a good change-up. Honestly, I think Dan’s work is superb. Guess I should’ve been an engineer!

I think emotion can be painted in different ways.They can be manifested not only in painting people with their facial expressions whether they are happy or sad like a father carrying his child on his shoulders or a child praying at his bedside. It can also be shown in a painting of a raging sea and or the painting of sunset when the the sea is calm.The raging sea may evoke the emotion of anger or conflict and the sunset reflected on calm sea may evoke contentment or being at peace with oneself.I often paint memories from my experiences as child or at work places where I felt at peace and content.Thank you again for newsletter .I enjoy them very much and the feedbacks following each topic are very insightful and helpful .

Over the past 9 years I have grieved the loss of my country of birth and two family members. I never dreamed that death and migration would spark such an intense sense of displacement and grief but, at the same time, an incredible amount of positive focus and fulfillment in my studio. It has made me look so much more intensely at life and what really matters, my palette, subject matter and paint application. I have had to let go of life in order to let it live. Surely we do not all have to experience such loss in order to create emotionally satisfying and expressive artworks?

I love your reviews!!first I was a student going for studio painting – then I found clay. Yet, everything coexists together and you blog is a continuous source of inspiration.

… do a painting with your left hand (if you are right handed). or, paint the painting upside down. fun!

Funny you should say that. I was an engineer too, and had (and still have) same problem of “constructing” a painting instead of it flowing from the heart. We both have to keep working at it, although it’s difficult to nail down what that entails. I have been starting with more loose, stray brush strokes to see if that leads out of the monotonous.

“The main thing is sincerity, and when you learn to fake that, you’ve got it made.”

I understand the fake it until you make it attitude, but wouldn’t fake energy show as fake in painting? My suggestion would be to change the times you go to paint – when the lighting of the subject is more dramatic and shows emotion or energy. When the shadows and casting of light is prominent . When an ordinary landscape becomes energized in its “Magic Hour”.

“It is approaching the magic hour before sunset when all things are related…light in everything… no lost places disappearing without definition … everything needing to be considered in relating the parts to the strange and transient unity.

Dan McGrath’s paintings are beautiful and you can definitely see the engineer’s eye. As for his putting more emotion into his painting, I’m sure you’re going to hear a lot of screaming about the “feminization” of Art. Maybe we’re taking over here too.

I really like Dan’s painting as they seem in the romantic season to me. They are very formal and controlled and he has an engineer’s eye for perspective. Being trained in the sciences myself, as well as married to an engineer for 45 years, I do understand the ‘not knowing what I feel’ routine.

Actually, he does know. I’d think some of the exercises in creativity might help him to bring it out a bit. Just a thought, but it does help me when I’m stuck wondering what I really feel about stuff.

I strive to paint emotion. For me, that is what art is all about – bringing an emotional response from the creator and audience. I have seen paintings that give me goosebumps. Some of Van Gogh’s work is so touching, that I just want to be in the scene.

I try to express emotion by using color, line and texture. For me, bright, pure color ignites my brain’s pleasure center. Streaking lines of grasses feel bold and strong. Glazes soften and comfort.

People often comment that my paintings make them happy. Then, when I paint a “sad” or serious piece, they are confused. Why do I do that? Why do I create a sad moment? It is because I needed to at that time. I painted two small panels called “Lost Trees”. (I tried to attach one, but they seem to be lost in my computer!) There is so much clear cutting go on around where I live, that the poor exposed trees that are left, look scared and naked. Viewers like the environmental statement, but I will probably never be able to sell them, because they don’t make people feel good. But they do make people think a bit about the environment. Interestingly enough, other artists love them – they get it. They understand the value of a sad emotion, and that the dark side is also a part of our lives, and needs to be expressed. What about sad ballads, or sad movies? We need those as well.

I love the stillness and balance of these paintings. As far as loosening up goes, a drawing class taught by an artist and sculptor with a wonderful gestural style (Janet Brome) helped me feel more playful with line and color, when painting.

Beautiful letter and inspiration for photography with feeling and writing. Beautiful pictures and work congratulations. http://wwwtibbyand charlie.blogspot.com

My best advise would be to “pay attention to your edges”. Hard/soft, high/low value, high intensity/low intensity hue transitions. It may not be your style to have loose brushwork, obvious texture, or more abstract, gestural rendering, but you can still lead the eye to where you want it to go and emphasize what is was about the landscape that appealed to you and made you want to paint it. If this is what you enjoy, stay true to your self. You have a fine eye and obvious skill.

