Does Specialization Kill Creativity?

Sometimes artists we admire don't seem to move forward. They're good at what they do, but they don't seem to evolve. May they be trapped in their respective field? And is it bad for creativity?

The multipotentialite Leonardo da Vinci would have had quite some trouble in our era.

I've followed quite a few artists so far. I enjoyed their books, their music, their paintings, their movies, their jewellery designs ... And even though their art still amazes me, with time, I stopped following some of them. - Why? Because their art bored me.

The Art of Imitation - Lack of Originality?

There are many different kinds of imitation in art. At the same time, we expect artworks to be original. But is it really a contradiction?

What makes realism and photography artistic is the original input by the artist.

Most people in the art community agree that tracing other people's drawings isn't the ideal form of art. Many people feel it's okay for learning purposes and I, too, have learned a lot by tracing and copying drawings and photos. Yet the problem with copying is that it lacks originality and thus isn't real art.

... Really?

Creating Art with Software - Is It Cheating?

Computers ease many processes - the process of art creation included. Working on a creative project requires less and less skill. All you need is a little basic knowledge and a good idea. Art isn't what it used to be. - Or is it?

We can't stop technological progress. We can only embrace it and make the best of it.

Computers ease many processes - the process of art creation included. Using traditional brush and canvas, you have to paint every single grass stalk when painting a landscape. If you use Photoshop, however, you can adjust the brush settings in a way that you only have to go over the areas where you want the grass to be - et voilà, you have a quite realistic grassy landscape within a few seconds.

With other art genres it's no different. You play only keyboard, but you need a guitar for your piece? No problem, there's software for that. You want to create a video game, but you have no programming skills? There's easy editing software for that as well. You need a professional-looking website, but you don't want to waste your time on PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS? There's professional software for that, and it's free.

Art Is Propaganda - Part I: Art and Soviet Ideology

Art has always been a tool for influencing people's thinking. What does such propaganda look like? Is it really bad? And can there even be art without propaganda? In Part I we take a look at some examples from the Soviet Union.

Propaganda? - Definitely! But also a piece of art.

No matter what your opinion is - as soon as you express it there will always be someone saying you've been brainwashed by somebody's propaganda. This is just how the mind of a modern homo sapiens works:

"I have a very good reason to believe what I believe, so everyone who believes something else is wrong."

We all consider ourselves intelligent and sincerely believe that our own opinion is based on facts. The funny thing is, however, that a truly intelligent and critically thinking person would rather say:

"I know that I know nothing."

Let's be honest: Throughout all of human history people tried to influence each other and developed some well-functioning techniques. And since people tend to believe their personal experience and emotions most this is where the most skilled influencers strike.

Art Is Travel - Planning vs. Spontaneity

Is it better to plan ahead or just start creating and see what happens? Different artists choose different paths, and sometimes we don't even have a choice ...

The best way to travel is going to see what you want with enough room for unexpected detours and adventures.

When I started this blog back in 2015 I typed "art is" into the Google search field and then wrote down Google's suggestions for how to continue this sentence. One suggestion was:

"Art is travel."

I love this idea. No matter what kind of art we create - we always go on a journey to discover something new, to push our limits and to come back as a new person. And, just like with literal travel, you can organize your artistic travel in two ways:

You can either

• plan every single step and have the exact result you want, or
• make no plans at all and just enjoy the surprise of where your feet decide to carry you.

Keep Calm and Carry On - 4 Ways How Computers Keep Us from Creating Art (And How to Deal with Them)

Computers are important nowadays. This is why it's so frustrating when they don't function as we want them to.

Last Christmas my old computer said goodbye to the world of the living and for a while I had no access to my writing, art and tools. A new computer had to be bought, an adapter to read the hard drive of the old one was ordered and there were issues with the delivery and, last but not least, once I finally had the adapter, there were technical issues with the old hard drive, so transferring my data was a long and painful process. That adventure inspired me to write about how fragile art becomes with advancing technological progress.

Don't get me wrong, though. Computers are an amazing tool for creating art. Even though I miss some advantages of traditional painting I really, really love toying around with Photoshop and Paint Tool SAI. They are great tools with an endless number of ways to use them. As a writer, I can't imagine going back to pen and paper. On a PC, I can edit a text as much as I want without it getting unreadable because of countless corrections. I can search my text for keywords to look up story details I already wrote. I can copy-and-paste a text wherever I want.

Musicians can create great artworks where they play all the instruments themselves. Movie editing is easy, fast and accessible. Computers and the internet allow us to share our art with others, to discuss it, to learn, to connect. They help us to find other artists and get inspired by their art.

