About Music and Painting
This week, I share a painting that had a big goal: to achieve a similar effect to uplifting music.
I think that all painters envy musicians because music can make great emotions flow in an instant. Music can make us feel that the world is expanding into the universe and at the same time, shrinking to the size of a heart.
When I listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Nessun Dorma, his complete self-confidence makes me, who is a mere listener, feel almighty too. And Avicii’s Levels is often my choice when I want to celebrate an achievement, for example, a newly completed painting.
But even if we painters envy musicians, I also think that musicians also envy painters. Music is experienced in a fleeting moment, but a painting can capture that more permanently.
Music I Listen to While Painting
When I start a new painting, I often listen to Kaija Saariaho‘s music. It is art music, and I don’t find it entertaining at all. But it helps me to think more spatially and paint a 3-dimensional space instead of a 2-dimensional surface. (See the video of my first encounter to Kaija Saariaho’s music from 2015!)
I try to avoid letting the music leak ideas into my paintings. I don’t want the music to create the illusion that the unfinished painting is better than it is. The music’ should mainly’s main function is to entertain my impatient side while my patient side paints.
As the painting progresses, I gradually move to lighter music. First classical piano and violin concerts, then entertaining music television shows that play pop and rock.
When the painting is in the finishing stage, I listen to dry talk programs such as political analysis.
Music helps me to keep going. It takes many sessions to finish a big painting.
I painted this painting in 7 parts and as you can see from the pictures, it changed quite a lot over the months. I started in early August and the painting was finished in late November.
My painting called Cosmos is a flower arrangement, but at the same time, I was aiming for much more. I wanted to express both meanings of the word cosmos – both the flower and the universe. So I was aiming for the same thing that music can give: the expansion into a larger whole and the contraction into a single moment.
Details of Cosmos
The blue flower was the most difficult to paint because I wanted it to be modest and small and still refer to the universe. It had to be simple and delicate, but still strong enough. I rarely use Cobalt Blue this much. It’s my most expensive pigment and not very good with historical pigments that I mostly have. But in this piece, I think it perfectly represents the universe.
One of my favorite details is the flying orange petals. I think they look like a little melody playing in the background as the song slows down.
Some areas come more easily than others. The top right corner was finished early, and it was a lot of fun to paint. I prefer dark backgrounds over light ones, but dark paintings can be difficult to sell, so I try to be moderate with dark colors.
The red spot is both a supernova and a flower.
I love painting bowls and vases, especially when I can just freely compose them from strokes and shapes.
I also love to paint water. Here, the vase disappears under the waterline.
I often paint a flower so that it’s partly quite sharp and partly blurry or invisible.
Music can use echoes as an effect, while visuals can have mirror images. The echoes and mirror images can differ slightly. I played with this idea when painting the red flower and its dark echo.
Ornaments and ornamental strokes inspire me a lot. I think that when you have found out how you want to draw a single line, you are really close to finding your style.
Lines are like musical notes that a mind can interpret and sing. They have the painter’s voice.
What kind of music do you listen to when you paint or draw?
Hand-Drawn Oracle Cards
This year has been rough, and I have been thinking about the next year for many months already. So, I decided to draw some Oracle cards for the new year. I want the new year to bring us hope, light, and connection to our inner being.
I don’t have any Oracle or Tarot decks, but I could still drew some cards. So, not drew like randomly from a pack, but really drew. I believe that by creating hand-drawn art we can explore our inner wisdom more actively than just picking the cards someone else has created.
You only need some paper and colored pencils to make these hand-drawn Oracle cards. I also colored the backsides of the cards, each differently, expressing the idea of each card, but in a simpler way.
These cards are very small, only 2.75 x 4.75 inches (7 x 12 cm), which is a common size for Oracle and Tarot cards.
Notice the simple but decorative borders that make the drawings look like a real Oracle card!
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50 Art Ideas in an Art Journal
This week I have a special treat for you: a flip-through video of my full Dylusions Creative Journal. It has 50 art ideas, not only for art journaling but for art-making in general.
The pages are mostly made with colored pencils, watercolors, and acrylic paints. I also have many that have hand-drawn collage pieces.
I started the journal in 2020 and finally finished it now in 2025. There are so many memories saved in it. But I didn’t want the nostalgy to take over, but tried to make the video as useful and as easy to watch as possible.
50 Art Ideas – Watch Now!
There’s so much ideas that I thought it would be handy for you to have all the ideas and links listed.
List of Art Ideas and Links to Related Content
#1 Borders
Get inspiration from books and paint covers so that they have borders.
#2 Draw a Tassel!
Draw a decorative object like a tassel rather than an animal or a person.
Blog post: Making the Art Journal More Magical
Course: Animal Inkdom
Course: Magical Inkdom
#3 Forgotten Supplies
Check what supplies you have and use those that you haven’t used for a very long time. At the same time you can decide if you really want to keep them.
Blog post: Art Supplies I Should Not Use Anymore
#4 Introduce Yourself!
Tell who you are in words and pictures.
#5 Title
Give the book a title that inspires you.
Blog post: Adding Text and Layers to Your Pages
#6 Makeover
Paint over any page so that the previous layers show through. Then add details on top of everything.
#7 Alice in Worderland
Paint a place where strange things happen.
Blog post: Painting a Mystery
Blog post: Wonderland Art – Inspiration from Alice in Wonderland
#8 Indoors and Outdoors
Paint a room with large, open windows. Imagine that the outside world floods in.
Blog post: Painting a Mystery
#9 Cafe Bakery
Imagine a lovely cafe where you bake cakes.
Course: Decodashery
#10 Paint with Pencils
Use colored pencils like they are paints and color without outlines.
