Category: Discussions/Essays

One of hundreds (if not thousands) of studies done by the great Michelangelo Buonarroti. Is it any surprise he mastered human anatomy?

“The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.” — John Wooden, NCAA record-winning Basketball Coach at UCLA

How we make ourselves is perhaps the most important thing we can do for ourselves. And, if we do a good job, we get to make our mark in the world. Therefore, it’s essential that we be conscious of what enters our bodies, minds and hearts because what goes in must come out.

Joan Miro’s studio in Mallorca. Surrounding ourselves with art, open air and quality people keeps us inspired and creative.

But what’s just as important is how often we repeat those constructive actions for repetition strengthens the act that’s being repeated and its results. Hence the importance of paying attention. The quality and frequency of deep focus is heavily tied to excellence. The greatest and happiest artists have always been those who practiced diligently. We might regard it as simply devotion (to their craft), but it’s really about finding harmony in the act of being a creative person. To qualify as true artists, we must create with focus and do so regularly.

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” ― William James

And how does this tie into our happiness? Well, perhaps the world is in you just as much as you are in the world. And while it’s often said that it’s not good to be inside our own heads all the time, the truth is that our personal reality is our only reality. And since what we repeat becomes our truth, we are always biased. This is why it’s so wrong (and dangerous) to pass quick judgement on others. An astute mind will seek to understand first before trying to be understood. Only then can we continue to grow and learn from  each other.

Senecio by Paul Klee. Klee’s art playfully resembles that of a child with its beautiful presentation of simple form, color and innocence.

So each day we must really look to see the world with fresh eyes, not to find “THE TRUTH” but “A TRUTH”.  We must share and make tangible what’s uniquely inside each of us.

“Art does not reproduce the visible but makes things visible.” — Paul Klee

Unfortunately, when we don’t own our minds or bodies we get  confused. The often used but sometimes misguided advice of “follow your heart” becomes no more than a reaction based on pure adrenaline. “Feelings” are hardly objective — the biological mechanism of fight or flight is ill served in our current times. When our ego is fearful, lost or overly proud, we don’t see clearly as to where we’ve gone wrong or how to do things better. Often times, the solutions lie elsewhere — in reflection, in understanding and synergy. When our minds and bodies are sick, our compasses become misaligned. Silence and peace of mind is terribly underrated.

Rafiki from Disney’s The Lion King. Are you ensuring that your body and mind are healthy and balanced? How do you expect to do great (or even decent) things if they are not?

But when we’re balanced and healthy, ours heads and hearts can follow what we can properly call intuition. Only then are we able to choose our routines, rather than succumb to unintended behaviors that form so insidiously. Poor habits are easy to acquire.

Depending on our own biases, we’ll see either a beautiful girl or an old lady. This classic optical illusion test is proof that we all see the same things differently no matter how “obvious” it may appear to us individually.

Since we live in a world bombarded with constant headlines, advertisements, and “free” advice from experts and gurus, we must stay sharp and mindful in order to separate the wheat from the chaff — we need to be conscious of what we see, hear and absorb. Without a clear head and healthy body to suit, we are ill-prepared to handle this endless invasion of dubious information.

The Escadaria Selaron is a world famous set of steps created by Chilean-born artist Jorge Selaron. (Image from Daily Mail UK.)

Advertisement in public places being passed off as public art. (Image from NBC News)

Habits are tricky things. We might make “positive” ones but without persistent effort, they fade away and die (exercise is a common example). It’s almost funny how “negative” habits seem to form and stick so effortlessly. Quick and easy adaptation sure has its price. But perhaps the bigger reason poor behavior ingrains itself so strongly is because it’s just being repeated more often. We’ve simply been far more exposed and conditioned to behave in negative and destructive ways than the other way around. Positive, inspired living requires us to choose it. In other words, we need to choose what we repeat.

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw

So here are some simple things to ponder as a working artist:

a) If your routine is that of chaos, disorder and lack of preparedness, then expect to see the same in your work. You will repeat many of the same trials and make many of the same mistakes over and over again. And you’ll get used to it. But the opposite is also true, if you’re well-structured, you’ll get stronger, for order begets more order.

