An artist’s inner voice and critic
This inner voice is always present, whether you realise it or not. It can be strong, determined and stubborn or it can be critical, insecure and judgemental. There are also people who have a bit of both which can be even more stressful and cause immense indecision and fear.
Your autopilot is always there even if you don’t realise it. This is a mechanism that helps you do things automatically even when you don’t notice it. It’s like breathing or your heartbeat, it just carries on and on and you don’t have to think about it, it just does its own thing. Your inner choice is about the same. You can talk to it, saying that you are in agreement with it or choose to go against its advice and do something completely different.
Talking to your inner voice and also accepting fair judgment and advice from others, is always beneficial. Be open to creative criticism and also follow your instinct (inner voice). Be focused and get to know yourself. Be kind to yourself and your self-belief and stay in-tune.
An artistic experiment to shake up your inner voice could be using a colour or support that you haven’t used before. Using only purple to paint a face (can you hear your inner voice saying you can’t do that”!)
Try mixing two animals together, like a goldfish and a goat or an eagle with a ladybird. Try either drawing these combinations or painting them.
Be quirky, imaginative, and creative. Don’t be afraid to use the wrong colours for things, this shakes everything and everyone up.
Instead of using the usual tools for painting or sculpting, use sticks, plastic cards, cotton wool, material or your fingers. Tell your inner voice that this is allowed!
There are also materials that can be used to make paintings that don’t include paint. For instance:
Coffee, Tea, Red wine, Fountain -pen ink, Bleach, toilet cleaner, to name but a few.
These combined with other things, diluted or used full strength can produce some surprising, unusual and fun effects. Try it! Art should not only be taken seriously but also remain fun. Experiment and enjoy it!