It appears that Dan McGrath paints tranquility – that’s an “emotion” that is common to all landscape subjects and that is my guiding “emotion”. Making statements is fine for museums but people like to hang something non-controversial on their walls and tranquility meets their need. I would say that McGrath has mastered that “emotion” as well as yourself.

I think Dan’s work is really good, and the best advice for him would be to just keep doing what he’s doing. I’m not familiar with the locations where Dan’s paintings were done, but I suspect that he is already putting a lot of his own feelings into the work – that’s something one does subconsciously in everything including choice of subject, choice of color, application of paint, even your choice of canvas size and format tells something about how you feel about the subject. Looking at Dan’s paintings, I see his love of the outdoors, and his attention to detail and precision says something about his own personality – I see the feeling and emotion which made him create these paintings. So I hope Dan just keeps doing what he’s doing, I think he’s on the right track already. If Dan does experiment with brighter colors or stronger contrasts, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with experimentation, I do hope he realizes that he’s already got something worth keeping.

I read with interest Dan McGrath’s query. As a very technical acrylic wildlife artist AND an impressionistic oil painter, I’d like to share my ‘feelings’ on this matter. A great master once told me

“It’s just more important to make a great painting than to intricately copy what you see. Cameras do that, painters don’t need to,” That seems to be where the emotion comes into a painting; the artist expressing themselves outside the realm of what they see. It’s a lesson that I keep trying to learn, too, with wider contrasts, brighter colors, and looser strokes.

I am pretty sure it was me who said “Paint what you feel”…

Nobody wants a painting that looks like a photograph, that is what photography is for.

This guy is smarter than he thinks. He already knows he loves to be out doors.

He sees snippets of things in nature and is capable of knowing “I want to paint that”.

The rest is just a matter of filtering out the white noise of life, phone, TV, car backfiring that can easily distract us from painting.

I know that for my approach to painting, that being an artist is first what defines me. I have gathered my gumption, self esteem and armour from being an artist.

So, when I approach a blank canvas, the work is going to come through me.

This is where you “feel” your work. While a certain shadow or colour sense might be what you want, it is only after spending thousands of hours and acres of canvas when you know that things just come out different from the snapshot you have taken in your head. Letting go of the dialog of how things look and reeling in how things feel is the essence of being an artist. It takes a life time, but it is all part of an incredible journey.

This comes at a good time. Returning from India, my mind is full of images of people, color, animals, temples, traffic, music, heat and more people, more colorfully attired than I’ve ever seen. Each woman in India expressed herself so individually in color combinations beyond my wildest palette. How to convey that? Yes, i made brief sketches and took tons of photos, but I won’t be doing the spirit of the country justice by copying my photographs, however skillfully. No, India is truly a state of mind! Ecstatic, swirling, blissful, smelly, dirty and noisy. I loved it all. But back in the studio, I’m still pondering my approach. Never before have I attempted to convey a state of mind while planning a memorial service for my mother and leaving for a family wedding out of state. By the time my brush hits the canvas I’m going to be boiling over like a volcano. Is there any benefit to thinking before painting, or is it all just procrastination? How to convey the essence of an experience without resorting to depicting it’s component parts literally? I know the answer lies in music and will involve primitivism and abstraction and big brushes and wanton abandon and lots of color. Apart from that, it’s a mystery…

I seldom see artists who do not paint with emotion or not paint what they feel – possibly those who are following a fad or painting a subject they don’t respond to as sometimes happens with commission work. Sometimes trying to concentrate on emotions or feelings or any other advice by art gurus leads to erratic work or work that is untrue to what an artist actually feels. Of late, especially with the plein air movement being in vogue, I often hear that ‘the secret’ is lively brush strokes but I know of many artists who use thin layers or softened edges with little evidence of strokes that are turning out wonderful, emotional work. The list for what makes a work emotional is long & differs from artist to artist and viewer to viewer.

Dynamic composition along with a sense of cropping for optimal effect, as shown in Dan’s paintings, are as good a way of eliciting emotion as I can think of. I certainly respond to his work.

