Easy to be creative by Colin Perini

and it始s 10X better than being a Pirate or watching TV 漏 Copyright 2010 Colin Perini All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. For information contact Colin Perini art@thecreativeway.com.au Artwork by Colin Perini

www.colinperini.com www.thecreativeway.com.au

4 A Few Words First 8 Chapter 1 - The Blank Page 13 Chapter 2 - Be Reckless 20 Chapter 3 - Trust Yourself to Teach Yourself 24 Chapter 4 - Over and Over 28 Chapter 5 - Your Work has no Value 31 Chapter 6 - Become a Professional Failure 35 Chapter 7 - Follow Fun 39 Chapter 8 - Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All

A FEW WORDS FIRST You are cast into a mold of your own making. It has been built, thought upon thought, throughout your life. Only you, have the power to break that mold. To live the life you want to live, you have to crack

the limiting mold you are in and stretch out to try new ways. You have to break through the limitations of your own beliefs. It can be done painlessly, small steps at a time by being consistent each day. It requires patience and perseverance - simple tools that can be commanded by anyone. You have to dedicate yourself to a goal and then steadily walk the often uncertain road towards that end. So often the path before you will seem difficult and uncomfortable and you will need to force yourself to step forward so that the way can open up again. This book leads you onto that winding road and gives you the courage to start expressing your creative heart. You are a master of creativity, a diamond in a stone. Start rubbing the stone away and eventually your diamond will shine as a natural consequence. To truly live, is to be true to your self, your diamond heart.

I have been a professional artist since 1981. It took me over 10 years of practice, before I had the courage to step out and to try and live from my art. Constant practice led me to break down my selfdoubts and achieve the standard that I demanded of myself. This book is a result of many of the lessons I learned in those early years, lessons that led me to my creative freedom. For the first 16 years of my artistic career I was a cartoon portrait artist. Through my quick portraits, I made a comfortable living showing people that they were beautiful and strong. The more portraits I drew, the more confident I became. The more portraits I drew, the more creative I became. This led to more success and so on. During my 16 years in this career, I drew over 75,000 portraits. This experience enabled me to write the lessons in this book. From Portrait Artist, I changed careers to Seascape Artist. I was not an overnight success and it took a year of patient practice before my work was commercially acceptable.

Over the years I have received countless numbers of positive comments for my work. So often, people told me I was clever, or gifted or talented, it has been constant. I always thank people and I appreciate kindness but in my heart I know that it is so easy to be creative! I am creative because I followed my dreams to success. Most people drop their vision once life gets a bit tough. It is definitely not always an easy road to follow. There are so many ups and downs that sometimes you feel as if you will never arrive on easy street. If you do not work to make your dreams come true, what else are you going to do to make your life the way you want it to be? You might win the Lottery, but it also might be a long wait. Really, you have no choice. Do you discipline yourself so that you can become the person you want to be? Or do you just sit in front of the television and let the years drift away leaving you dissatisfied, frustrated and not very creative?

Chapter 1

THE BLANK PAGE The blank page is the beginners nightmare. It is like looking into a bottomless pit, there are no rails and there is no one to support you! However, it is really not a threat. It is an open opportunity to create something brand new, something that the world has never seen before.

Have courage and leap into the bottomless pit, throw yourself at the empty space. See it as an invitation to express imaginative audacity. You, the creator are free to splash and crash and dash across the empty spaces. The blank page is a place where there are no rules. It is the creators invention therefore only the creator should give it value. Only the creator decides what it is worth.

You do not have to use the blank page wisely, you do not have to do anything except enjoy yourself. If you want to be creative then you do not want any restrictions. You want be as careful or as wild as you like. This is your space, you make the rules, you can discard the rules. What more could an artist want but a blank page and the time to create whatever excites the imagination. A blank page is free space, you are surrounded by space, it as the stuff in which existence occurs. Space is where creation happens. It is yours to play within and to fill as you will.

The blank page is your license to dance. The empty space around you now, is the playing field you create your life within. Space is the artists playground. It is an empty arena awaiting play to begin. It is bursting to be filled with new ideas. Creating is fun. It is a thrill to watch the unexpected appear before your eyes as you let your imagination push you this way and that. Be your natural free self, let the diamond in you do whatever it will to break down some of your old careful habits. If you are not sure what to do first - do anything. Artists or writers block comes about when you focus on the final product and not the steps that take you there. When you move house, you do not try to put everything in its exact place immediately. This would be too difficult and make the job very uncomfortable. You put everything where it will work for now and refine the layout over the next few weeks. To move into a house you start by putting boxes and furniture anywhere! Imagine standing on the 10

