Category: Philosophy

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Finding Balance – the way to happiness

Finding balance in a composition is of utmost importance to a visual work. We manipulate art elements like colour, lines, shapes, space etc. to achieve visual equilibriums. This often means more pleasing to the eyes of the audience. I believe this happens because we humans tend to unknowingly attempt to find the inner peace within us all the time. We feel more at ease when things around us are more balanced. Not too much of one thing or too little of the other. Do take a look at my still life paintings, ? Any thoughts on the balance?

In visuals, very often space is a major element that we use to achieve the balance. There is positive and negative space. When we sketch or paint, we must take note of not only the positive space but also the negative. For instance, when we draw a circle on a piece of paper, the size of the circle and the position of the circle is often what we look for first. However, one might forget to look at the space outside the circle, which is an important part of balancing. When we draw an organic shape, if we focus too much on the inner shape, we tend to make mistakes on the proportion. If we are aware of the space outside the shape as well, it would turn out to be much more accurate.

This largely parallels with the perspectives in life. We tend to focus on the dot on a piece of paper rather than the entire space outside the dot. We focus on the must haves and forget about the things we already have. We amplify the mistakes that people make and omit the goods that they have done. Seeking balance in your perspectives help to balance your life and this I believe, is the way to happiness.

( Here is a link on a story about the black dot.)

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No Short Cut

Read about Singapore’s oldest living pioneer artist Mr Lim Tze Peng on the news today. He was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2003 and he received the Meritorious Service Medal at the National Day Awards in 2016. Turning 100 this year, he is still painting with zest, and progressing in his art journey.

Two things strike a chord with me. First, he said that there are no short cuts in art.

I totally agree with him. When I first started this art journey, I thought that creating an art piece was about skilfully depicting a subject. I worked hard to perfect my skills but soon realized that perspectives are more important. What one sees is more important than what he can paint. The revelation was an eye opener to me. I began to see things that I did not see before. To be able to depict the beauty in the subjects that I see became more important than painting the exact replica of it. I can say that the more I paint, the less I see, but the understanding of the subjects and our relationships with them increases each time. It is just impossible to progress if I did not keep painting. Even if someone had told me, I would not comprehend unless I experience it. The discoveries each day keeps me going and Mr Lim is certainly an inspiration.

The second thing that Mr Lim said was, “A painter should focus on subjects from his own country. Stray too far and you become like a tree without roots.”

I can’t agree more with that too. I believe a person is very much shaped by his environment, the people around him, his friends, his family and even the events that take place, in one way or another impacts him. His work of art reflects who he is and what he aspires to become.

Many a times, in an art studio, even with the same setup, different people depict the subjects in different ways, and the works turn out to be quite different. How the work is rendered, and the results are often affected by the personality, experiences, and moods of the artist. We all perceive things in different ways because we were brought up differently, we had been through different events and met different people.

I believe that this pursuit will be a continuous journey. There will never be an end to it and for Mr Lim, his wish for his few hundreds of paintings be donated and exhibited in a museum by the Government, if it happens, will be the beginning of another milestone for him.

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A Drug It is

Painting in oils is addictive.

It is like a drug. When I don’t paint, I miss it so much that I can’t stop thinking about how I could illustrate the objects that I see. And when I do, I can do it straight for hours without realising the pass of time. At night, sometimes, I even dream of the bristles making their prints on the white fabric.  

Why? The reason, I believe, is that the whole process of creation is a slow one. Unlike watercolour or acrylics, it requires more patience and processing. Most of the time, after I put down my brushes and come back after a few days, I would have a whole new perspective of how I should continue. It could be due to the long hours at a short distance before the canvas, encouraging a more microscopic view of the work, and after moving away and clearing the working memory, the macro elements come into play, and dah dah…, everything changes.

Painting is not just addictive, but it heals too. It is therapeutic. As the process requires intense concentration, many a times, unbeknownst to the creator, he slips into positive mindfulness. Lost in the world of the creations and clearing one’s mind off all troubles and unwelcome emotions, could induce the production of endorphins, inadvertently setting off a euphoric mood.

An addiction it is, albeit a good one.

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