Once in college we stood with a large sheet of paper & colored markers in front of us & the teacher ‘yelled’ “Gossomer”. We were to paint our response. Some responded to the word some to the force of voice. It showed me that all we can do is be true to our individual response to the subject & paint what, how & why we are happiest painting.

Dan, your paintings are lovely. What you get when you ask a question such as you have is a thousand different opinions. Many of the works I have seen on this web site & videos are all done with a formula. Just keep painting what you paint. Your voice is strong & I would love to see them in person. As I said before, they are lovely paintings. How’s that for criticism?

http://www.ghangebrauck.com/ ( cheap plug )

Dan: Your paintings are fabulous, and full of your love of the landscape. Stop wondering about esoteric stuff and keep on exploring. Thanks for sharing.

To paint with emotion, one has to be emotional. Painting is autobiographical. Painting is you, who you are and how you see things. Your paintings may seem without emotion only if this is how you feel. What you feel is what you paint. Just loving to be in nature is not enough to paint landscapes. Emotion doesn’t start with painting, it starts before you paint, when you’re not painting, when you interact with others, loved ones. I believe you want to paint and show talent, but I also believe you have not connected with your subject in a way that leaves your previous life behind. For me your paintings lack spontaneity. They are very calculated. Some of the color lacks close observation and better interpretation. Fine painting isn’t about every detail in its place. It isn’t about explaining all things in the scene. What I suggest is probably the hardest thing to do and that is let go. Find a teacher who can show you how to loosen you style, to free you brush from your brain. Your paintings seem like copies and not painted from life. I say this only because they look this way to me. When we have all the time to paint, we have a tendency to paint everything we see. This works for some but it takes the mystery of nature out of the equation. When we see a great work of art not only does the scene fascinate us but when we approach it the brushwork intrigues us, hold us and thrills us. We have to look within the painting to see things we first didn’t see. Look to Corbet or Corot to see what I’m talking about.

Whatever you do keep painting and look forward.

Dear Dan- you are suffering primarily from our cultural system’s demand that men shut down much of their emotional body as children- while growing up- just so you can call yourself a man. This is one of the saddest states of being that exist today and it is completely dysfunctional for an artist. You’re suggesting you are a completely left-brained thinker (male) and not a right-brained feeler (female). Although I don’t really agree with you because I think you just aren’t consciously aware of HOW you ARE feeling things. But really- when was the last time you had a good cry? Likely- never- as your engineer’s brain (male perception of reality) won’t let you. It’s not manly.

My understanding is that to be any good at any art form one has to be able to utilize both thinking and emotion- both the right and left sides of the brain. And the right (masculine) and left (feminine) sides of the body as well as the upper (masculine) and lower (feminine) halves of the body. One’s thinking ability is centered in the brain while one’s emotions are centered in the solar plexus area of the body- or the gut. And you feel from the gut- and then after you feel something- then and only then do you think about it. Feeling actually happens first. This is why one can feel danger and react spontaneously before even having time to think about how to react. It’s just how the whole thing works. And it’s just how so much feeling in men has been shut down over the ages and why it is so much of a problem today. Denied emotions build up until they can no longer be denied- and then they usually break out and go about destroying things in their path.

Jackie Knott suggests you ARE your engineer’s mind. I’d say that that is simply your current programming and your programming can be tossed out- or updated- or re-booted- or changed completely. We ARE NOT only what we think we are. But I am also a perfectionist of sorts and I love to see the work of artists who have highly developed and refined technical skills- which you surely do. Sharon however is commenting about the possible down-side of the “feminization” of art. So she’s off on the other side of the (perceived) gender based crap our culture is immersed in- and holding out for a female perspective. It is the use of both energies- both outlooks- and both facets of our being- because we are all made up of both- that truly bring forth the creative energy in us.

So while you may identify as a gendered male (or female) in fact- you are not. And to be the best artist you can be- what you need to do is simply wake up to who you are as a whole being with both thinking and feeling abilities and a learned skill-set that allows you to use both together at the same time.

Unfortunately I also have to say something about John Ebel’s comment that “people like to hang something non-controversial on their walls”. Everything I make is controversial. My opinion is usually controversial. No part of me wants to be anything but controversial- even though occasionally I make something that can also be described as tranquil. So- don’t let overt tranquility make you boring. The world needs controversial artists who are flat out willing to effect change through a willingness to challenge the status quo.

