Resonance
Essay: What makes your art unique
This essay explores themes addressed in my forthcoming book, The Sovereign Artist.
Inside of each of us lies a divine force - The Sovereign Artist Within - a remarkable force which brings joy, peace, creativity and love back into our lives. This approach to the creative process saved me, and it can save you too, perhaps it can save us all. Connecting with The Sovereign Artist manifests as an explosion of creativity, peace, and quiet inner joy. It transforms the artist into a reflection of itself - sovereign, free, joyful and loving. If that is of interest, please click the button below to join the book’s waitlist.
If you set two violins on a table and play a note on the first violin, the strings on the second violin will vibrate at the same frequencies, and it will produce related notes due to the phenomenon of acoustic resonance. Like an artist in flow, the second violin seems to be playing itself.
Likewise, when we artists enter a flow state, we become a cosmic instrument, and we find ourselves resonating with The Mystery; we begin to vibrate, emotionally and aesthetically, in sympathy with The Sovereign Artist, but, even so, in our resonance, we can’t help but add our own unique flavor to this cosmic musica universalis.
The word ‘resonance’ encompasses the fact that our Art contains a unique energy and vibe. And this resonate energy in our artworks is what inspires other human beings; for they too feel the musica universalis in their hearts.
It is a paradox of art that the more our Art comes from our most personal depths, the more it connects, universally with others. Let’s refer to all of these related ideas, collectively, as Resonance.
While most artists understand the importance of technical proficiency, many overlook the importance of resonance.
However, humans are primarily emotion and feeling driven creatures. We are not nearly as logical and rational as we pretend we are. Our desires and decisions are often driven first by emotion and by what resonates with us. And, after the fact, we justify the emotional decisions of our subconscious by using our conscious mind to rational-ize the decision we’ve actually already made. This tendency is doubly true when people purchase Art because the whole point of Art is Resonance.
Resonance represents communication of non-verbal Truth between humans - Art. Resonance is more important than mastery because resonance is the point.
Technical proficiency can only share the what of your creation. Resonance shares the why.
"Artists are people who are not at all interested in the facts—only in the truth. You get the facts from outside. The truth you get from inside."
— Ursula Le Guin
Because resonance is the point, mining your unique deep truths, style, vibe, and energies will be the most valuable time you spend. If art were purchased simply based on proficiency, then everybody would want the “best” artist in each genre and medium. Fortunately, most buyers are more interested in unique resonance than technical proficiency.
While it’s very difficult to be “the best” in any field, you likely are already unique in some way. You have a unique vibe and energy about you, and the goal is to reflect that in your Art. Push yourself until it does.
Not every artist has tapped into their unique resonance: plenty of artists do the same type of landscapes, still lifes, or portraits that thousands of other artists also do. If I go to a plein air competition and everyone’s paintings look basically the same without much uniqueness, then I’d likely look for the best one I could afford (price) or the one painted by the artist that I best connected with (story) or maybe just not buy one at all. Rather than being “stuck in the pack” of sameness, it’s far more rewarding (and easier) in the long run, to mine your own uniqueness, vibe and energy. But it does take time and experimentation.
Because of the time required, it’s important, before you “productize” your art, that you truly develop your vibe, your energy, and your style. Figure out and utilize what makes you truly unique. Do not blame the economy, your day job, your web host, your fans, the Instagram algorithm, a lack of marketing knowledge or anything else for a lack of sales until you’ve nailed your own inspired uniqueness.
One way to do this, ironically, is to lean into your imperfections and weaknesses. Instead of trying to “stamp out” your imperfections, figure out how to make them work for you as a strength in a way that makes your art special.
If you’re not sure how to develop a unique style, imitate then iterate. Most of us start out by imitating other artists we admire. Copying old master artworks is a time-honored and valid learning technique in visual art. But imitation is not enough, the secret is to then iterate. You iterate by copying many different artists' works and styles. Imitate, then iterate. Imitate, then iterate. Imitate, then iterate. And as you iterate, you’ll slowly learn your own preferred method of doing things and, over time, your own style will emerge. It will be impossible for you to exactly copy another artist, so copy it your way. Look at where you are different, and push the differences further and further.
