📝 Hand, Eye, Heart
Thoughts around Hockney's quote
‘You need three things for paintings: the hand, the eye, and the heart. Two won't do.’ — David Hockney
Recently, I came across this quote by David Hockney referring to an old Chinese proverb, and although it wasn’t the first time I’ve read it, this time it really sank deep in my mind, giving me something to ponder over. One needs the hand, the eye, and the heart for painting and, I would argue, for any creative endeavour. (For life, perhaps?). It is the two won’t do part of it from Hockney’s view that struck me this time.
Am I missing any of the three? Is this what it takes to be an artist?
I started thinking:
The hand refers to technique, technical ability, or skill. Fine, we can all learn that one. It just requires knowledge and lots of practice.
The eye can also be trained. It probably refers to paying attention and noticing things, being in tune with the world and receptive to ideas, but it could also speak of the ability to recognise patterns and spaces, to look deeper, to see. Doing some research, I also found that the eye can be the head in the 3 or 4 H’s pledge. Okay.
The heart… This was the part that puzzled me. What could the heart part of it truly mean? And, most of all, can it be learned or trained?
I had a conversation about this quote with my partner and we both agreed that this thing of the heart was a more complex thing. I sort of see it as the energy and love and joy one puts into the creation of the thing. You can read that energy somehow in certain drawings and artworks. It is authenticity, it is being yourself, your true self. But it’s also emotion, any emotion, meaning, depth.
I asked my partner which of the three he thought was his strength and which was his weakness. He is also an architect and did film some years ago, so he has a strong visual artistic sensibility. Interestingly, he answered the opposite of what I know of him. He said the heart was his strongest - perhaps because that was the quality he wanted to pursue the most. But I do know he has one of the best eyes.
Then I asked his opinion about me as well. He said: ‘Your strength is definitely the hand. You also have a very good eye. Your weakness, if anything, is the heart, although in general, you have a good balance of the three.’
That got me thinking a lot about how to fill in the heart’s gap.
I believe the more we get to be true to ourselves in our art, the more this heart part of the equation is revealed. Perhaps the answer to them all is just to practice, and pursue that balance. Finding your own voice - your heart - is also a matter of practicing the hand and training the eye.
I have been pondering over this post for a while now, never deciding on how to conclude it. I guess it’s an ongoing conversation, the question of the heart.
A journey of discovery.
Or… is it something else?
✏️✨
Happy sketching!
Ana
Thank you for this post! One of my mentors has taught me to ask, "Is someone motivated by their intellect, their heart, or their gut?" The gut being intense feelings of self-protection.
Ah, this is such a lovely post, Ana. I love the three images at the end, they do finish the post very nicely. I've never really thought about the hand, the eye, and the heart in the context of my creative writing, but perhaps I will.