"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." ~Vincent van Gogh
Being so engaged on a painting as an artist is such a journey, a personal feeling that I have lately. I start with asking myself where I want to go with this when I find something inspirational and beautiful like a trail to walk on. Then, walking slowly and surely at first will be like drawing out what I want my painting to look like in the end. The walk gets faster as I begin the painting. Then, once I get halfway up a relatively steep trail, in the middle of the process of painting a subject, it is at these points in time I will take breaks and just look at how far I've gotten, and what view I see here on my painting, just like hiking on a hill. The higher I go, the closer I get to finishing a somewhat difficult project. I keep strengthening up courage to complete something and go all the way to the top of a peak, to stop painting and let it go when it is finished. Sometimes it is difficult and exhausting, trying to fix some mistakes or add things, pushing myself over rocky parts of the trail. But as soon as the top is reached, the goal is there, the final part of the creative adventure is complete, and I am satisfied. What is also an adventure for painting would be: going beyond the comfort zone of what I'm used to, and the spark to keep doing it.
I notice that there are fine artists who are either skilled in one of these painting mediums, such as watercolor, oils, acrylics, and unique ones as encaustic or tempera, or be talented in all. I think that another fun adventure is wanting to paint more in trying out new things, and I've done so over the past few years. Currently, I am working on an acrylic portrait the first time, getting in the shapes on canvas with luscious color and smoothing out the brushstrokes. Being this open-minded to other mediums helped me to think and do something new. I like to go out and beyond to practice the varieties of painting and get my creativeness flowing. They will turn out so differently, either like thick impasto paint as in oils or blended and smooth as watercolors, but it doesn't matter. I like the results of a finished painting whether I use acrylic or oils.
Something I thought of comes to mind: No matter where you go with something in art, or what you are skilled at, it's still an adventure. Especially when the concept of painting is concerned, it takes effort and, more importantly, motivation to get to the end. I am motivated to finish my portrait and maybe keep going with future ones, motivated to continue a series of Greek architecture and landscapes, and so forth. Therefore, its more of a stimulating journey when an artist has motivation. I want to thank those who encouraged me to think that, because this persuades me to just do it. I won't forget painting is also a mind-releasing project, just stress-free and full of life. It is both that and an adventure, I don't believe it can't be both.
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