Intuitive Process in Painting

Intuitive Process in Painting

Recently, my style of painting involves splashing paint onto the canvas with my brush. I smear and disperse a selected palette of two or three toned down colours and their composites across the surface in a seemingly haphazard way. It seems like chaos but it is actually a process guided by intuition. I do this for hours.  In the past, I would frequently step back from the work to gain a global perspective. This act is essentially metacognitive in nature because it gives space for reflection about what has been done and it provides insight into a bigger picture of where things are headed. Recently, I have changed my process a little.  Now, I step back only occasionally to get the big picture, and only for about ten seconds at a time. Recently,  my painting method is up close and personal, with my face rarely more than two feet from the canvas.

When I step back, I have the opportunity to project onto the painting the images I see in my mind. This process of projection uses parts of the brain likely related to the perception of faces and the conjuring of imaginary images, more the former than the latter. However, I have discovered that getting the global perspective of the image is less intuitive and more rational than the up-close and personal approach I have just described. Here is a list of areas which are involved when engaged in that process of projection and facial identification:

1.Fusiform Face Area (FFA): Located in the fusiform gyrus on the underside of the brain, this area is specialized for facial recognition. It plays a crucial role in detecting and interpreting faces, even in ambiguous stimuli like clouds or abstract patterns.

2.Occipital Cortex: This region, particularly the primary visual cortex (V1), processes basic visual information such as shapes, colors, and motion. It’s the initial stage of visual perception.

3.Parietal Cortex: Involved in spatial awareness and attention, the parietal cortex helps integrate visual information and focus on specific parts of the visual field, which is important for interpreting complex scenes.

4.Prefrontal Cortex: This area is associated with higher-order cognitive functions, including imagination, planning, and decision-making. It plays a role in projecting mental images onto a blank canvas, as it helps form and manipulate visual and conceptual representations.

5.Temporal Lobe: Beyond the fusiform face area, the temporal lobe also contributes to object recognition and memory, helping to identify and recall familiar shapes and forms.

6.Right Hemisphere: The right hemisphere of the brain is generally more involved in creative and holistic processing, which includes interpreting abstract visuals and engaging in artistic activities.

While I have the canvas in front of my visual field, I focus on a central or working point while the rest of the canvas occupies the entirety of my non-focussed visual field.  What is in the periphery is not directly available to consciousness as it attends  to the focal point throughout the task of painting. However, I will note that while producing imagery and remaining visually focussed on the work area, I am able to simultaneously focus on word based ideas which seem to run concurrently most of the time. In any event, peripheral perception remains mostly subliminal and therefore subconscious.

The conclusion I have drawn from this is that the up-close and personal stance before my painting is more intuitive because the forms and recognizable shapes emerge unconsciously rather than being projected onto the canvas by my rational, decoding and linear mind. Rather than stepping back and giving my left-brain a chance to name what’s in the picture, I remain in the right-brain sensations, in a meditative state where only the present moment and the paint present on the brush touching the canvas matter. At this point, the motor cortex functions in the left brain, right hand somatosensory cortex are also moving paint around in a highly focalized and short range of motion.

The result is that when I finally step away from the canvas to look at it, I can be certain that any recognizable forms which appear are strictly the result of unconscious or at forces. The product is a mixture of chance and predetermination.