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| Untitled (Oil pastel on paper) approx. 7.5 x 10.5 inches |
I'll make no bones about it. I love drawing and painting. I'm loving it more and more everyday. I feel alive when I'm painting, more so than in most other activities. Even writing. But the desire to write is still within me, and what I'm re-discovering is that like painting--painting what excites and interests me--writing also needs to be based on what excites and interests me. Trying to write for the market just hasn't worked for me. I just cannot write to a formula, at least, not well. I need to return to the way I wrote maybe fifteen years ago, or earlier. Write what moves me and seems important to me, not necessarily what moves and is important to other people, which is most likely a prescription for not getting published. But, I want to be in love with writing again. I want to be passionate about it once again. Hopefully, I'm moving in that direction.
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| Untitled (Oil pastel on paper) approx. 7.5 x 10.5 inches |
7 comments:
In any endeavor you will always be a success if you please yourself first. Don't worry about what others think.
I've learned to take the opinion of editors with a proverbial grain of salt.
Drawing and painting is always far more relaxing than writing. I love writing but it often gives me a headache.
Great Richard. I feel the same way. Whatever I do, I do it with passion or I don't do it at all. I don't think about the outcome, rewards or results. It is the passion what matters.
Somebody told me that one of my creative writing posts helped her to pass an exam and thanked me, and I had other beautiful messages recently telling me that my posts made a difference in their lives. I have no expectations. I take each day as it comes.
Let me tell you that most of the writers that I enjoy reading also love( or loved) drawing and/or painting. Life is interesting. Enjoy your creative outlets. I know you do.
Julia's right. It's about passion and our own individual journey. You may find that by painting more it releases the words for a novel or story, as you still want very much to do this. Have fun, and see where your creativity takes you. I fundraise for a small Charity which buys bread for children in Tanzania. I've written articles recently advertising the Charity Anthology I've compiled, and am speaking about it later to a local group. I never thought I would be doing this, but I love all of it and writing has made it possible. Thanks for sharing your paintings, Richard. I've enjoyed looking at them.
Richard, it great that you are doing something that gives you so much happiness.
It is possible, I think, to stray too far from what drew us in to what we came to love. Chasing markets is too daunting. Expression and creation are much more powerful motivators when art is the preferred outcome. You're doing nicely, by the way!
I feel the same, Richard. I think I forgot the reason for wanting to write for hours - because I loved to. It became a chore. Now I'm on a break I've started to think about it all again and why writing drew me in in the first place. Love the paintings. You seem to have found a niche.
Hi, Richard, I agree with Jeff that "chasing markets" can be so daunting. The original impulse to write comes from having a story to tell. And you can run dry, scattering your writing energy on the wrong things. I think painting is a very good avenue to return to your creativity. (I made a similar comment on Valentina's blog.) I love to paint, too, and haven't done enough of it lately. This year I want to give myself time for it.
By the way, in the two samples you posted, I love your use of color.
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