A veil of tears

For those of you who get the Painters Keys Bi-weekly newsletter from Robert Genn, you would have read today about an artist who gets so emotional when she paints portraits, it reduces her to tears. Some folks get emotional with painting a beautiful scene or painting something that triggers a memory. Listening to music in the studio while you paint can trigger an emotional memory.

Artists are a sensitive group, I think we dig down deeper into ourselves than most people. Robert says that for those of us who can cry, be proud because it shows our humanity.

There are a few things from Robert's bi-weekly newsletter that have made such a profound impression on me as an artist, that I have pasted some into my sketch books....One is an artist prayer/mantra and the another is an artist 10 Commandments.

The artist 10 commandments always stick in my head when I am plein air painting or sketching on location, many people who see my sketchbooks inquire about these quotes, I tell them it's to remind me of what's important to me as an artist:

Thou shalt not spill paint around in the bush.
Thou shalt not work on poorly prepared grounds.
Thou shalt not be shabby in thy looking and seeing.
Thou shalt not fight, torture or avoid thy work.
Thou shalt not take thy personal passion lightly.
Thou shalt not repeat thyself too frequently.

Thou shalt paint to please thyself.
Thou shalt be hard to please.

There are some interesting discussions in his bi-weekly newsletter, some thought provoking tidbits of inspiration. If you would like to subscribe, you can go to painterskeys.com or click on the link to the right of this entry.

Note: I have requested and received Robert's permission to quote him in our blog.