How do you paint from the heart?

[Wulfsbane]

It's corny I know. But for a long time I've often worked on fully rendered pictures that was never purely for myself. If it's not an experiment or a rough study it's either done as a gift for a friend, an entry for a contest, a commissioned piece or for that invisible audience in my head. The closest I've ever been to the heart is when I paint something out of a negative feeling which I prefer not to rely on so much. I've forgotten how to tap into my own desires and to just paint for the sake of art. Although pretty soon, I am going to take a downtime from everything for a couple of months to attempt just that. But I'm curious what everyone else has to say on this subject.

[Sady]

Took the words from my mouth. I wonder about this sometimes too but never tried to ask.
Even the drawings from negative feelings I have abandonend for a long time now and I don´t draw anything entirely for myself anymore.

[chaosrocks]

oddly I truly believe that some element of everything you do comes from the heart. Or your works has no life, no love and you wouldn't do it.

[Sady]

oddly I truly believe that some element of everything you do comes from the heart. Or your works has no life, no love and you wouldn't do it.


Certainly.
But I think Wulfsbane was talking about those drawings you do just to please yourself. All my drawings when I was a child were like that.
I don´t draw anything now if it´s not an exercise to learn something, a comissioned work or a gift. Even tho I try to put as much as I can into the drawings, they´re not just for me.

I may have misinterpreted him, tho. ^_^

[blackplasma]

IMO if you want to paint from the heart you have to look for the following.
-Something you have done, or want to do that is unforgettable.(in a good way)
-A desire or an urge that pecks at you until it is satisfied
-A memory or a dream that you wish you could relive.
-Something you believe in or your philosophy on life.

There are a few of these things I want to draw and paint once I become good in drawing.
I will give you some examples.

- A picture of me in a boat in the full moon with my girlfriend looking at a group of whales.

- A painting of an old lady sitting on a rocking chair in front of a fireplace with a cauldron of soup inside, and her dog sleeping next to her on a Christmas day.

- A painting of an alien staring at a snow globe with the universe inside it.

Basically look for a feeling, a moment, a dream, a thought and just draw it.

[Ilaekae]

Walk up to a perfect stranger and tell them every perversion, dishonesty, secret, dream or fantasy you ever did/had, in great detail. When you can do THIS, you can paint from the heart. (Suggest NOT doing this literally...you will probably be arrested...)

[kev ferrara]

Walk up to a perfect stranger and tell them every perversion, dishonesty, secret, dream or fantasy you ever did/had, in great detail. When you can do THIS, you can paint from the heart. (Suggest NOT doing this literally...you will probably be arrested...)

I think this is dead right.

But getting there is a process.

The step prior to telling a stranger, is telling yourself. When you make art you are telling absolute rock bottom core truth about yourself and your experience of existence to yourself.

Art never lies. You will always recognize yourself in your works.

If you don't like what you see... your art is telling you something.

By telling the truth of yourself, you tell the truth of everyone. This is the core philosophy of art.

To tell... It's all coded Storytelling... writing...

Some people write with symbols already made, like the letters of the alphabet.

Artists make up their own symbols and define them.

There is an old quote that is attributed to a lot of authors...

"How do I know what I think, until I see what I write?"

Go.

[Serra]

I don't think art has to say something profound about the artist to be "from the heart." To me, working from the heart means creating images that make ME happy. It means drawing what I want and (for the most part) enjoying the process. Drawing for yourself vs. drawing for others. That's how I see it, anyway.

Maybe a good place to start would be to shun your perceived audience and draw something that you plan on never showing anyone.

--Serra

[Sady]

Walk up to a perfect stranger and tell them every perversion, dishonesty, secret, dream or fantasy you ever did/had, in great detail. When you can do THIS, you can paint from the heart. (Suggest NOT doing this literally...you will probably be arrested...)


And that´s why "drawing from the heart" is much easier when you are young, and should I say, innocent. 8x

[Giorge]

Many people ask them selfs that, to be able o paint from your heart , you need to be truly the talent, to put down the images that hunt you , that's what i always did , even when you wake up at night all sweaty , heart jumping from your chest , you will be able to put down some lines. That's not only available for painters but for musicians to. Then painting from the heart really means to love the thing that you are doing , and not fell tiered after 8-12 hours of continuous creation , loosing the notion of time ... just like when your having sex.