About the Rules

Thinking about rules today, I would like to think I make my own. I guess I do, some of them anyway. About when and how often to brush my teeth, do my laundry, do the exercise video. We learn in childhood to say please and thank you, knock before entering, stand up straight. There weren’t many rules in my home so I found them elsewhere. I took them from the novels for girls that I read and almost memorized all of Emily Post’s rules of etiquette. Rules save you from getting into trouble and keep things running smoothly. It helps to know which ones you can break with impunity.

We learned some rules when I studied painting which I try to forget. There was the one about if you use a color somewhere in a painting, you must repeat it elsewhere in the same painting. A composition must, absolutely must, have a “center of interest”. No tangential lines or shapes allowed. Negative spaces must be as important as positive spaces. (What if you have neither?)

Here are some we learned that we have now been given permission to ignore: 8 Rules of Painting You SHOULDN’T Live By (and Why). For those we are told NOT to ignore (basically the same as the previous group), see The main rules of composition.

After years of straining to shed these rules in order to approach my work with a clean mind and eye, the rule that I keep with me is the one that serves me well. It is “Trust your process”. I heard that from a psychologist who wasn’t talking about painting. Still, to stay safe, it’s good to know what the rules are before flouting them.

I think I have broken several rules of grammar here.

Mark Twain: It is a good idea to obey all the rules when you're young just so you'll have the strength to break them when you're old.

The Image above is Poise ©2010, Giclée Print, size varies. For information or to purchase any of the paintings on this site, please email Joan.