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Mrs Messy-Loose and Mr Tight-n-Tidy, Artists’ right and left brain

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Mrs Messy-Loose and Mr Tight-n-Tidy, Artists’ right and left brain

I have two personalities cohabiting in me, one who likes order and being precise and tidy, and one who likes to be messy, loose and intuitive. This last personality definitively won the territory of the car for example…
Not to get into stereotypes but  I tend to think as the Tidy side of me as male because it is the methodical one and the messy side of me as more feminine because it is also the intuitive one, and me as a couple where opposites attracts.

Mrs Messy-Loose and Mr Tight-n-Tidy, Artists’ right and left brain

If you feel closer to Mr Tight-n-Tidy, you might need to be tight and have a plan with a precise idea of what should be the end result right from the start. If you tend to be more in this category you might also like controlled and detailed work, you might be more patient, work with little brushes and layers. This ends up in works like those (Click on pictures to see a bigger size) :

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Then if you like to paint occasionally with your fingers and wear the paint, step on the paint and if you tend to be more on the impulsive side. If the idea of a precise plan stops your creativity right in her tracks and you like surprises and not knowing what the end destination is, then you might enjoy making paintings that would look more like this (Click on pictures to see a bigger size):

I don’t think as one of these ways to paint as being better than the other one, I am just enjoying going back and forth between my two opposites personalities and sometimes they manage to collaborate for a while in one painting:

artist's left and right brain

Mixed-Mixed media on paper

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Comments (12)

  1. I savor, lead to I discovered just what I was looking for. You’ve ended my four day
    lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye

  2. I guess I’m Mr Tight-n-Tidy! At least, when I paint… and not in the bedroom 🙂
    Great post!

  3. I am so glad you spoke on this as there are many of us who enjoy working in all sorts of ways, never really wanting to work in one way. That, I think is a blessing on our journey. I absolutely am “jaw-dropping” admiring the mixed medium at the bottom!

    1. Thanks Leslie!!
      Yes I don’t think there is a good or bad way, actually for me , I think the fun is going back and forth between the twos.

  4. Hélène

    Excellente analyse de ta personnalité par rapport à ta peinture. Très intéressant!

    1. Merci Helene 🙂

  5. Val Erde

    Yes, I’m like this – both sides residing in my nature. Currently I’m trying to let go of some of the tidy/precision part of myself to let the other part play.

    It’s left and right hemisphere generated usually, I think.

    1. That’s very right, I am pretty sure those two sides must be related to left and right hemispheres 🙂

  6. Heidi Van Impe

    I am very much Mrs Messy-loose when I am painting and Mr. Tight-n-Tidy when I collage. I agree, it’s good to have both sides because it gives you a break and invites fresh inspiration.

    1. Holly Herick

      I love both style also. The yupo paper has forced me to loosen up a little. I can’t understand how you managed to paint the young girl and get the depth of tones and colors. I would love to see your process on that painting. I really like it.

    2. Yes! It’s nice sometimes to take a break and use a different approach.
      I think Collage is one of those things, like sewing that pushes you to be tidy 🙂

      1. Hello Holly,
        I like painting on yupo paper for the same reason, it forces me to loosen up because the paint seems to have a mind of its own on this paper!
        You can see a demo of the painting of that portrait here :
        https://paintingdemos.com/2010/05/24/acrylics-on-yupo-paper-painting-demonstration-portrait-of-a-young-girl/
        I used Acrylics first diluted in water, then thick.

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