doorstep for an hour because you were too afraid that you might put a coffee table in the wrong place! Imagine staring at a blank page because you were worried that you might make a mistake. You can only make a mistake if you have specific intentions. If you are not sure where you will wander, you will still end up somewhere. When your only intent is to enjoy yourself, it does not matter where you end up. When I am about to paint, I always feel an excitement about the large empty space before me. I do not have much of an idea about the outcome. What colors will occur and what composition will I have to balance? What new and unexpected composition will arise? As I start each painting, it is the unknown that appeals to me, the empty white space awaiting creation. There are so many possibilities that I clear my mind in order to find a new pattern in the blank space before me. Sometimes I begin with a two second chalk sketch outlining the vague geometry of the painting. That as all I need to kick-start another work of art from

my heart. Never is there any hesitation. Never is there any doubt that I will be satisfied with the results. My job is to be here now and do what I can at the moment, to satisfy the soft murmurings of my heart seeking their own expressions. A blank page is the empty stage. You write each act as the play proceeds. When it is over, if you are not happy with it, give it away or throw it away. Until you show it to someone, you are the only person in the audience, so you are free to do whatever you want with the finished work.

Chapter 2

BE RECKLESS You do not have to produce a work of art. Your aim is to have fun creating something that pleases only you. You do not have to produce a work of art. The end product is unimportant. You do not have to produce a work of art. The value is in the doing. You do not have to produce a work of art. Get the point? 13

You do not have to produce a work of art. Before you begin, take the pressure off yourself because you do not have to produce a work of art. You only have to produce a work of heart. You do not have to buy quality art products. It will not make any difference to the finished work but it will limit your freedom in the blank space. If you use cheap materials, you have very little to lose by being liberal with your materials. If the cost is minimal, you do not mind if you make a mess and have to throw your effort in the trash. Use expensive materials and you will be afraid of waste and this will really limit your creativity. Imagine learning to drive in a brand new Rolls Royce. It would add to your difficulties and the fear of damaging the vehicle would most likely cause you to have an accident. To consciously create you need to be BRAVE. The only failure is in not trying. There is no need to be afraid of failing because it is just another natural step along the path. It is of no more value than your success steps are.

You will feel like you failed if you compare your results with what you think is the ideal. You must stand alone, you can only do things your way. If you compare, you will never be satisfied. Do what you do because that is the way you do it. Stand on your own with your efforts. You are a unique expression, you do not have to justify your individuality. You do not have to compare your creations. You practice creating so that one day you will be perfectly happy with your own world, the world you created around you. To consciously create you need to be FREE FROM PRECONCEIVED IDEAS. Try to keep your mind as blank as the paper and just start. If you want the subject or a photo before you, that is fine, but keep your mind free from detailed expectations and simply express the moment as it appeals to you. Have no idea and creative action will flow.

If you are busy trying to think of creative ideas, you will cut off the spontaneity that only a free mind can give. To consciously create you need to be RELAXED. Your intent is to have fun with the blank space. It is a job that you want to do, not a task that has to be done. You are the one who chose this expression as a pleasure. The blank page is where you are having a mental holiday, not a mental breakdown. Relax, you are having a break, you are doing exactly what you want to do. The idea of pursuing this interest is to enjoy yourself. Do not forget this or you will become lost in your focus on the goal and not enjoy the process of achieving it. If it is not fun then go and do something else. To consciously create you need to be LIGHTHEARTED. You are not in a school, you are in a playground. You are playing in a wonderful open space. You are not going to be measured by anybody but yourself.

If you don始t care what happens, anything can happen. You are a child in a playground, do what you will to make your own fun. To consciously create you need to be BELLIGERENT. Jump off the deep end, you might just fly. Even if you fall, you will land safely because the abyss is only a shallow shadow, your fears give it the appearance of great depth. Most of your life is structured to avoid spontaneity. Right here now where you are about to play, it is safe to pursue your strangest ideas with a spontaneity that should excite you. Treat this time as your own to be as outlandish and illogical as you wish. Stick your nose up at the system of every day business and dive into the open unknown. To consciously create you need to be RECKLESS.

Play using your pen or brush or fingers. Hold your hand before the page and let it move easily and with a carefree movement. You are the creator, you cannot go wrong because you have no idea of what is right. You only make a mistake when you have tight expectations. If you go to the beach to enjoy the sun, does it matter if run in the sand or swim in the water? As long as you enjoy yourself, you have achieved your purpose. When I first started drawing portraits in public I used colored chalk and whatever paper I could get free from a local printer. There was nothing fancy in the way of materials and a considerable mess at the end of the days drawing. If I was uncomfortable with the way the drawing started, I would discard it and start again. Who cared, as long as I was happy with the finished product. If I was happy with it, my customer was happy with it. I was not only reckless, I was messy. I was like a train racing along, trying to hold to my belief, that

the rails continued around every bend and over every hill. It took a long time to gain that trust and to learn to fly along without care. Only then did I refine my act and now I am a very tidy artist.