“Repetition is the reality and the seriousness of life.” — Soren Kierkegaard

A model sheet for Scar by the masterful Andreas Deja (a former teacher of mine) done for Walt Disney’s 1994 masterpiece The Lion King. No doubt just a small sample of the countless studies done by Andreas to explore and find all the visual and emotional nuances of the character.

b) If you have the habit of always doing only what’s required (or even less than that), know that that will become your moniker, your signature among your brethren. What we do and how we do them, defines us.  Our travails (or lack thereof) leaves footprints.

“There is no reality except in action… Man is nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life.” ― Jean-Paul Sartre

Color study for Toy Story 3 by former Pixar Art Director (and current Co-Founder of Tonko House) Dice Tsutsumi. Dice is a master colorist, but he’s also an innovative and much valued creator/collaborator inside the animation community.

c) If you only copy what’s in front of you, you’re doing a disservice to you and to art. Whether you’re using live models or objects, photographs or video reference, you mustn’t blindly copy. Art is not duplication but imagination — it’s your physical expression of what’s being filtered through you and you specifically.

“The big artist does not sit down monkey-like and copy… but he keeps a sharp eye on nature and steals her tools.” — Thomas Eakins

Both Members of This Club by George Bellows. An ardent Robert Henri follower, George Bellows embodies all the spirit of his teacher. He created work that was a gorgeous reinvention of the world around him.

d) If your working routines begin to tire or bore you, know that your intuition is working. It’s telling you to try something new, to shake things up a bit. Experiment or take a leave and then do something unusual, perhaps extraordinary.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results” — Albert Einstein

Betty by Gerhard Richter.

Ludorff by Gerhard Richter. One thing exciting about modern painter Gerhard Richter is that he’s continually experimenting. From his early days of nostalgic photo-realism to his modern day abstract expressionism, Richter has continued to excite (and perhaps upset) his audience.

e) Be mindful of your surroundings. If your environment is one that’s not conducive to creativity consistency or happiness, make an effort to change it or move to a different one. That said, know that the most influential environment is the one you build in your head.

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” — Goethe

The great sculptor Alberto Giacometti in the comforts of his studio. Artists should always “own” their space — the physical space if possible, the mental space always.

f) Don’t worry about style. Let your influences show, let YOU come through in your work. If you’re true to yourself, then you’re the best possible version of yourself. Uniqueness is inner truth expressed.

“I am not interested in being original. I am interested in being true.” — Agostinho da Silva

Jean-Michel Basquiat, who tragically died at the young age of 27, was one of the most exciting and original artists to arrive in the art scene in the 1980’s. His fresh and intuitive work was a by-product of his upbringing, environment and the cultural history of his people.

In summary, we all know that we have to think for ourselves but responding takes effort and requires conscious design and action. Reactivity, on the other hand, is easy. We must choose our habits. If we don’t take control of our minds, others will do our thinking for us. Such action isn’t selfish. On the contrary, it’s probably the most generous thing that we can possibly do.

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

The Terracotta Soldiers, perhaps the most famous collection of funerary art, symbolizes the mass armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. The physical site is an unmatched visceral sensation. But despite its great archeological importance to human history, it’s also a reminder of human arrogance and our fear of death.

“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.” — Albert Camus

Recently, I’ve been deeply distressed over what happened to a painting I’ve made. Working to rediscover myself in this traditional medium, I was quite pleased with what had developed, which makes this story all that much more difficult to share. The sessions that built up to that point of arrival was filled with challenges; experiments with technique and expression, huge emotional ups and downs, the struggle with the medium itself. Each day was a full-on battle, and at the end of the war, I was completely exhausted from the cumulative exertion of energy. The near-final results showed promise.

The painting I made and lost. With the technique and approach I take, working very fluidly and dynamically with the medium, what once was is no longer. (I took this only photo from the side to avoid the glare on what was then, very wet paint.)

