Less Thinking, More Intuition.

I was scrolling through Instagram and came across an interview with the late artist L. S. Lowry – the man who painted matchstick men and cats and dogs! I had a fascination with him when I was a child and even thought about travelling to Salford to call on him. I didn’t, unfortunately, but it was quite special to hear from the man himself. (I’ll try and include the video below.)

In the video, he was asked about the feelings and thoughts he had while painting. In response, he said he might be thinking about lunch or what he would do later in the day. Painting for him was instinctive and automatic. Time passed quickly.

I am always interested in finding ways to improve my art and photography – but when I see someone who makes it seem so effortless, I wonder why I struggle so much.

I think my struggles might come from a mindset encouraged by online tutorials. The way art and photography are often taught presents them as mountains of deficiency to overcome. Much of what I see online promotes the idea that creativity is primarily a technical struggle, something to be conquered through formulas and routines.

To be fair, though, a lot of the teaching I see online is very good and helps to build confidence and familiarity with the tools. Once you know how to handle the camera instinctively, how to adjust settings without conscious effort, your attention is freed. When that happens, you can let your instincts operate more freely. I suppose there was a time when Lowry himself had to learn how to draw and use a paintbrush.

So I am really hoping that I can reach that state where I am much more instinctive, and photography and art become closer to meditation than construction — less of a struggle.

Perhaps, for me, the time has come to relax and not think about it too much — just get on with it and see what happens. Although perhaps this blog post is evidence that I do, in fact, think too much!

My favourite quote from the video, “I wasn’t quite satisfied with that, just too harmless’.