[In this series of posts that I’m calling “Your Creative Life,” I want to paint a picture of how you can become more everyday creative and how you can sustain a creative life. If this series intrigues you, you might think about becoming a creativity coach. If you’re interested in that, please visit my new certificate and diploma program or read my latest book The Coach’s Way. And come join the Eric Maisel Community!
Sometimes we can’t practice empathy because we are too anxious and self-conscious to be really present. Therefore, it will pay you to try to reduce that self-consciousness. To learn this skill, you might begin to write conspicuously in public places, find or create more opportunities to be your artist self out in the world, and, if you are a painter and even if it isn’t your style, to engage in some outdoor—that is, en plain air—painting.
Here are some tips for doing just that: for venturing out, setting up your easel, and painting outdoors. If you work in a different art discipline, you’ll need to think through how these tips might apply to you.
Tip 1: Deal with Your Self-consciousness
You will have to do deal with your natural self-consciousness. Most people don’t enjoy looking and feeling conspicuous. Even exhibitionists prefer blending in most of the time! So you need to talk yourself into a willingness to be seen, watched, pointed at, gawked at, criticized, and all the rest. You may turn out to be much more invisible than you fear you will be—but if you aren’t, if people gather and watch you and gawk, so be it!
Tip 2: Get Ready for Infinite Visual Data
You will have to deal with a vast amount of visual data. When you’re in front of your canvas you have only whiteness to look at, which can be its own problem. But that’s a very different problem from the staggering amount of visual material available to you as you wander in the world. Wherever you turn your head, there is more to see! Accept this reality and talk yourself into the belief that all this visual data is a special kind of abundance, not some sort of problem.
Tip 3: Be Prepared to Choose
You will be obliged to make choices. You can’t paint everything you see! Even if that were possible, what would be the point? Isn’t the artistry in the choosing? Choosing provokes anxiety and having to make strong, clear choices about what to paint may well raise your anxiety level. Be prepared for this anxiety, know what you’re going to do to combat it, and accept that you have no choice as an artist but to choose.
Tip 4. Create Your Kit
You need to bring a painting set-up that works for you. This may take repeated tries, as the first set-up may be too cumbersome, the second set-up too meager, and so on. Learning how to feel comfortable en plain air is a process and there is no reason why you should nail your set-up the very first time. Consider your first tries experiments and learn from them.
Tip 5: Be Clear About Your Intentions
Be clear about your intentions. Are you planning to make finished paintings while you’re out? Or loose sketches? Or something in between, something that’s more than a sketch but that still requires work back at the studio? Maybe you actually don’t know your intentions—in which case, try to learn them as you go. Maybe you’ll discover that you can complete things on the spot and maybe you’ll learn that your real goal is to capture a sense of place and finish up at the studio. Learn as you go.
Tip 6: Think About Partnering
Think about partners and buddies. Would you enjoy going out with a friend? Maybe several of you might travel together? You don’t have to confine yourself to one way or the other—usually Van Gogh went out alone but sometimes he went out with Gauguin. Think through the pros and cons of painting en plein air with a buddy and if the pros tip the scale in their favor, find a painting partner.
Tip 7: Schedule Real Time
You will need to schedule real time for this experience. Most people are so busy nowadays that they can’t find three or four hours “out of nowhere” unless they consciously pencil those hours into their schedule. Look at your schedule and make some decisions about where you might find your “en plein air” painting time. If you can’t find the time, that means that in order to get en plein air painting onto your schedule you will need to rethink how you spend your time.
Tip 8: Focus on the Joys and Benefits
Remind yourself of the potential joys of en plein air painting. You may be focusing in your mind on the difficulties associated with it and by focusing on those difficulties you may have forgotten how joyful it can be to be out in the world looking, seeing, and creating. Think back to how much you’ve enjoyed sketching in parks and cafés. The studio is great—but so is the world. Remind yourself of its greatness!
Tip 9: Keep it Simple
Keep the process simple and do not over-dramatize it. It isn’t as if you’re going to the ends of the earth! We can easily talk ourselves into the belief that something is far more difficult than it really is. Have a quiet conversation with yourself about how easy it will prove to gather up a few things, go out, and find some fascinating vistas to paint. Don’t over-dramatize the difficulties!
Tip 10: Remember its Importance
Have a conversation with yourself about the importance of en plein air painting—and learning to be conspicuous—to your creative life. Honor your understanding of its importance and make sure that you get some en plein air painting on your schedule—and soon!
Remember the central point here, that you want to do an excellent job at empathizing with people, that self-consciousness can easily get in the way of your desire and your ability to practice empathy, and that en plein air painting is one way to learn how to deal with your self-consciousness. However, there are countless other ways. If you are not interested in en plein air painting or if you are not a visual artist, then figure out your own way to “become conspicuous,” create your own ten-tip list, and do the work required to reduce your experience of self-consciousness through actual practice.
**
“The Coach’s Way is possibly the finest resource available for anyone who wants to develop or enrich their coaching abilities. This new book is designed to give coaches the confidence and structure in their practice that will generate real results for their clients. Any- one who makes a living in the coaching arena will benefit from Dr. Maisel’s tremendous experience and training as a therapist, coach, and human. I’m so glad to have this book as a guide for my own coaching work and will recommend it to many others in the helping professions.”— Jacob Nordby, author of The Creative Cure: How Finding and Freeing Your Inner Artist Can Heal Your Life
—
This Post is republished on Medium.
—
Photo credit: iStock