The problem occurred the next day when a sudden urge to “repair” a small area in the painting (forgetting that imperfections are what makes an artwork unique) drove me back into the foray. And this happened on a day that was not even scheduled for painting; my paints were put away and I usually take the painting off the easel for drying but in this instance I didn’t. Therein, came the disaster. I was already not in the right mindset and being physically spent from the hard days before, the mind and body fought hard against my heart. Add to the dilemma of having run out of the original paint I was using —I needed to re-mix some of the colors, one which came from a new brand of paint, a sienna whose potency turned out far greater than expected — it’s now clear I set myself up for failure. Upon applying the “fix” something went wrong and one fix led to another as I altered things on the fly, and before I knew it, I lost both the sense of the painting and myself. Sixty minutes later (and it’s always quicker to destroy than to create) I awoke to find myself lost, akin to the experience of suddenly realizing that you’re driving and not knowing how you got there. Except this time, I crashed. The painting was ruined.

The famous Jean-Luc Picard face palm has been an excessively dominant and recurring expression of mine in recent weeks. Image from the brilliant science fiction television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

You can imagine the panic that ensued. This panic and soon to be massive frustration and regret led to an obsession with the past result — a result (in a photo!) that looked better and better in comparison to what was now there in front of me. For the past two weeks, I could not regain the freshness and feel of what I had no matter how desperate or valiant the effort. I was so certain that I could bring it back but it was gone.

“Doubt is not a pleasant condition but certainty is absurd.” — Voltaire

This was real life and there are no do-overs. Unlike working with digital mediums, there was no magical “undo” button or previously saved file. I felt like an athlete who delivered on the hardest elements of a performance only to trip just at the finish line. I was this attached to the results of the past experience. Many days of agony ensued. Why didn’t I leave it alone?

Self-Portrait by Edgar Degas . Degas was one of the most skilled and devoted artists in history, a man obsessed with capturing the beauty and honesty of life with his brush.

My experience brought to mind the story of the master Impressionist Edgar Degas, who was so obsessed with a painting he’d done that he broke into his client’s home to steal the painting back to make the changes he wanted to it. I guess I’m not alone in my craziness. And perhaps you can say there are worse things to be obsessed over than a piece of art. But still, I couldn’t seem to grasp why I couldn’t get over what was first, the expectation and obsessive desire to make things “perfect” (which wrecked things in the first place) and then subsequently, the regret and obsession with what had already passed (which dragged out the mistake and the pain).

After a small reprieve from painting and taking a moment spared for absorption and contemplation, another story came to mind — that of the practice by Tibetan Buddhist monks in their tradition involving the creation and destruction of mandalas made from colored sand, a ritual that symbolizes the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life.

Tibetan Buddhist monks create these gorgeously intricate sand mandalas, which are subsequently and ceremoniously destroyed. From the beautiful documentary, Samsara.

It had finally hit me. I had to move on and not try to re-live any past pain or glory (the two states seem indefinitely intertwined). It’s my job and joy as an artist to always be moving forward, to build something out of this experience and each subsequent experience. Artistic creation, like life, moves in cycles and phases. This realization — the profound truth that every moment and element is unique to its own time and place — is what makes life so incredibly beautiful and special.  It’s amazing how easy it is to forget that! And in this age of global mass production and contrived uniformity of tastes, imagery and material obsessions, it serves as a stark and powerful awakening of what it means to be alive.

“The essence of philosophy is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things.” — Epictetus

A most powerful scene from Tony Kaye’s 2011 film Detachment, starring Adrien Brody, on the importance of being aware and avoiding attachment to the false ideologies outside of ourselves. (Please be warned that this scene contains mature language)

To know the noble truth that nothing is permanent is actually incredibly liberating, even if it take something as trivial or insubstantial as a troubled painting to remind us. But switch the experience of painting to an important project at work, our core relationships, or the health of ourselves and our family, and the same lessons apply. Living detached from results and being focused on process is the only way to be truly happy.

The fact that events and material items can’t be fully preserved emphasizes the importance of what is actually there in front of us now, in real-time. The past is merely memory, the future only an unforeseeable possibility. Living in a digital age where EVERYTHING is recorded, there’s more urgency to capture the moment than to live it. The more we hang on to things — possessions, ideals and expectations — the more we create conflict with our environment, our fellow human beings and within ourselves. My experience these past few weeks reminds me again of the wisdom and power of art in its ability to reflect the truth of who we are and what we can be.

“And never have I felt so deeply at one and the same time so detached from myself and so present in the world.” — Albert Camus