CHAPTER 3

TRUST YOURSELF TO TEACH YOURSELF There is no other person in the world who can create exactly the way that you do it. Your way is the best way for you. This is your character, your

unique stamp, the thing that makes you a wonderful part of this crazy game called life. You are the creator. You have created the life you live. Creators really only need one rule: there are no rules! If it is good for you, then it is perfectly correct for your universe. You are creating to please yourself. Only you know what is best for you. If you like it, it must be good! You know what is best for you. You would not intentionally do anything to make life difficult for yourself. Trust yourself to take you on a journey of surprise and challenge. Listen but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily pay attention to comments of others. If what they say sits well in your heart - keep it, it is yours. I fit feels uncomfortable - let it pass, it is only a shadow. Do not ask for opinions, or you will get them. Then you will feel disheartened because most people do not offer positive opinions. You do not need other peoples judgments.

You are a pot plant restricted in a city office, you are a tree in the forest, free to grow as you naturally will. It is safe to express yourself, to allow yourself to grow in whatever direction suits your particular situation. It is a very daunting to be drawing before the public. Every stroke of the pen is scrutinized by their watchful eyes. When I was a beginner, drawing public portraits, I had to discipline myself not to panic. When you are surrounded by a crowd of people it is very easy to lose your confidence and to panic. Over time I learned to throw fate to the wind and let my intuitive self draw as it wanted to. I am now that intuitive self and I paint with ease and confidence. when I consider the whole process, it seems to me that you do not learn, so much as unlearn the process of art. Stop trying to do what you think you should do. Stop doing what you learned was the thing to do. Be spontaneous and trust yourself to teach yourself.

A beginner needs to master the tools of his trade. This gives the practical ability needed to produce the art. however, tools will not produce the art. Art comes from being able to wield the tools without effort and with harmony and comfort.

CHAPTER 4

OVER AND OVER If you want to learn to do something then do it hundred times and then another thousand. All of the creative people in the world had to practice to become talented.

A few steps each day, take you a mile in a year. Turn the television off, practice instead. Stay home one night and practice instead. Get up an hour early or go to bed an hour later, just make the time to practice. Sneak a little time out of each day so that you can steadily march forward to live your dream. The only thing between you and brilliance is repetition. Practice leads to confidence which leads to more confidence which leads to better work, round and round and round. You are already talented, but you need to practice to awaken the artist, hidden within. Try anything and everything. Try weird mixes of mediums. Try different brushes and pens and tools. Use your hands, rags, wire, string, anything that might give you the effect that appeals to your creative individuality. Practice techniques, practice changing ideas, practice being silly, practice stepping out into new and unknown territory. Practice changing your mind.

Give yourself time to achieve. Set a time to become what you want to be. Picture yourself being what you want to be, imagine your skill at the level you want to achieve. Then get on with the next stage of the game by doing something that takes you a little further along the way. If you want something different, you have to do something different. Practice being what you want to be and naturally you will become it. Talent is the natural result of practice. Excellence is the natural result of practice. Excellence stands strong without gimmicks or pretense. It can only be achieved consistently after consistent effort. After 12 years of quick portraits I found that I was starting to lose my enthusiasm. My work was fine but some days started to drag. So I started painting the sea. Every morning before going to the theme park for the days portraits, I would spend an hour or two painting many variations of the sea. Most of these works were quickly discarded. All were done on cheap boards using inexpensive paint. To me the key to achieving my goal was to do hundreds of practice paintings and so I did.

After a year of this intense effort I made the big shift from portraits to seascapes. It was not easy to drop a comfortable way of life and exchange it for one that was completely unknown. There were many times when I was tempted to pick up my pens and start drawing faces again. Eventually, my persistence paid off and my new career shifted into a comfortable and successful pattern.

CHAPTER 5

YOUR WORK HAS NO VALUE Do not hoard your efforts. Move your creations out so that you make room for more. Once finished, your work is part of your past. It does not belong in your creative present. The present should remain vacant to allow new work to emerge. If you clutter your room with old 28

works how can you feel fresh and open to new ideas. The past can blind you to the present. Do not fall in love with your creations. It is the act of creating that is of value. The completed creation belongs out therein somebody elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world. Offer the world an opportunity to have your art. If nobody wants it, discard it. It has done its job and allowed you to get closer to your goal of competence and confidence. Artists often claim that they cannot part with their work but usually, the truth is that they cannot face the possibility of rejection from the buying public. The public is very critical but it always responds to beauty and honest work from the heart. If your desire is to produce true art then beauty will be a natural consequence. A beginner is better off discarding all work or selling it cheaply, very cheaply. The only value any art has, is what you and the buyer put on it. If your valuation is not practical, then you will be left with it. How do you price your early work? Think of what it is worth and then sell it for 10% of that value. Do 29

not keep what could not be sold. If it is not of interest to the public, what value could it have in the cupboard? Art belongs to the world

CHAPTER 6

BECOME A PROFESSIONAL FAILURE To be a creator of excellence you need first become an expert at failure. Only by repeated error do you refine your creativity so that it is sharp, consistent and reliable.

