I decided to share this painting because it is one of the first paintings I did when I started my journey of unleashing my inner oil painter! This represents an unleashing of my creative expression, and by the look of the owl something was definitely ready to be expressed! I even got super brave and had it framed, and hung in a student art show that my art teacher sponsored for us!
There are a few things that helped me get to the point of painting this picture and letting it be seen.
1) I had to be willing to just paint, get the colors on the canvas, and let go of having to get it right. Anything we do can be revised or learned from. But that won’t happen if we don’t get something started to work on! In this painting I just let it go, and went willy nilly with the colors and other dynamics. It was fun!
2) I released energies out of my space that wanted to critique this painting and the process of doing it. There is healthy criticism and suggestions from my teacher to help me improve and learn. Those were great. And there were unhealthy voices in my head that wanted to compare and whine and give up. They were not helpful for me! This is a process, and now years later, as I continue to paint and learn as an artist, I still have to let those voices go and paint anyway! I am so glad that I do!
3) I let it be really fine and good to paint because it brought joy. No need to make money or please anyone else. If we don’t like the process of creating, we won’t do it. Thus the reminder of our play space! I am more of an impressionist painter, and that may not be enjoyed by someone who likes more realism. Can that be okay? Sure! And, I did not paint this owl to make money. Is that okay? Sure! The breakthrough I achieved by letting my creativity flow made it well worth it!
So, get out there and release your inner crazy owl!