I showed my current art instructor some prints of my older art, thinking that he may have some suggestions for me about how to progress.
I was a little disappointed that he prefered my older art to my new art because it was “Darker, and more broody,” and he asked “Why don’t you do something more like that now?”
I guess I just don’t feel that something is more artiostic just because it’s dark.
“I was in a bad place when I first started.” I said.
“You can tell,” he told me, “Your pictures are more emotional.”
This is where I think he is wrong. I healed from deep mourning through creation. Happy, healing emotions are not “less emotional” than dark, sad ones.
I did, in fact, paint a very dark tree in this class, and he likes it, specifically because of the darkness, it seems. The next painting I’m about to work on is a portrait of my husband. He highly encourages this – but if it doesn’t turn out to be “dark” enough for him, that won’t be my fault! Why would I paint a brooding picture of the person in my life whom I love the most?
