It is important that you remember what you want your art to stand for,
something you care about and can come back to for inspiration. This is pretty
much breaking it down to the very basics however it is nowhere near simple. If
you are unsure of what it is have a look at what you have created before and
try spot out a pattern, something that carries through from one thing on to another. Perhaps try search within yourself to define your story, your inspiration and your message. Is
your art symbolic of anything like freedom, love or does it represent willingness
to experiment and take risks? Or maybe it is a showcase for your skill and
knowledge of techniques and isn't emotive? It could be a scattered mix of a few of these or a chronological order that makes up your life story. The sooner you find out the better.
I personally like to use powerful emotions like anger or frustration and
encapsulate it on a sheet as a form of freeing myself from their negative
effect. Therefore you could say my art reflects my inner self and the struggles
I go through. On the more positive side I tend to get inspired by nature and its
beautiful diversity, therefore it may be represented in my art literally or as
an idea.
As an example I will show you a painting I had done while in school a
couple of years ago. It was for an art competition with the theme ‘Nature’. After
years of painting this picture it is still something very personal to me.
With this painting I tried to represent the continuous struggle to achieve harmony between mankind and nature. The car or the window symbolises something that is man made yet is
rusting away and is breaking down in a natural setting. The wallpaper in the
car was a slightly ironic statement as it is a floral design pattern inspired by nature
yet fully man made. The reflection of
the face represents my willingness and desire to form a relationship with the
fauna and flora that is being separated by a piece of glass in the car, a
symbol of the barriers that exist between those two varying habitats. It is an
effort to submerge in that beautiful world and leave behind all the influence
of mankind. The ivy which has grown inside the car, the broken glass, the holes, the lizard and the beetle suggest that I am slowly letting go and I’m allowing myself to
be free of influence. From a different perspective, the animals and plants are invading
something that is man-made (car) and are adapting to survive, again symbolising
how humankind had invaded the natural habitats of organisms to make it their
own, forcing them to either adapt or die out.
Leaving your personal mark in your art is a vital part of being a successful artist as it will allow the viewers to gain a better understanding of who you are or how you differ from others. By doing this you become more memorable. A personal statement could be a reappearing object, shape, symbol or colour. Something like this will create interest and a greater depth to your art. Vincent Van Gogh, for example, was obsessed with the colour yellow, it is speculated that it was a result of the opium he was taking, an adverse effect of his medication or something directly linked to his illness.
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| A Meadow in the Mountains, Vincent Van Gogh, 1889 |
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