A Flash of Inspiration in Painting

Beyond a Shadow
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
16 x 20 in/40.6 x 50.8 cm
Copyright Byrne Smith 2014

No matter what you paint, where you paint, when you paint, or how you paint, you won't connect with the viewer without first having had an inspiration.

Your inspiration is what makes your painting uniquely appealing, not only to you but also to others who are drawn into your vision.

One definition of inspiration is to be mentally stimulated to do something creative. I like that. To me it simply means that something got your brain rev'd up so much that you just had to act on it in a creative manner. You often hear the term "a flash of inspiration" to describe that moment of stimulation.

There's inspiration in all kinds of human endeavors, of course, but in painting the inspiration you have comes out visually on a two-dimensional surface in the form of gesture and contour and tone and color, among other things.

Not unexpectedly, several synonyms for inspiration are creativity, inventiveness, innovation, imagination, and originality. Perfect.

Whatever it was that flashed in your mind at that moment--an emotion, a view, a color, a setting--instantly told you, "that's my next painting."