Hi Dan,

I think that despite excellent painting and emotion in your paintings, you have one compositional problem which manifests as lack of emotion in some cases. Most of your paintings featured here have lot of happening in the lower half of the painting and almost nothing happening in the upper half (or the other way around). As I look at them, I look down immediately and then I look up and there is almost nothing there – it feels like starting to read a story and then there is sudden silence – as if you don’t want to talk to me any more. The clean neat lines add to the feeling of a clinical definitive statement that doesn’t leave any doubt that there is nothing else to say. If there was some object or area inviting me to wonder about it, that would feel like an emotional element – as if there is a message you have put there for me.

Of course, I may be wrong, but perhaps for the sake of an argument you can try composing a piece with this in mind and see what happens.

Whether this is useful to you or not, I think that you are an excellent artist going in a good direction and you will give pleasure to many art connoisseurs to come.

Dan,

I think your work has got all the emotion necessary and beautiful also. Don’t change a thing except the inevitable growth we all have from practice. For some reason everyone will tell you there way is the best and only way. That’s not only false but stupid. Your work reminds me of Daniel Garbers work and know one would consider saying his work needs more emotion . It seems to me allot of the people telling you how to fix your work are people who’s painting look like clones of the current fad in painting of trying to disguise the fact that they cant draw well. A person who dares to be different has to be taken to task and brought back into the right kind of thinking and painting. Blogs are all about the the person writing them not about the people who are looking for support.

So keep working your on to a good thing and should be proud of your work. Tim!!!!!

Hear Hear Dan. Art does not need to be formulaic. It is an artist’s individual vision that makes him unique. All the criticism is elitist BS.

http://www.ghangebrauck.com/ (cheap plug)

I have a few additional thoughts about Dan McGrath’s question on emotion in painting. I find that there are a few things that help me tap into that emotion.

1. When I first come upon a scene I am attracted to, I try to analyze what caught my eye. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s more difficult. But the “wow” factor will lead directly to the emotional connection.

2. I spend about 3 or 4 minutes doing thumbnail sketches before tackling a painting. For me, thumbnails enable me to look deeper into the scene and deeper into myself. If I simply begin painting the first idea without exploring the other possibilities, I may overlook the choices which best express that emotional connection.

3. I paint directly from life, rather than from photos. By being emersed in nature while painting, I am using all of my senses and connect much more deeply to the place (I also do studio works, but I develop them from the plein air field studies rather than photos). I wrote a blog article titled “The Field Study” recently which illustrates this point.

4. I write about the place and/or painting in my journal or sketchbook. Writing about art and about what inspires my art has helped me tremendously over the years to connect on a deeper level with the subject. Sometimes I may write about the wind or bugs, but they too help me connect because they are a part of the overall experience. Searching for the words to express what I experience enlightens me as to what I am feeling.

The first step is to recognize the emotion, which these for things have helped me. Other things may help other artists. But what is important is the recognition. Then if the painting is passionately felt, emotion should naturally be part of the painting. Can you intentionally imbue emotion into the brushwork? I don’t know. But if the decisions on how to apply the paint are a result of the emotions, then in theory the brushwork should express that emotion.

If I could advise Dan about emotion in art, I would say: If you don’t have a clue what you feel about a subject, then go on to the next one. There is nothing anyone can teach you about that. There is no way to recognize or introduce emotion to a scene. Either you feel it or you don’t.

Try to find another subject or travel to a different place to paint. Find a subject that makes you vibrate, that makes you hope that mornings come sooner so that you can go back to your canvas. Something that fascinates you so much that you cannot stop thinking about it. Once you find that particular subject that takes your breath away, then you don’t even have to think about “emotion”. Believe me, it will present in every brush stroke, every line, every shape and every color that you use.

Through years of teaching, I have encountered people who became exceptional “technicians”. What I mean by that is that they knew all the in and outs of drawing, color, composition, value, etc., etc. yet their paintings lacked “soul”. Don’t get me wrong, some of those paintings looked wonderful and I am sure they are hanging in many living rooms, but they were the kind of paintings that would have ‘’nothing” to say to other people.

