How and Why I Create Art?
I was challenged by Anu-Riikka for the blogging challenge “A Blog hop with a difference”. There are six questions to be answered so let’s begin!
1. What am I working on right now?
More than a single project I’d like to think about what’s new in my process. I always try to learn new things and expand my skills to keep creating interesting and exciting. At the moment I practice writing poems in English! I want to improve journaling in my art journal pages and use writing to enforce imagination. I used to write poems until young adulthood and have always loved literature. Writing in English provides an additional challenge because my mother tongue is Finnish. The world is so much bigger and better if you are not limited to the language. I can also write in Swedish, and I used to study German at school, but Spanish or Portugal would be great to master too!
2. How long does it take to create a project?
A small art project for the blog usually takes at least two days to create. I do not like to finish anything at one go because the quality gets better if I have time to ponder. I often work with projects in phases so that decorated papers or sketches are created a long time before I execute the final project. I also use a lot of time to think about techniques and ideas before I start. Sometimes when I start creating, I realize that my thoughts have gone wrong. Luckily it is easy to turn a new page from my art journal and start it over!
3. What are my fave things I love to create with at the moment?
I have tried a wide variety of art and craft supplies but enjoy basic supplies the most. You do not need much to start creating. My favorite supplies are colored pencils, markers, watercolors, acrylic paints, blank paper, and scissors. It has become more and more difficult to enjoy creating projects that use ready-made products. I get a lot of satisfaction of not buying and creating things myself. Even if I enjoy seeing art in general, I do not get much out of following projects that use heavily ready-made products like paper flowers or stickers. I wish more and more people could give a chance for their imagination and experience how satisfying it is to create something from start to finish.
4. How does my writing/creating process work?
I believe that we should act creatively but ensure that it’s made thoughtfully. That’s why it is good for anybody to clarify the reasons why they create. I make art for two main reasons: 1) to be able to communicate with other people 2) to show my admiration for the great masters of art and design.
My creative process is very formal because I love organization. During my designer studies, I learned the basics of the design process. It includes background study, collecting, combining and testing ideas, executing in phases and getting feedback in appropriate stages. Even if it sounds controlled and complicated, it doesn’t feel like that. Each phase is adjustable: it can take very short or long time, and it can be repeated when needed. Working systematically gives full power to my creativity. I also like to work towards a pre-planned schedule. When I have set a limited time for creating I feel freer than constantly questioning whether the process has taken too much time or not.
5. How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
I love art, design, and architecture. Show me any picture of the history of art and design, and I get inspired! I become very easily inspired, and that can sometimes be distracting. On the other hand, I think that inspiration is overrated and regularity in creating underrated. I hope that I can help people create more regularly so that they get to know themselves and love their own work. I also hope that my regular practice will improve my skills to communicate visually and verbally.
6. What is my signature style?
My work has a lot to do with colors. I think that colors can communicate feelings most effectively. In composition, I often aim for dynamicity. I also try to achieve the balance between relaxed and free-flowing line and accuracy, almost engineer-like look. My style is some mixture of folk style and art nouveau with a twist of the 1970s. However, I have begun to hope that I would have no signature style at all! The more I create, the more I have become to value diversity. I want to learn to understand as many styles and artists as possible and help others find them too.
How would you answer these questions? Share it by commenting this post or if you have a blog, linking a post to the comment!
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Stretch Your Artistic Style
In art, I am fond of thin strokes and decorative details. I have often thought that blurry painting is like a bad photo – in need of sharpening. But slowly I have begun to get interested in blurry paintings. Those wide strokes have begun to feel tempting. The concept, where colors can take the leading role, has been sneaking into my thoughts. So, when I wanted to express something very familiar to my home country, I thought that the impressionistic style would go well with the theme.
The theme was melancholy and for me, it’s all about white flowers. In general I do understand the beauty of white, but personally, I see it as a symbol of loss and emptiness. The painting called “Condolences”. I wanted to give both white and black the position where they can be heart-breakingly beautiful. I wanted to treat them as real colors, not only as the elements to create contrast or compositional space.
Taking a New Route in Painting
Before I began to paint, I spent weeks of pondering the idea in my mind. After I had got hold of the feeling I wanted to express, I felt unsure of how to master the technique. Then I realized: if you want to stretch your style, you need to take a new route at some point in the creative process.
My new thing would be the way I used the acrylic paints. But I could start with familiar things: watercolor the background and set the basic color scene.
