Hey Everyone,
I thought I’d post some thoughts of comparison between techniques and philosophies of music and the visual art world and invite others to share their views and knowledge on this topic. I recently took up oil painting as a side pursuit to gain inspiration and explore analogies to music. So far, it’s been very fulfilling. I know like any creative pursuit, some time spent on technique will help me gain intuition in the medium and open channels to higher quality output. It’s also just really fun! I get super excited to buy a new tube of paint and other supplies now. 
Part of the impetus for doing this was that I’d been thinking recently about how years ago, when I was at university studying music, one of my composition instructors advised me to spend a day at the art museum studying the composition techniques of master visual artists . This was a useful and enjoyable practice at the time, and now, I aim to continue the practice when I can.
One of “low-hanging fruit” analogs between music and visual art which I can think of right away is the golden ratio (a + b is to a as a is to b). Somehow, we relate positively to this ratio in the placement of objects/aspects in a painting or in a sculpture. Similarly, some of the most memorable musical pieces base their narrative course along a timeline that reflects this ratio. The golden ratio obviously goes beyond just music and visual art, as it’s something reflected throughout nature.
Another connection that I’m personally starting to think about and intuit at some level in the activity of painting is, when mixing colours, I’ve started to imagine how the use of tints, shades and tones might relate to chords, melodies, textures, and timbres. Anyway, I’ve got nothing solid on that front, and I imagine that this kind of thing would be very subjective, but it’s a fun sort of way to think about the process and the product.
