I paint in a similar manner to how I cook. I’d be interested in learning whether this is a common amongst artists and creative people or whether it is just an eccentric quirk of my own.

I enjoy cooking, however, despite my resolutions to follow recipes to the specific instructions, it has become apparent that I am unable to do so! It may be arrogance or simply my natural inclination to be rebellious but often I end up creating a meal that is nothing like the original recipe. I will add spices, omit some ingredients or more often than not, end up creating something completely different. I have no idea why I do this! The results are sometimes not so good, but there are other times when my strange resulting concoctions have been delicious but I have no idea how to replicate the meal another time!

I paint in a similar method, but it tends to be my own instructions or intentions that I veer from. I have gotten in the habit of writing a list of all the paintings I would like to do. This list is long and continues to grow, it includes a variation of subjects from wildlife to landscape locations to botanical studies. I will begin my week preparing for a particular subject but then will decide just before I start to do something else entirely, probably a subject that is not on the list! Another habit of mine is to change my mind what medium I am going to use or how I am going to place the subject, sometimes I may randomly add something in the picture on a whim (I recently added a Sparrow Hawk hovering above a footpath of Daisies, but then painted over it because it looked more like an ominous dark angel.) It is not necessarily a bad habit, recently I painted a landscape using my imagination which shows development in my confidence as a year or so previously I would have had to rely on a form of reference.

I try to adhere to the rules of perspective and anatomy in my artwork but that is because it is necessary, although I am aware I lack skills in composition or tonal values. However, just like when I was a school student there is always that niggle “But what if I do it a different way?” I guess creating can be therapeutic because it allows freedom of expression so in this way, it can’t be wrong!