Art Rules

All we can aim for is to be our authentic selves.

“Wow, that person doesn’t use the formal technique, but look at her go!” said my musician friend during the performance. She noted the drummer had immense talent. While I love music and am in awe of those who create music, I can’t even identify a musical technique.

But I’m hungry to evolve in my artistic technique by learning new methods and improvements to my style. This is why I go to YouTube, as well as attend art webinars.

On YouTube, I observed an oil painting teacher tell viewers how to “properly” hold a paintbrush. A reason oil paint brushes are so long is for the artist to hold onto the very top end of the brush while applying the paint with the brush end. And the art instructor created beautiful portraits using this method. Nothing is wrong with her method.

So I kept trying to correct how I had held a paintbrush for 20-plus years of incorrect brush-holding technique. I choke up on the paintbrush, not considered by many the proper style:

Choking up on a long oil paintbrush. Pardon the green stain on the brush — from another painting project.

But nothing is wrong with my method either.

Another YouTuber discussed “loose” painting and that painting is better when done in a painterly, rather than a photorealistic style. Another oil painter agreed, saying great paintings look wonderful from far away, but are kind of messy close up. Then he illustrated how to paint a vase in a photorealistic way and the proper way to blend colors. His way.

I also blend colors. My way.

Neither is wrong or right.

Some YouTube videos tell viewers to paint quickly and loosely; others tell viewers to paint slowly, methodically, in a very controlled manner.

When I attended webinars, some featured artists said that they never use reference photos, but only paint from life, and that this is the only way to paint. Other artists say that reference photos are fine.

So while I am trying to learn as much as I can about art techniques, I find this barrage of opinions somewhat distressing.

I believe excellence comes in all different forms. And there is no one correct way and technique to paint or draw with. What draws me to art is that I love it, and am happiest when indulging in art, and there really aren’t any rules. My goal as an artist is to evoke emotions from viewers, and that must stand on its own merit.

And I’ve had training by taking in-person lessons. One teacher would tire of my slow, methodical painting. He wanted me to speed up and expected that by the end of each two-hour session, I would have coated the entire canvas with a brand new layer of paint. And many times, he was disappointed in my lack of paint coverage and/or lack of blending.

My best oil painting instructor hands down, however, was acclaimed artist Konrad Hack, who was a combat artist during the Vietnam war. I was lucky to take his 10-week-long oil painting college course. He was an outstanding teacher, encouraging his students to do art their way.

He helped me feel confident and free to be the artist I was meant to be. I remember doing a landscape painting, and there were a couple of objects in the reference photo that would not translate well in the painting, so he told me to omit them if I wanted. And I nervously said the client was expecting the painting to look like the reference photo, and he said confidently “You’re the artist! You know what to do to make the painting work.” I omitted those objects, and the client loved the painting.

Mr. Hack taught me that I could use my imagination to enhance a painting. He never tried to constrict me by rules.

The only thing he jokingly and correctly admonished me for was for “noodling,” or adding fine details before all the larger pieces of the artwork were more complete. To this day, when I impatiently want to add fine details to an art piece before the artwork is ready for them, I hear his voice laughingly telling me “Beth, you’re noodling again…” And I stop.

This week, I didn’t noodle on my waterfall painting-in-progress, instead working the larger elements of the scenery:

I’m still reworking the sky. I added craggy rocks to either side of the running water. These sharp-edged rocks will act as an underlayer for other rocks. I added some Thalo Blue to the waterfall and added a pool effect where the waterfall pours into the river. Perhaps, my imagination beckons, there’s a grotto behind the water torrents. Eventually, I will add more splashes of water and mist, as well as trees and maybe flowering plants coming out of the rocks.

When I choke up improperly on my paintbrushes, I remember my musician friend’s words about that drummer who abandoned some rules without abandoning musicality. And, truly, who really cares how a person creates art? “Proper” is a word that belongs in the dictionary, but not in the art world.