Follow Bruce Lee’s advice: Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.
“Man, sometimes it takes you a long time to sound like yourself."
— Miles Davis
This cycle of iteration is an ongoing, lifelong process and your art may evolve over time. However, when you’re first getting started, and aren’t sure if you’re ready yet, it’s probably a good idea, after you think you’ve developed something unique, to get feedback from people who aren’t your friends and family and who you know will be honest with you. Other professional artist colleagues are a good source for these kinds of critiques. Make sure you ask people who support you, but who are honest. Now is not the time to show your work to those who might throw water on your growing fire.
This resonance is the most important element of your art. In many ways, it is the reason for your art to be created at all, and I could write an entire book on the creative process of reaching deep into your unique self to connect with, and reflect, the eternal resonance within (actually, I have written that book).
Your long term art sales start and end with this step. If you aren’t honest with yourself at truly finding your unique resonance, others will feel it as a deadness to your work. But, when you are truly inspired and combine that with enough skill to capture your inspiration, viewers (or readers, if you are a writer) will feel the energetic vibrational resonance when they experience your work. There will be something, unnamable, that is different and alive. “This person has it,” they will say.
Show us something the world has never seen, for if the world has already seen it, then why are you repeating it? Uniqueness means “one of a kind” and “unlike anything else.” You are unique. In the history of the universe there has never been and will never be another human with your unique DNA, your unique experiences, and your unique way of perceiving reality.
Society attempts to create clones through programming. But you are not a clone. Creation, nature, and God made you unique. Reconnect deeply with that uniqueness and move beyond what society expects. That is what you need to share through your Art. Seek, through your Art, to be legend.
It is possible, likely even, that when you dig deep enough, the path you are truly meant to follow will seem a bit controversial to some people. That is okay. In fact, it’s a great sign. That means it challenges their programming. It means you’ve made those people, also, start to realize that they are not clones. It means, though their programming disagrees, you kindled something deep in their hearts — that they feel a tiny bit of the universal resonance.
If nobody doesn’t like what you do, then you are likely not unique and inspired enough yet, and that will reflect in your sales. No marketing tactics can truly compensate for uninspired art.
“The best art divides the audience.
If everyone likes it, you probably haven’t gone far enough.”
— Rick Rubin
Other Posts Referenced in this Essay:
The Mystery
“I’m not sure who you are channeling but it is true and I’m being enriched by your work. You are a wise soul and I appreciate you.” — Ed Penniman
The Sovereign Artist
“This is the most amazing writing I've read on creativity and being an artist…and I've read a lot.” — Kohlene Hendrickson
Embrace The Dragon
“Such BIG Truths veiled behind psychological concepts.” -- Louanne Headrick
You Won’t Sound Like Eddie
“I think Eddie also once said that the tone was in his fingers, not his gear.” — Mark Dykeman
Everything written in this post (and all my posts) is written 100% by me, Clint “Clintavo” Watson, a flesh and blood human seeking to grow my soul and come home my truest self; for that is the essence of creativity. I do not use AI to assist me with writing — that would deny me the very growth of my world through writing that I seek.
Your words have inspired me today. For a while I’ve known that being an artist means being true to myself and my art. It’s one thing to get that idea and quite another thing to put it into practice. Thanks for the encouragement!
Yes! I subscribe to the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master (from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers) - or using resonance terminology - to find your vibe. [By the way, have you read The Uncontrollability of the World or Resonance by Hartmut Rosa?] I have found that starting out by imitating others you admire is a tried and true method and after getting comfortable with the basics you start to experiment outside the accepted norms. I also had an insight on Sunday that if you find the thing that you love to do - you light up and become impassioned. People are attracted to that passion and want to be near you just to catch some of the Light that emanates through you. We are each a unique creation of God and to live into the fullness of life we need to find our special way to shine. You don't want to be like everyone else - so you are going to have to do something different. You have to be you!