Skip to content

Bob Dylan just took over

I like my sleep and nothing much disturbs it. I have been known to sleep through thunder storms, the annoying fly in the bedroom that is keeping my man wide awake with its gentle buzzing, the dawn chorus on summer mornings when the window is open, other peoples car alarms and dogs barking in the distance.  

But last night something woke me early from a deep sleep. It wasn’t heavy weather battering against the window or the wind in the eaves. Actually it wasn’t a sound at all.

It was a thought.

The thought of the painting that I started in November that I have finally, finally, been able to get back to this week. I knew when I restarted it, that I had lost some of the momentum of painting it and it always takes a day or so to get back into it after a long break. Thats why I try not to break the momentum when I’m in it, because it helps with the flow of the painting, the way it works well in the colours and contrasts and shows in the marks, in the way I think, in the overall aspect of the painting looking just *good*.

So when the thought woke me at just after 7am this morning, I knew it was because the painting was in my head and my head wanted to consider the aspects of it, wanted to get going on it, wanted it to move on, to develop and paint.

I got up started the day, and got on well with the painting, even after the daylight had gone and I was working by artificial light I wanted to get on with the next stage so mixed a lovely deep purple with some lighter tones and started filling in part of the background, part that I have been looking at for weeks not sure exactly how it’s going to join the foreground below it, and the area immediately behind it. By this time I had started listening to Bob Dylan, which doesn’t mean much I know. But I can’t say I’m a massive fan of his, even though I’ve seen him perform live (and what a big disappointment that was!). But there are a couple of his songs I really like, Tombstone Blues, and Desolation Row in particular. And maybe it was because I had listened to Elton John earlier (and I’ve seen him live too, and he was rocking!) and maybe it was listening to Bad Company before that (always most excellent!) that got me into painting mode, the mode when my hand takes over the movement of paintbrush and paint, that a few flicks of the wrist, and no conscious thought, and I stood back and thought “Wow! That’s it! That’s what is needed there!” as I smiled to myself and knew the “flow” had taken over me. That part of the picture just painted itself. And I can thank Bob Dylan for that, because there was something in the song, in the words, in the music that I had lost myself in, that I wasn’t thinking hard about where to put the paint, just doing. Doing the painting. And boy am I happy with that bit.

But there are other bits I’m happy with too. Little bits that make the painting look good. Of course the painting isn’t finished yet, although its about three quarters done. So I am hoping for more flashes of brilliance too (I don’t mean that in a big headed way, it happens to my creativity when I am in tune with my painting or drawing, but its through thousands of hours of learning and experience to get that result).

And maybe I’ll listen to more Bob Dylan too………….. 🙂

 

 

 

 

1 thought on “Bob Dylan just took over”

Comments are closed.