Every time I won a prize in the different events I participated, I showed paintings that I was passionate about. They were technically good, but the most important thing was that I managed to leave in each one of them a piece of my soul.

I am of the opinion that the person who told Dan McGrath to put more emotion into his paintings is somewhat naive. Dan’s paintings are elegant and restrained. And as you mentioned, beautifully composed and executed. I believe that many of us who attempt to paint nature seek to order and simplify the chaos around us. Dan appears to do this but without loose brushwork and saturated color. My comment to him is :”more power to you and quit listening to these uneducated critics”.

I think Dan IS painting with his emotions. His paintings are precise, but they are serene rather than static. The colors are rich and inviting. You can see the love of nature in his paintings.

That said, there is a simple way to paint what you see while painting what you feel. This may sound deceptively easy. When you see something you love to look at, ask yourself what it is that is attractive to you. Is it the colors, repeated shapes, the gleam of a highlight on an edge? Often we don’t really know what it is we like about a scene. Once you learn to figure that out, you can emphasize what attracts you to the scene, and leave out or deemphasize the rest.

Robert..thanks for your, as usual, sage advice. I received over 50 emails from artists offering methods for introducing emotions in landscape paintings. Thanks so much for addressing this issue!

Best regards.

Dan

Dan’s paintings make me want to dive into that lake or stream. I’d say he’s delivered his emotion.

Dan’s paintings are beautiful and skillful; being wordy gets in the way most times, so I rely on the first burst of impression I get. Trying to enter his scenes it hit me- ‘There is no hiding place for me!’

Maybe that helps- instinct over thought.

Dan McGrath may not think he feels emotion but probably does. Perhaps he doesn’t realize the emotion his lovely paintings evoke in those of us who view his work. If he could see them from our point of view he would understand my comment.

Dan is painting his emotion which is linear and orderly.

Dan’s work and his concern about how to deal with the concept of emotion reminds me of the work of many illustrators-turned-fine artists. Too often, their work is technically strong, and emotionally flaccid. The potential can be seen, but the marriage of technique and passion isn’t quite there.

Technical skill is such a nice goal to achieve. But too many amateur (and sometimes professional) artists never arrive at that goal, and can empathize. Although one’s art is technically strong, as are many illustrators, it’s still difficult to be taken seriously by the “collector” (read, “paying”) public who wants the artist’s human spirit to take in the scene, process it, and recreate it into a piece of art that moves them. Period. Yeah, I know, a lot of art is sold to decorate the wall. However I’d submit the real collectors, who pay real big prices, tend toward demanding passion in their art..not just a painted reproduction of a photo.

So, how do we import emotion into our work? I have fun with that challenge when I teach workshops, as my background is in Psychotherapy. To make it simple: Art is about symbolism. Anything humans do has symbology. It’s how we’re wired. Whether a “halo” shape around the head of a portrait (symbolizing holiness), or the color orange (symbolizing energy/passion,) or a woman with her pet unicorn concept (symbolizing virility), or a short thick brushstroke vs a long thin stroke (symbolizing impetuosity/impatience/or dinner is waiting for this painting to be finished) … think simply: every thing you do in your painting is symbolic. Study symbolism, learn to see meaning in everything you see or hear, and you will get in contact with emotion. Then think symbolically as you “engineer” your painting and you’ll naturally develop into a goal-oriented, emotion-laden artist.

Is that Nirvana, or what? FYI: I’m painting lots of passionate-static scenes lately if you go to my website at www.hollandgallery.com.

It is Dan’s expression, other engineers will eat it up. These lovely paintings will withstand the close scrutiny they will receive from these folks. I am so not in this category and love them too.

The comment above by Gary Holland has nailed the definition of passion in my mind, he has nailed it to the cross for all to see. Thanks for sharing Gary. Your words above struck a deep cord with me. Thank you.

I believe that the concept of “emotion” in a work need not be defined as an “emotion” in the form of a mood. Emotion can be shown through many different forms. Some artists display emotion through brushstroke…some by subject matter…some by choice of medium. The emotion of the piece is determined, (and possibly only known to,) the creator of the work. What an observer gets from the piece is their take on what they wish to see in the piece…and this may be totally opposite from the artist’s intended concept. Does it truly matter? :)

The 11th painting gave me a tingly feeling or excitement. It felt refreshing.

truly emotional