Painting or Photographing with Emotion

The following article was written by Robert Genn, a Canadian painter of International repute who runs an art listing site called The Painter Keys..I have permission to reproduce his writings here..
I think the advice can work equally well for photographers as well as painters..

Yesterday, Dan McGrath of Lexington, Kentucky, wrote, “I consider myself an experienced landscape painter, but I see advice from successful artists: ‘Paint what you feel about a subject, not just what you see.’ As an ex-engineer, I don’t have a clue what I feel about a subject except that I love being outdoors and being in the places I visit. How does one recognize or introduce emotion into a scene? Is it bright colors, strong value contrasts, or what?”
Dan…. Your work shows what I call the “engineer’s touch.” This means your paintings have precise, organized and well-thought-out compositions. Further, you are blessed with good drawing, colour wisdom, aerial perspective and a strong sense of light and shade. Many artists would love to have these abilities. Your work already has the bright colours and strong contrasts you mentioned. Let’s look further: 


Contrivances, whether conscious or unconscious, are the first place to start looking. Dan’s work, like that of a lot of other painters, often shows a formalized and conservative consistency. In his case, it’s often a stabilizing horizontality or a (generally foreground) lineup that repeats from painting to painting. To get more emotion, you need to forego some of this engineering and let yourself be a bit more of a swinger. 

Further, be careful with static elements, such as rocks. These are not objects to buttress a composition. They are living, breathing, painterly illusions with latent dynamism. While your work shows care and labour, care and labour are not necessarily emotions. 

Apart from the emotion one finds in masterful faces (see Rembrandt’s portraits) and the emotion connected to a sensitive place (see Edward Hopper’s lonely cafés), there’s the tactile emotion that comes out of the end of the brush. Brushwork, energetic and fresh, might be just enough additional emotion for your well-engineered landscapes. In the words of Elbert Hubbard, “Allow motion to equal emotion.” 


“Better to be without logic than without feeling.” (Charlotte Bronte)
“I want to draw and study a few things closely by feeling, not thinking.” (Joanna Field) 



Esoterica: “Consider adding painterly energy and bravura to give a bit more dazzle and authenticity to the work.” I know the old saw is a bit jaded, but think of this one as well: “The main thing is sincerity, and when you learn to fake that, you’ve got it made.”
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ALSO..BRAND NEW articles posted today at News and Views

“If it’s Play, Then You’re Not Serious”..

Want to find out if your paintings or photos have suddenly grown legs and have now walked into someone else’s web site or gallery?..read “AWOL”...

New additional “QUICK TIPS“
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SAMPLES OF PREVIOUS POSTS ...click archive…

Are you jealous of other Artist’s work?

Are you afraid to be yourself?

New Writing posts from 2008 revisited
CONFIDENCE IN YOUR WORK
ART AND HAPPINESS
LOOSEN UP YOUR STYLE OF PAINTING

Great artists, including a blind artist...

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