Can you paint feelings? No, impossible! 

We can only paint images from our mind. The feelings are evoked with the viewer – that is something different. 

From the perspective of psychology, we cannot paint feelings directly, because feelings are the by-product of thinking and experiencing.

We only have four primary feelings: Joy, Anger, Fear, Sad. These are physical sensations, which we label as feelings. But feelings hardly exist on their own- they are always the side effect of our thinking and the way we experience the world.

So, you cannot paint feelings.

You can only paint your thoughts and visual perceptions. Feelings are just physical sensations. I often think about the effect my emotions have on my paintings. Basically, they just set the mood. I cannot paint when I am angry. I can hardly paint when I am sad. I definitely cannot paint when I am anxious and stressed. I definitely can paint when I am relaxed, happy, contented, in a good space!

And that is more or less my constant mental state. It may be different with some artists, who may depict anger, frustration, sadness and anxiety in their work. That is valid and part of artistic creativity. But not for me. I don’t allow negative emotions to invade my head – I have dealt with the dark side of life for very long during my career as psychologist. 

What emotions motivate me then?

I really just want to make happy, serene, mystical and feel-good pictures! Concentration is more important than my emotional state, although negative emotions can affect my concentration. I choose to fill my mind with happy thoughts for most of the day.  Reality, for me, is less in my environment. The happiest place in the world is within my own mind, because I can choose it moment by moment. It is unfortunate when people think happiness is the result of state of the outside world they find themselves in. Then you are always at the mercy of your environment. That is the most basic idea I have learnt since I was young.

Reality is rather in my mind than in the outside world. So, my emotions are just the background state of my psyche. They affect my state of mind, put me in a certain mood. But I cannot paint my emotions. That is a wrong understanding of what emotions are. I have always been a bit suspicious of emotions, like a typical rational male. I prefer thinking – clear, logical, precise thinking. That is also my approach to painting.  

Good planning and composition accounts for 80% of the success of a painting.