Explorers | Not knowing what lies ahead.

It takes a special breed of human to go forth and see what's out there with no idea of what’s ahead.

Chris Columbus, Meriwether Lewis and Willy Clark. Sammy Champlain...

heck, I would even put Emily Carr in this category...I’ll explain later.

To head out without a destination is a brave thing. Braver yet, if you have no idea what the terrain will be like. How do you plan for where you might go when you don’t know where you are going?

I mean...what shoes would you need? Fancy? Casual? Business? Low heel, high heel? No wonder some women will pack so many shoes on vacation when they don’t even know what may happen for dinner. This tendency to overpack can even happen when painting.

If a man knows not which port he sails, no wind is favourable. I’m not sure who said this, but it’s true.

A big leap ahead for my painting came when I was taught how to visualize the end of a painting. When I learned to imagine the scene or artwork and what it might look like as a finished, even framed, painting, I had a far better end result. If you have a good idea of where the end of the trail is you will find it easier to get there.

How do we know what the end of a painting looks like when we have never seen it? The best way I have found to achieve this is to continually collect images of paintings you love. Constantly drooling over favourite artists and paying special attention to things like:

“I love how that cloud is handled”

“I like the looseness of her hair”

“Look how the vibrant colours work from the backlighting on that cow”

You'll think of these observations as you work. 'If I paint this marmot and handle it like that painting of the cow I saw”… your end result may not be exact but you will get there faster, use less material and be more likely to smile from the end result.

Some may tout “but you’re just copying somebody else’s style. You need to get your own style.” Trust me, you will. You won’t always pick just one artist to emulate - you should have many artists with many different styles rolling around in your brain bucket. Do this enough times and your own style just sneaks in through a crack in the back door.

There is nothing wrong with emulating an artist’s composition or trying a certain style. You will be you.

Your choice of place to paint

Your choice of photos.

The colours you choose.

The brushes you pick.

The brand of vodka you buy.

These are all your choices and nobody else’s. These choices are what make you.

So what’s the downside to this?

"Not all that wander are lost,” said JRR Tolkien.

You get lazy. Following along too closely or using the same style over and over brings a LOT of repetition and little diversity within the work.

Although you’re trying to get to your envisioned end result, you need to be flexible and open to letting the painting have a conversation with you. Be willing to change directions if you need to. Left turns happen. This is fine and fun, just keep in mind how far off the path you’ve gotten. I’ve have gone down a side rabbit hole on paintings and I can tell you it almost never works. When it does it’s rare. You can pursue an object of interest but mostly you end up with a confused mess. Let the dog run the leash but be ready to reel him in if he gets too unruly. I know, I know, Jackson Pollock painted this way but he was as rare as a Norwegian Lundehund

Try to envision your end result before you start. Leave room for flexibility, wonder, and a blast or two of you. You won’t get so lost, I promise.

As Dr. Teddy Seuss so eloquently wrote, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

Hope this helps.

Your friend in art,

Doug.