Natural Impressions

One of the great difficulties of an art student is to decide between his own natural impressions and

what he thinks should be his impressions.

A hundred times, perhaps, they have walked by their own subject, felt it, enjoyed it, but having no estimate of their own personal sensations, lacking faith in themselves, pass on until they come to this established taste of another and they try to adopt it because it is what they think they should like whether they really do so or not.

‘The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri, p. 85

That is definitely a problem that I had at first.  In my limited knowledge of the time, I loved Rembrandt and sort of thought I should paint like him.  My teacher was very meticulous and so I thought I should be the same.  I came to realize though that trying to paint like someone else is annoying and hard to do.  I also have to acknowledge that it’s not easy trying to mimic someone else.  The self always comes through, whatever that might be.  

My teacher was always telling me to “slow down”.  I woud do that for about 5 minutes and then I found myself doing things faster, which seems to be my style.  Joe, my teacher, said that I painted like a truck driver!  For some reason I was not insulted by this and I still truck through what I paint. :-)