Recommended Reading
Leonardo da Vinci, as well as painting the Mona Lisa and generally changing the course of the entire history of art, was a great advocate of using chance marks and patterns as a source of inspiration:
'When you look at a wall spotted with stains, or with a mixture of stones, if you have to devise some scene you may discover a resemblance to various landscapes... or, again, you may see battles and figures in action, or strange faces and costumes, or an endless variety of objects, which you could reduce to complete and well-drawn forms. And these appear on such walls promiscuously, like the sound of bells in whose jangle you may find any name or word you choose to imagine.'
I think all of us have had the experience of seeing magnificent palaces in the clouds, faces in the bark of trees and so on - but had you ever thought of using this as the starting point for your work of art, or to develop your ideas?
Anyone involved in art education, whether tutor or student, will be familiar with the notion of process being as important as product - and development of ideas is a crucial part of that. So when you're faced with a theme, and have some notion as to the kind of approach you might like to take, let a little messiness inform your creativity. There are many ways to achieve this - a large brush, dipped in paint then swirled onto your paper... to have a little less control, place another piece of paper over the top of it and squidge it around before pulling it away. And then see what you've got.
Or swirl your paint onto a flat surface, then put your paper on top of it. Pull it away, and see what you've got... and so on.
Don't be afraid to be messy. Don't be afraid of what other people might think. Bypass the logical thinking which keeps us all tightly trammeled in our safe narrow grooves, and let your imagination run riot.
(You can always clear things up later!)
