Why Loving Your Process Matters & How You Can Get There - Lessons from Mixed Media Artist Laura Horn
When was the last time you went to a party where you didn’t know anyone? You were going because you wanted to support your partner or friend even though you weren’t, honestly, that thrilled about spending 3 hours with co-workers and their spouses. You knew from past years that it would probably end up being an okay time. But you weren’t necessarily heading out the door with a spring in your step.
Now imagine that same party but filled with your absolute favorite people. You couldn’t wait to run out the door, jump into the car and start talking and laughing with people you love. Day will melt into night. Time will disappear.
Those two different scenarios are the difference between not loving and loving your painting process.
If you love your process, you’ll be eager to head back into it. This matters if you’re trying to get better at painting for one simple reason: You do more of what you love.
And you get better, faster, the more you paint.
QUIET & CURIOUS
Laura Horn (Ep. 32) LOVES her proces. Every step of it is a joy for her. But that wasn’t always true.
Originally, she wanted to walk up to the canvas and work purely intuitively. But those painting sessions kept ending in frustration. So she began thinking about how she painted and began building the mental bridges between doing this and getting that. She would keep (and still does) sketchbooks with experiments on one side and notes about what happened on the other.
This feels like a theme running through the interview: Laura Horn bumps into a problem and instead of turning away or giving up completely, she gets quiet and she gets curious.
If you love your process, you’ll be eager to head back into it. This matters if you’re trying to get better at painting for one simple reason: You do more of what you love.
Horn loves every step in her painting process because she thought deeply about how she could work through a painting that would serve her best.
Even better, it’s a level of intention each of us can place on our own process.
FINDING A PROCESS YOU LOVE
Horn found a process she loved and that can guide those of us still searching.
How’d she do it?
First, Horn found a repeatable set of steps that was free enough to adjust as she goes but strict enough she doesn’t feel overwhelmed. She walks in knowing what her next step will be but then is open to the unexpected.
If you’re struggling to know your process, work through several paintings and literally write down the steps you take on a piece of paper. Do this for a month. You will be surprised that you have a tendency to do this first, that second, and this other thing third, etc.
Once you know the steps you take, think about what problems each of those solve. That way you can lessen some of the apprehension you feel heading into the studio. You can feel confident you already have a roadmap.
Secondly, Horn gave herself permission to work through paintings slowly and with consideration. While the first layer is fast, later steps are explicitly slow, problem solving steps. She knows what they are and is in no rush to move through quickly for the sake of moving through quickly. If the answers are readily available to her, she can spring into action. But she has learned to not expect that as a rule. By giving herself permission to move slowly through work, she isn’t creating unnecessary urgency that would add stress and make her working process less enjoyable.
Some of your steps are probably fast while others would benefit from slowing down. Can you specifically note those steps that require a bit more thinking? Give yourself permission to take as much time as you need there.
If your thinking steps align with paint drying, then you’ll want to adjust where you do that thinking. By giving yourself that permission to slow down and problem solve parts of your work, you will lessen the anxiety you have around finishing quickly.
Horn isn’t asking herself to have all the answers the first time. She gives herself the opportunity to learn the answers and then use them again and again. This not only creates comfort in her studio but also helps her learn deeply.
And thirdly, Horn permits herself to revisit familiar themes and explore their quiet corners. She isn’t on some fast track to the new and different. She gives herself the time (and comfort that comes with it) to explore an idea for a while. She will literally do a painting several times before she feels like she’s gotten it right.
Horn isn’t asking herself to have all the answers the first time. She gives herself the opportunity to learn the answers and then use them again and again. This not only creates comfort in her studio but also helps her learn deeply.
If you work through a painting and don’t like it, consider it a first draft and try it again a second time. Maybe a third time. Painting is problem solving and there are hundreds of problems to be solved. If you give yourself permission to solve some of them (either through thumbnails or studies or even finished paintings) you will be able to focus on other things while moving through a piece. And you may find it much more enjoyable in the process.
WHY LOVING THE WAY YOU WORK MATTERS
Painting is work. It’s hopefully incredibly fun work but it is still work. It still takes showing up and putting in the brush miles. You don’t get bonus points if you’re miserable.
The truth is, miserable artists don’t paint. They go do something to avoid the studio if it brings them a bunch of pain. And if you find yourself avoiding this thing you love, it may be because the steps you walk through to create a finished painting need some adjusting
Luckily you can do exactly that.
Once you trust and enjoy the route you take, you'll be eager to travel it again and again and again. You’ll paint more paintings. You’ll get better at painting.
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