Can music help us create artistic content?
Why do certain musical chords instantly shift our emotions?
Why do major chords feel “bright” and minor chords feel “heavy”?
To a creative mind, a sound is never just a sound. Every vibration carries intention, mood, and meaning. And increasingly, I’ve been wondering how the music we listen to while creating influences the final artwork we make.
Even when we aren’t consciously aware of it, music subtly shapes our creative choices—our colors, our gestures, our emotional direction.
Music has a profound emotional impact on us, and artists can translate that emotional energy directly into their work. Just as we draw inspiration from books, nature, or other artists, we can draw inspiration from rhythm, tempo, tone, and mood.
In all of my beginners online course, I emphasize the importance of emotional connection. Artwork must evoke a feeling before it can truly speak to a viewer. Without that connection, an image becomes something people glance at and move past—just like the hundreds of visuals we scroll by every day.
Music can help bridge that emotional gap.
Your emotional response to a song can influence your composition, your palette, or even the overall energy of your piece. As I reflect on this connection, I’m reminded of how musicians perform the same score in infinitely different ways.
Ansel Adams once said: “The negative is the score; the print is the performance.”
In photo encaustic, I would say: “The photograph is the score; the beeswax and pigments are the performance.”
Each of us responds differently to different genres, but the emotional effect of music is universal.
I invite you to experiment.
Notice how your artwork shifts as you listen to different songs, artists, or genres.
Notice how you shift, too.
Chances are, your artwork will start to follow the music—and the emotions it unlocks within you.
Would love to hear any comments on how music effects your work and/or the music you most listen to when creating.
Be well….be creative,
