In my previous post, I discussed some of the advantages that people who have technical training bring to the practice of art. But there are disadvantages, too: Spontaneity, freedom of expression, “letting loose,” and trying crazy things just for the heck of it—These are not so easy for us with technical backgrounds.
For example, did you know that a biologist designing a research project has to plan out everything in advance? They have to pre-determine:
- what species they’re going to study,
- what time of year they’re going to collect their data,
- where they’re going to set up their study sites,
- the ages and sexes of the animals they’ll be observing,
- how they’re going to take measurements,
- what statistical tests they plan to use to analyze their data.
So every step of the entire project is mapped out in advance, and there’s no changing methodologies midstream.
While earning my own degrees in Environmental Science and
Biology never stopped me from being a creative thinker,
it sure didn’t prepare me for becoming an artist. You might
think with all my education, I would feel confident in switching
over to an “easy” pursuit like painting, but the actual
experience was just the opposite.
I took one three-day painting class in November 2017. Before I walked into that classroom, I didn’t even know what gesso was. But I had a great teacher, and YouTube, and I was on my way. I quickly learned an important lesson:
The only way to become a painter is to paint.
This simple maxim doesn’t convey the struggle, the terror, the fear of failure that I felt starting out (mixed of course with a lot of passion and determination). Unlike the entirely pre-planned experience of doing research and teaching college courses, painting felt for me like that Indy-Jones movie where you are poised on the edge of a bottomless abyss, and your only option is to take a deep breath and place one foot out over the edge and hope that you don’t fall screaming into nothingness. The next step is just as scary and exciting. And the next. There’s no path mapped out. No certainty of success. And in my case, even though I knew I wanted to paint abstracts, I had absolutely no idea how I was ever going to paint GOOD ones.
So I tried lots of different techniques. I painted on paper, on canvas board, on panel, on small cheap canvases, then bigger ones. I have had enough successes to convince me that I’m progressing, but I still don’t feel like I’ve arrived. But that’s ok, as a trained scientist, I know that art and science have one important thing in common: There’s always more to learn.
So what about you? I and the other readers would enjoy learning your story. Did you come from a technical background before you became an artist? Was your transition easy (a relief?) or difficult (harder than you thought), and why? Any advice you'd like to offer based on your experience? We'd love to hear from you!
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