Friday, January 13, 2012

Whatever Gets You Through The Night!

I love that Beatles song... it's so full of energy and power.  I love it.  I have it on vinyl and play it when I need to get rid of excess energy and need to get to sleep at night; true story.  However, I also play music to help me paint.  
Whether it's at the very beginning or to finish off the detailing, I play a series of vinyls to help me focus on my work.  And it's been proven by scientists that certain composers are fantastic in assisting students with their studies; there are certain musicians that can also help artists with their work as well.
When I watched the show on Jean-Michel Basquiat, they interviewed some of his friends who said that they noticed he couldn't focus without a lot of noise around him - he even worked when he was hosting a noisy party with people milling around him.  Mainly, though he'd have on Ravel's Bolero all day; driving some of his neighbours nuts as that's all he'd play.  He'd also have the television on at the same time and books open that he be reading while he walked past to get something to eat at the kitchen.  He had to keep his mind extremely active while he was working on his art.  I found this fascinating; but I would have found all of this very distracting if it was me.  I guess we all have our own ways of working.
I like to work in the afternoons - as the light is at its best then in my house.  I usually pick out fast music if I'm starting a piece - like The Red Hot Chili Peppers - and all my music is usually on vinyl as the digital affects on music dulls what I like about it.  I love the old-fashioned style of vinyls as I was brought up around them when I was young and it's what I love to collect as well; and this gives me a chance to play them as well.
If I'm doing a background, I love to play anything live by Santana.  The solo drum mixes usually get me into a focused trance and they are brilliant up loud; along with the roar of the audience.  By the time the song is over, I'm on my feet walking around my piece with the brush in one hand and the palate in the other.  It's great... my feet are sore and I've gotten further along than I usually would without the music otherwise.
When I'm doing detailing work, I usually just listen to the radio... or my iTouch and pick out Lenny Kravitz... he's got a great voice and guitar riffs that really calm down my brush strokes.  Besides, he's a hot guy... what can I say, he's got a beautiful voice and - visually - gets better with age.  This is the only time I don't use a vinyl.  Or if I do, I put on some Mozart; a piano concerto or two and I finish up my work.  Now, as I mentioned earlier, scientists have proven that some composers have proven to help with focusing with students.  Mozart, Beethoven and Bach are the three main ones who assist with this.  These three composers are also the main three who brought in a new section in the orchestras:  Woodwind.  This section used to be better known as Percussion (which was bigger than it is now).  
So, who helps you focus on your work?  Is it a musician or a comedian?  Do you have the television going or a dvd going?  Do you work in complete silence?  Let us know, and until my next post, keep creating.

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