Computers are important nowadays. And this is why it's so frustrating when they don't function as we want them to. And since today is one of those days when I planned to do something creative, but eventually spent the whole day fixing technological issues ... Well, I'm in the mood for a rant.

Art vs. Mere Skill - Do Commissions Destroy Art?

Some of the greatest pieces of art are commissioned works.

In 1835 the writer Nikolai Gogol published a short story entitled The Portrait in which a poor, young artist gives in to the temptation of money and starts a mass production of commissioned portraits which leads to him losing his talent as well as his sanity. His sin against art isn't taking commissions per se, but giving in to the demands of his commissioners who understand very little about art and only care about being portrayed as Greek gods.

In 1833 Vladimir Odoevsky told a very similar story: In his Improvisator a poet is granted the power to make up poems on the spot and has a huge success as an improvisator who makes up verses according to his audience's wishes. He, too, loses the ability to create art along with his mind.

Both stories are fruits of the Romantic era which introduced the idea of art as something divine seen and expressed through the artist. Today there is the idea about art being a way of self-expression. From both standpoints the artist is seen as having a crucial role in the process of creating art.

When it comes to commissions, however ... At first glance, the artist doesn't seem very important: The idea comes from the commissioner, the artist serves only with his bare skill. Yet is this first impression true?

The Fascinating World of Fan Art - Why Creative Fans Do What They Do

The internet is a free space, and there are people with very diverse ideas and interests.

If you ever came across Harry Potter having SM sex with Draco Malfoy in tight leather underwear and your only reaction was to roll your eyes and say you've seen worse then you truly know what creative fans are capable of. I love fan art, I've been a fanfiction writer for over 10 years, and as an operator on Fanfiktion.de, a German fanfiction community, it's actually part of my job to struggle through really disturbing texts. And considering some rather traumatizing experiences I really understand why Anne Rice, the author of The Vampire Chronicles, used to forbid her fans to write fanfiction:

"I do not allow fan fiction. The characters are copyrighted. It upsets me terribly to even think about fan fiction with my characters. I advise my readers to write your own original stories with your own characters. It is absolutely essential that you respect my wishes."

There are also copyright holders who generally don't mind fan art as long as it respects moral values. For instance, the example above isn't something Joanne K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, and Warner Bros. like to see, since the series is targeted at a younger audience that should be protected from adult content.

What is Art? - My Subjectively Objective Definition

Defining art is difficult, since everyone defines it differently.

In my opening post for this blog I tried to define "art" with search suggestions by Google and I also mentioned my wary attitude towards academic definitions. Since defining "art" is the ultimate goal of this blog, however, I sooner or later have to deal with different views on this point.

Yet before I discuss what others have to say about this I believe it's a good idea to record how personally I define it right now, slightly more than half a year after starting this blog. By doing so I can analyze how my views changed later, after I've dealt with the views of others. Will other definitions change my own or will they make me stick to my definition even more?

Defining art is difficult, since everyone defines it differently. We used to discuss it in school, and ... I changed my views several times in my life. With every book I read ... with every story I wrote ... with every movie I watched and every game I played ... with every academic text I read ... My own definition changed with every new experience.

Idealism vs. Realism in Art - Why Characters in Art Usually Are Too Pretty to Be Real

Throughout all of human history we see more idealizing artworks than those showing reality.

There's a question I frequently end up asking myself: Why do people usually create young and healthy characters? Why are at least the main characters almost always good-looking? Why are scars or any other injuries more decorative rather than ... serious?

This isn't a question which is only about modern days. Throughout all of human history we see more idealizing artworks than those showing reality. There's Napoleon's nose on Bonaparte at the Pont d’Arcole that is too straight to be Napoleon's actual nose (just compare it to other portraits). There are all those Greek and Roman statues showing perfect bodies. And today we have photoshopped models and anime girls with thigh gaps that are only possible if you have an extremely dangerous combination of anorexia and a deformed pelvis.

Philosophy of Art Is Born! - Climbing the Mountain Called Art

What is art? - Seeking an answer covered in fog ...

What is art? I've never read a definition I could accept without any objections. The problem is that depending on how narrow or wide the definition is it's something different. You can't really compare the writing of a novel to acting a scene someone else has written. It isn't unproblematic to compare free expression of the artist's feelings to commissioned artworks. What about disciplines that aren't considered art traditionally but require lots of creativity nonetheless? You have also to take into account that in different cultures and epochs art is defined differently.

However, I was surprised to find out that I liked the suggestions I got when I typed "art is" into the search field of Google more than the academic definitions, which is why I'd like to share them here: