Balance between expression, techniques and control

Hello, everyone! I hope everyone is doing well and creating great artworks.

Today I want to share my artwork that I paint a while back and though there is much to improve, somehow I still like looking at it! :) I think it's one of the times where I get what I want to express right on the canvas, I painted it in one sitting, 'alla prima' or 'wet on wet' like traditional painters call it.

I remember a saying I heard once from an art talk that artists practice every day to get their techniques right and when they're finally good enough, one day they can put what they're feeling, what they want to express right on the canvas and that's what they call creating art. And until that point, we can only try to do our best and practice everyday. The original saying is probably shorter but somehow that's what I remember! Pardon me! :'D

I believe that and I want to create every artwork that way, that I can balance techniques, what I've learned so far, what I want to express and what I want the viewers to feel. But so far, more often than not I think too hard on an artwork, pressuring myself to do my best and then, the results ends up flat, ends up lacking.

I think it's true for all of us, we want to paint, to create in the best way that we can. But what if the pressure to do our best is what's holding us back?

Letting go of what I should do and painting by feeling is when I create my best artwork. But then when I finish, I look back and see all the things I can do better. I beat myself up for not thinking it through better, for not looking up references, for not stepping back and admit the parts that I can't paint from imagination.

I think the best way is to move forward, note what you can do better, the parts where you failed, the parts that you like and then paint more.

Easier said than done because most artists are perfectionists lol.

I don't like the way I painted the motorcycle, I think it's just a big lump of black and the fingers are a mess. But in the end, I like this artwork because it's honest, it's passionate, it's full of what I want to express and I got the brushstrokes right on canvas the way I wanted it too(in my opinion haha!) and the parts where I failed becomes not as much of a failure in my eyes, that I don't beat myself up for it.

It's a delicate balance of raw emotions and techniques.

To close this writing, here is a quote that I live by and try to infuse in all my paintings,

"The expression of beauty is by emotion. The person who can communicate his emotions to the soul of the other is the artist." -Mucha, from the exceptional book of 'Color & Light' by James Gurney.

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