Many hesitate to start their art because they are afraid of failure, criticism or of appearing foolish. You cannot travel far if you are always afraid of what’s around the bend. A traveler that is frightened of the unknown stays home. You cannot be creative while your mind is full of ideas about what your work should be like. It is not creative if you work basically to avoid failure. Your mind has to be open to unexpected, almost accidental happenings. Be happy to have an individual style. You and your work are unique. Do not compare, look at your work as being a personal expression. Comparison is competitive and a creator does not have to compete. You stand alone before the universe of your blank page and your whim is the universeʼs command. Failure does not exist. The only failure is in not trying. What have you got to lose by trying a new idea? When you become good at failing, it won’t bother you whether you win or not. You will be too interested in the next opportunity that arises as a 32

result of your experiment. You will know that you are excellent at failure when you see it as an opportunity in an unexpected direction. Imagine a baby that would not walk because it feared falling. Imagine a child that would not talk because it feared being misunderstood. Imagine a teenager that would not talk to a girl because he feared rejection. If you knock on enough doors, one will eventually welcome you. Failure points out the doors that are not suitable for you. Closed doors cover unimagined possibilities. Many times throughout my career, I thought I found the perfect answer to my business problems. Then a few weeks later, I discovered that not only was I wrong but it cost me money. Failure does not stop just because you have achieved your goals. False moves do not stop just because your career is a success and you love doing what you do each day. Every failure has a diamond heart. Look for it, learn from it and get on with it!

Life does not make mistakes, it passes through each moment with an endless combination of opportunities and possibilities. The only failure is not to see failure as an opportunity.

CHAPTER 7

FOLLOW FUN For the majority of people, work is a four-letter word, an unnatural act. Most people do not have the courage to pursue things they love so they are always in situations that they do not like.

It takes courage to stand firm against all opposition until you get what you want. It takes courage to doggedly pursue a career that you love while the world seems to be falling down around you. It is easy to get a job that pays the bills and that始s all. In 50 years time you will still be paying the bills and that始s all. There is a twisted adventure out there for those who would follow their dreams. Life is user-friendly, if you use it and test it and roll with it. Life is userfriendly, in the long term. Everybody has the potential to create an ideal life, but very few hang in there long enough to believe it into reality. Patience, perseverance and a commitment to your ideal life are the basics for happy, rich adventures. It is only natural that life will be fun if you live doing what you love doing. If you want the best out of life then do not compromise your ideals. Head only for those things you believe will be fun to live with, whether it be creativity, personal relationships or a career.

Fun can only be defined by you. Some love to dance in the country, some love to sing in the city. There is only one way to do anything and that is your way! Love what you do, work consistently at it and success will naturally follow. Do what you love and then you could even consider making it into a business. Know what you want. See your vision clearly and work towards making it a reality. Only pursue those things that bring you joy and enrich your life. You can have a job you love, you can look forward to going to work each day. Your career should be a seamless part of your life, not a separate hell hole that you are forced to sit in and resent. Love is the same word as fun. Fun is one of the best things you can have in life. It is hard to have too much fun. If you live doing what you love, you become living love. Love is fun. Fun is love. Work at what you love doing and in time it will become easy to produce what is naturally and uniquely your own style.

My job as a portrait artist was constant fun and constant joking. This suited me perfectly in my younger years. Now my job as a seascape artist is a constant refinement of the expression of beauty which is a delight to me. Lean into a life that tends to take you into fun situations and before long you will be having fun naturally while you work.

CHAPTER 8

THATʼS ALL You don’t need any more, just get into it. You can go on entertaining your mind for years with theories on creativity but you cannot beat action. Do something today and a little bit more every day. Your hand is the practical application of all theories.

Repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice, repetition, practice... Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to be creative. Once you have put into practice the simple steps needed to be creative, you will laugh to think that you would choose to be any other way. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s easy to be creative!

COLIN PERINI Colinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paintings are not only beautiful, they all have an essence of peace and serenity. Even the passionate works have these underlying qualities. His art becomes a focal point wherever it is hung and many people are mesmerized by the naturalness and simplicity of his inspiring works. Colin believes in practical philosophies. All of the theories and good ideas in the world are of little use if they cannot be put to realistic use. Colin Periniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art is the practical application of peace and beauty.

You can read more of Colinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works and see some of his artwork at: colinperini.com thecreativeway.com.au thecreativeartist.com.au