Finding Your Visual Voice - Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe
"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for." — Georgia O’Keeffe
Georgia O’Keeffe’s visual language was uniquely her own - an alchemy developed over years of experimentation with abstraction, sensual forms, scale, and composition that allowed her to express herself without words. She spoke her own language of color and shapes and told new stories about the world to us. Her unique visual language expressed deep emotion through many non-realistic representations of her subjects.
Looking at her visual language was about translating what she felt—her own inner vision—into a form the viewer could experience viscerally. Over the years, I also have personally discovered the joy and release of developing my own visual language which has helped me expand my interests in art viewing, and expanded my range in art making.
By following in O’Keeffe’s footsteps, you too can begin stitching together your own visual vocabulary by integrating your own ideas, thoughts, and feelings into creative expressions. This post features a few “hands on” mini-exercises that you can sew together to develop your own visual preferences. It doesn’t have to make perfect sense or be “good enough” for anyone else, it has to mean something to only you!
Developing a visual language takes time, courage and a willingness to pivot, make some really ugly pictures, and have a sense of humor. The goal in this post is to try and encourage you to experiment and make different kinds of marks, shapes and colors, while referencing back to Georgia O’Keffe’s pictures. Your visual preferences are created by asking yourself honest questions and learning what you like, and don’t like. This process can be so empowering but it takes patience, practice and perseverance. Take notes if you can, it really helps!
Materials needed:
Color (watercolor, crayons, etc)
Brushes
Paper - I love using a plain sketchbook- but any paper you have around works.
Step 1. Identify and write down how you are feeling at this moment -what words come to mind? Write down 3-5 words or pairs of words
Ex. 1. Squishy 2. A Little Off 3. On Edge 4. Excited 5. Alert
Step 2. What color or combination of colors do you associate with your words? Don’t overthink it -grab a color and see, go back and change it if it doesn’t work. In my example below, I found that the combo of orange and ultra marine blue was perfect for all the words, but didn’t mix well.
Step 3. Now looking at 1 - 5 selections of Georgia O’Keeffe’s work below, ask yourself the following questions.
Preview the photos - and answer these questions in your sketchbook or on a piece of paper.
Do you notice themes or patterns in her shape and color choices?
What thoughts or feelings to those colors/shapes/patterns elicit in you?
Choose one photo you like or don’t like. It should be a strong preference -Example. I love the Hollyhock picture below
Go Deeper: When you look at this picture describe exactly what you see - the marks, the lines, the shapes, the colors… get as detailed and specific as you can. Your brain needs this analysis to begin creating your own visual language.
Ex. I see 4 images: a sky, bones, a flower and a landscape. I see the colors: orange (a few variations), brown, white, green and more. The colors get stronger and weaker.
How does this picture make you think and feel? Example. This makes me feel curious, and content and balanced.
Now, state your preference for one or more of the photos… Example. I like this picture because I love seeing bones with a flower with a landscape. It makes me want to know more, and I enjoy not understanding the connection of the objects in the context of the landscape. I don’t like bones, so this doesn’t make sense to my logical brain. But the combination of these images are so compelling and unusual.
Final Synthesis: Look at one or more of your painting responses and see if you can see any patterns in your likes/dislikes? Are there specific colors that make you feel joy? Are there shapes you don’t like? Jot them down, share them in the comments below or with someone.
This is only the beginning in delineating your own visual preferences, and hopefully when you are making art, it can inspire you to create marks-colors-shapes that you naturally are drawn to. Reviewing the beginning steps of brainstorming your emotions and pairing it with colors can evolve into shapes that also will communicate something to you and to the viewer. By working both sides of being the maker and the observer you will find yourself growing your lanugagle. This is a process of building your vocabulary, it takes time and experimentation. Enjoy it!