Course: Intuitive Coloring
#11 Child’s Drawing
Use a child’s drawing as a starting point for a page.
#12 Hole
Make a window from one page to another by cutting a hole.
#13 Scribbles
Pick a black pen and scribble and doodle your heart out. Then use the drawing as a coloring page.
Blog Post: Don’t Just Create Circles
Blog Post: Doodler’s Sampler Step by Step
#14 Transparency
Draw on a transparent film or print your drawing on the film.
Blog post: Creating Wood by Doodling Layers
#15 Safari
Draw animals and use unconventional colors and details.
Course: Animal Inkdom
#16 Time Travel
Combine your art from several years into one spread.
#17 Happy
Collect happy things and write comforting and hopeful thoughts.
Blog post: Mini Drawings on Art Journal Pages
#18 Inner Child
By creating, we cherish our inner child. Let her face appear in one of your pages.
Blog post: Coloring with the Inner Child
#19 Columns
Add drawings and paintings as vertical stripes on the spread.
#20 Free Video: Colored Pencils – Intuitive Approach
Blog post: Colored Pencils – Intuitive Approach
#21 Underwater
Let blue tones dominate the background and create an underwater scenery.
#22 Nighttime
Imagine what can happen in the night when no one is watching.
#23 Fairytale
Make up a fairy tale while you draw.
Blog post: Picture Prompts – Creating Art Journal Pages with Handdrawn Animals
Course: Animal Inkdom
#24 Wings
You can draw wings on almost anything.
Blog post: Picture Prompts – Creating Art Journal Pages with Handdrawn Animals
Blog post: Angel Drawing for the Inner Child
Course: Magical Inkdom
#25 Four Seasons
Express spring, summer, fall, and winter in one spread.
#26 Seed Flower
Start with a single flower.
Blog post: Flower for Your Art Journal
Blog post: Expressive Watercolor Flower Collage
#27 Floralize!
Leave some happy parts of bad art visible and then paint flowers on the top.
More ideas for revamping:
Blog post: Revamp Art Journal Pages So That They Spark Joy!
Blog post: Revamping Watercolor Painting with Watercolor Pencils
Blog post: Art Makeover – Revamp Your Old Paintings!
#28 Carve & Stamp!
Carve a lino plate and use it as a stamp.
You can also use a gelli plate.
Blog post: Gelli Plate Meets Fine Art – Monoprinting Ideas for Art Lovers
#29 Lemons
Express your appreciation for lemons or other fruits by painting or drawing them.
Blog post: Painting And Drawing Fruits
Course: Fun Botanicum
#30 Vermeer Girl
Re-create the face from Johannes Vermeer’s painting Girl with Pearl Earring.
Blog post: Vermeer Girl with Heart – Draw with Me!
#31 Glow
Make a drawing that glows without using any glitter. Use soft transitions from light to dark.
Blog post: Bringing Old-World Feel to Abstract Painting
#32 Spirit
Visualize the person’s spirit, not only the face.
Blog post: Intuitive Art Journaling
Blog post: Coloring an Intuitive Selfie
#33 Puzzle
Glue a couple of small drawings on the page and continue their outlines so that they form a new image.
Blog post: Mini Drawings on Art Journal Pages
#34 Easy Start
Paint the background with watercolors and then use it as an inspiration for coloring.
Blog post: Why Draw in the Ready-Made World?
#35 Stripes
Paint stripes of your current favorite colors.
#36 Scan, Print, Collage!
Scan your drawings and print them smaller. Use the printed images for a fun collage with stripes.
Blog post: Making the Art Journal More Magical
Course: Magical Inkdom
#37 Block
Paint rectangles and triangles to make a design.
Blog post: Building and Breaking – Revealing Artistic Potential
Blog post: Art Quilts in a Modern Way
About Paul Klee
Blog post: Paul Klee and the Art of Learning
Course: Floral Freedom
#38 Chapter
Make a themed chapter of several pages for your art journal.
Course: Hearts and Stories
Course: Fun Botanicum
#39 Storybook
Make a storybook page.
Blog Post: Art Journal as a Storybook
#40 Childhood Memories
Get inspired by your childhood and draw things you loved back then.
Blog post: Maximalist or Minimalist? Style Experiments in Art Journal Pages
Blog post: Choosing the Word for 2025
#41 Dolls
Rather than drawing a realistic person, design a doll with all the accessories.
Course: Decodashery
Course: Doll World
#42 Dark Background
Make an impact with the contrast between bright flowers and dark background color.
Blog post: Imagining Flower’s Spirit
#43 From Back to Front
Add more than one color to the background and, at the same time, adjust the shape of the foreground objects.
Course: Freely Grown
Course Wild Garden
#44 Modern
Make organic shapes more angular and thus more abstract and modern.
Blog post: Making Florals More Modern
#45 Letters
Imagine that the letters are fictional characters and add expression and decorations to them.
Blog post: Making the Art Journal More Magical
Blog post: Draw Your Own Fonts
#46 Watercolor Love
Paint flowers with watercolors.
Course: Wild Garden
Course: Freely Grown
#47 Castle
Imagine a building that is full of fun details.
Blog post: Intuitive Art Journaling
#48 Experience
Imagine being in an imaginary place.
Blog post: Intuitive Art Journaling
#49 More Is More
Be a maximalist, and get inspired by nature’s abundance.
Blog post: Maximalist or Minimalist? Style Experiments in Art Journal Pages
Blog post: Following the Inner Color
#50 Jewelbox
Divide the page into small compartments and color the compartments one by one.
Need More Than These 50 Art Ideas?
See the blog post from 2020: 75 Ideas in an Art Journal
I hope you enjoyed this post and put the art ideas in use. Let’s keep creating!