by Robert Maniscalco

So many of us were brought up to believe that artistic skill is somehow intangible and mysterious; we have glamorized the myth that "artists are born, not made." So many "how to" art books perpetuate this dubious notion by filling our heads with poetic diatribes about why the artist has chosen a particular subject for their demonstration, describing their feelings about the colors on their palette and/or generally presenting highly subjective painting theories and esoteric techniques.

Even worse, we buy into the "I don't know anything about art but know what I like" school of painting. I'm talking about those glib books and TV shows that present a few generic painting "tricks" designed to help you recreate someone else's "starving artist" painting.

Both approaches focus more on the particular tastes, techniques or style of the artist, which may or may not be of interest to the reader, rather than on the fundamentals of picture making. The goal of most art instruction seems to be to convince the student that he/she is not a member of the "really cool artists club."

Missing are "how to" books which are both entertaining and instructive to people who are serious about learning the craft of painting and who don't have the option of getting a masters in fine art from the local university (Only in recent years have university art departments begun to include subjective, fundamental processes and methodologies in their fine art curriculums. The Avante Garde movement cut representational art from most college curriculums during the 1960s through the 1980s).

Of those artists who are now teaching observational processes, many are taking a certain fundamental knowledge for granted. There is an assumption that most people magically understand how to see and use values to create the illusion of three-dimensional forms; these teachers are consequently teaching over the heads of most of their students. Alas, too many are still not part of the "club."

I have found that anyone open and willing to apply himself or herself in learning the basic fundamentals of drawing and painting can achieve a high level of visual literacy. I am convinced that anyone can become a fully self-expressed representational artist. How we use this skill-set is what distinguishes us as fine artists. Here's where imagination or conceptualism are derived, which is often more about realizing an idea than expressing the natural world. As I said, you are the artist, what you do, or do not do, with the tools of honest observation is entirely up to you.

So there it is; your freshly stretched canvas is perched on your easel, it's whiteness glaring at you as you cower behind your tabouret. Sound familiar? The canvas isn't the problem, you know. FDR hit it on the head. Fear is always our biggest obstacle. So let's begin with the question that scares us the most. "What if I mess up? What if, after my best effort, it doesn't turn out to be any ‘good'? What if I'm no good?"

First of all, anyone can pick through the garbage and find two blocks of wood and nail them together in a way that satisfies them. Satisfaction is a choice. "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you have." The artist's work is about making choices. A work of art is the result of a myriad of individual choices made by an artist. We could argue whether or not this or that choice constitutes "good" art or "bad" art but it won't negate the fact that your unique arrangement of blocks is indeed a work of art.

There is an inherent "pressure" on visual artists to produce extraordinary results, otherwise known as "great" art. The problem is we resist defining a criterion by which to judge "great" art. This contradiction leads to a breakdown in the creative process; without clear criteria for "good" or "great" art, the matter is left to the ego to decide, based on its fears and prejudices. The ego wants only that it wants. It's like a child. That's where the trouble begins. The ego wants to avoid embarrassment at all costs. The ego wants everything to be right, perfect and good; it cannot bear to fail or look silly. The ego is incapable of satisfaction. Painting for your ego is a one-way ticket to Palooka Ville.

Have you ever found yourself staring into a painting, wondering what to do next? There's a part of you that "knows" it's not "right" but you can't for the life of you figure out what to do next. That's the very definition of frustration. How do we break the cycle?

The first thing you need to do is to free yourself of those debilitating, ambiguously "high" expectations placed on you by your ego. But how?

Always be in action. Being in action is the key to getting the "art" monkey off your back. Don't forget, you got into painting because it gave you pleasure. Let's get back to thinking of art as a process that gives us pleasure, which addresses specific goals, one at a time. We cannot make art in order to impress the juror at the local art guild or in order to look good in front of our friends. In other words, we must leave our ego at the door. We do this by distracting it; we get into action and stay there.

By the way, it may also help you to know that you are already a member of the club, the artistic elite. You may as well accept that you are whole and complete already; there's no one to impress; no pre-requisites, or magic passwords or "dues to pay" to become an artist. The moment you choose to be an artist is when you become an artist. Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, "We are what we pretend to be."

That's the secret game of success. If you want to win the "art" game you have to accept that you've already won it. That's where the access to your talent lies. All that's left is the joy of learning and doing.

This adjustment in our thinking is essential if we are going to approach a blank canvas with the necessary dose of healthy detachment needed to address each problem as it comes up. I refer here to the Zen law of detachment, which says that only when we are ready to release our grip on our desired outcome (i.e. "great "art) will we be ready to learn the skills and insights needed to achieve it. Try it, it works.

The last thing we need is pressure to create "great" art. We must drop whether or not we are producing good art into the same garbage bin from which we withdrew those two blocks of wood. The fact is it doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, not while you are in the middle of the process. Reserve judgment of the whole while you're working on the parts. Remember, it's just canvas, paints, brushes and a little time spent doing what you love. When you're all done with your painting you can go out and get a job at your local paper as an art critic, where indulging your ego is the number one requirement for the job.

As for talent, it is nothing more than a strong inner voice that grants us permission to do exactly what we feel like doing in our art. It is guided by a strong desire to communicate. It is a commitment to the authentic self; a willingness and openness to look more deeply, to be present to ourselves and the world around us. It is a supreme sensitivity to our inner most thoughts and feelings. It is a trusting that your inner creative spirit will guide you to the truth and it's a promise that "the truth will set you free." Talent is having the courage to assert what is true for you, right now. The secret to creativity is to accept that although we do not have direct access to absolute truth, we are nonetheless part of something larger than ourselves. Few individuals are willing to accept this. Creativity is available to all of us if we are willing to accept/allow truth as we experience it at this moment.

Tenacity and talent can be developed if we are willing to let go of our attachment to the result -- our agenda. Our ego depends on results. Stanislavski, the great teacher of "method acting," once said, "find the art in yourself not yourself in the art." In other words, stay focused on what you are doing, not that you are doing (or failing to do) it. This is the key to artistic freedom; it is a precious gift that's yours the moment you let go of the pressure to create a "great" work of art. Therefore, fellow artist, accept that ours is but to do. Leave "Myth-making" to the critics

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