After creating this background, I felt comfortable: same old, same old! Then, with the help of Coldplay’s best hits, I got into the mood where I felt no uncertainty. When I have a clear theme in mind, I prefer to listen to the music that is pompous and not too deep. Then the music helps to improve my self-esteem without taking the focus away from the theme.
After few moments of walking around the room – that is a great way to boost your creativity too – I took the step. I mixed the paint, picked the broadest brush and dipped it into the paint. Then I began to brush boldly and very fast.
If you want to accomplish something new: think before you do it, not while you do it. Let your reason go through what you should create. But while you are creating, work very fast so that you reach the pace of your creativity. If you have some kind of image in your mind about the end result, it is important to focus on the feeling you want to express. The feeling should overcome the image while you are working.
Finishing Touches with Colored Pencils
There is something quiet and covered in the way the people grief, so I added a lot of blacks and other dark tones. After passing the most exciting phase, I became worried about the lack of depth in dark areas. After working with acrylics, I added details with colored pencils. The white lines were made with a white gel pen.
I made the final touches with colored pencils by picking complimentary colors or colors very near their complementary.
It felt somehow controversial to create this melancholic piece when the Finnish summer is at its best. But this was a good experiment. It raised an important question: Have I limited myself too much? Without too much questioning, could I try to create whatever comes to my mind?
Stretch Your Artistic Style!
Give yourself permission to experiment! Here are my tips:
1) Pick the direction to go! When stretching your style, remember to pick something you kind of like, but still have reservations about it.
2) What are the factors the new style has? Using a dry brush and only a few strokes were essential for my experiment. Think about techniques, colors, composition and pick the things that are essentially different than your ordinary methods.
3) Which the step in your process is the one where you take the new route? When will you start incorporating those new things? In my process, it was after making the background. Preferably start with the familiar way to get into the flow of creating.
4) Get emotional so that your emotion leads the way while creating. Think about the stories behind the emotion. Get into the state where expressing the emotion is more important than mastering the new method. Turn the music on if you need some courage to express your emotion.
5) Work fast without too much thinking. If you need to think, interrupt your work. Stand up and move around. Never forget the feeling you want to express.
6) Sleep overnight and finish your work on the next day. Embrace the good and fix the bad. Do not make major changes anymore as there will be a new day, a new blank paper, a new play, a new chance!
Stretch your artistic style
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I Dream to Create …
I have big creative dreams: to create something that makes a huge impact – I mean HUGE!
1) Interiors
I dream about people entering the room and feeling that they almost faint. Colors, patterns everywhere! The best thing would be to see their reaction: “OMG! You must be kidding!”
2) Exteriors
I dream about painting street art for buildings and great architectural places. I would change all those white boxes to something overwhelmingly colorful. It did not matter if it would be a temporary mask. At least the building could say: “There was a time when I was alive!”
3) Huge Paintings
I dream about people sitting on the bench nearby staring at them. A big company could have them in their lobby area. What a wealth of colors!
4) Big Quilts
I dream about designing every single fabric piece which is sewn in them. All original, all full of patterns!
5) Stage Backgrounds
My ultimate creative dream: Creating a stage background for a concert – a picture show which visualizes the music! I dream about the steps to design the backgrounds: how I would listen to the music, again and again, create sketches for evaluation and work with a big team to make it all happen.
Obviously, all the photos here are trick photos created in Photoshop by combining my own photos. These creative dreams might never come true but dreaming is kind of playing. And playing is a key factor in creativity, so let’s keep on dreaming – BIG!
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Found Your Style without Noticing It?
I was about 15 years old when I created this underwater scene. It was made at school, and I remember that we were told to draw fishes. Already showing a romantic character, I had to add the treasure chest too!
It is surprising to realize that even if tens of years have gone by and life has changed tremendously, my creations still look the same. Someone could even find it a bit ironic: no development has happened during all those years!
Have you saved any of the drawings that you made as a child? Have you ever compared them to what you create nowadays?
Back then, it never came to my mind that I had discovered my style. On the contrary: when I grew up I lost the grip of the treasure chest. It took tens of years to get back on track. Or better said: To let go and go with the flow. Those things are just easier for a child than for an adult.
The fact is that the more serious you are, the fewer opportunities you will give to your creativity. The more the days go by without playing, the less likely your imagination will guide you.
I believe that instead of thinking about single projects and their success, it is good to think about continuity. Some day you will be astonished how full your treasure chest is and even better: how your imagination has added value to your art or craft.
Save and cherish what you make. Within time you can create treasured collections of your work.
Plus it is good to remember that there are wonderful opportunities to create printed products from your art, for example, Society6 art prints and accessories, Spoonflower fabrics and Moo.com postcards.
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