Writing and painting involve different parts of the brain. They certainly require different sets of skills. Both involve visualization, but they are different processes.
With writing, I see scenes within my brain and use words to describe them, to put them on paper in the form of word-pictures.
With painting, I interact with the medium itself--the picture; it speaks to me, tells me what it wants to be.
With writing, I discover from the inside out. With painting, I discover from the outside in.
Each, in its own way, gives satisfaction. The big difference is the immediacy of painting and, how shall I say it, the longevity of it. By longevity I mean the repeated enjoyment of the finished product. Yes, I can re-read a story as many times as I wish, but it requires x amount of time. Writing a story is a process that takes time, and even when I think it's finished, it often isn't necessarily so. I know when a painting is finished. I can see the results at a glance. And I can repeatedly enjoy the finished product at a glance.
Of course, the final products are two completely different things.
A story is a group of words that must be translated into a vision through reading. It takes time.
A painting is a vision. It takes very little time, in some cases, practically none at all, to see. The recognition, the communion, is immediate, or it can last as long as the viewer likes. That's one of the things I like about painting: the experience is immediate.
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