What Emotional Connections Inform Your Art?

What Emotional Connections Inform Your Art? post image

Are you aware of the emotional connection you have to your work when you set out to paint?

When I choose a subject I look for those I have a feeling for, where a sense of relationship already exists. Fulfilling creative expression stems from caring deeply about a theme, an object, a person, a place.

Sometimes it’s hard to express those emotions with words and images. But I let my intuition guide me and make an effort to identify the feeling I have for each of my chosen subjects.

My emotional connection for this painting is a childhood memory

After an afternoon downpour the puddles on the street reflect the sunshine breaking through the clouds. It’s cool in Bogotá. The streets are deserted. I am home with my brothers and sister, warm and sheltered, sipping hot chocolate and nibbling on a piece of freshly baked bread with cheese.

Here I share the step-by-step process of painting this watercolor

This painting is based on a photo I took in Bogotá last year when I was visiting my parents. I wandered through the streets after a rain, looking for that feeling of freshness and calm to take reference photos for my paintings.

I wasn’t satisfied with the photographs, but they do remind me of feelings evoked by the light and the quiet that come just after rainfall. Then I set out to interpret that feeling in watercolor.

Here are the original photo reference and a study I made to work out values and how the shapes would be simplified.

Now its time to move on to my next feeling and my next painting.

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Paint with me! Click here and check out my online watercolor classes.

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