Last week I bumped into this quote and it resonated with me long after. I like to study and get inspired from photo reference and life experience but the work that really touches me is when the artist hasn’t imitated what they have seen but has found a way to stylize it or make it their own. This quote from Cezanne speaks to the heart of that process and how important it is to be sensitive to your intuition and sensation of the world around you.
Ironically the biggest insight that opened a whole world of sensation to me came from an old book called Composing Pictures by Don Graham. It changed my perception on viewing art and the every day world. Here is a simple excerpt that opened so many doors for me on making pictures:
I think just being self aware that every element inside your picture including the borders of the frame was an opportunity to harness energy/flow/tension opened up so many possibilities for me. How does one use those forces to elucidate emotion from the viewer? How can one use those elements to carve out paths for the eye to enjoy and taste/touch/hear? How can one use that energy/tension/force from panel to panel? How do you analyze other masters in the past yet make it your own?
To me, this was learning how to manipulate water and air, the manipulation of flow and space. This was my version of feng shui!
highly recommend buying Composing Pictures and interested if it does the same to all of you*