Art and Self-Discipline - The Struggle to Finish

Losing passion for one's creative project is just part of being creative. So don't stop. Because finishing is one of the factors that qualify you as an artist ...

Sadly, some artworks remain unfinished ...

We're always so full of energy when starting a new creative project. We have an idea and we are passionate about implementing it. We burn and burn and burn until ... until the creative project suddenly becomes a chore.

Are you one of those people experiencing this?

Why Contests Are Crap

Awards don't say much about the artworks they were given for. Contests promise to determine the best, but they rarely actually do it. Here's why ...

Contests say very little about quality. An artwork approved by other people often is good,
yet it doesn't mean it's better than a non-award-winning artwork.

I hate contests. I did participate a couple times, a few times I even won, and I hate them. Because, in my honest opinion, they often don't deliver the quality they promise. At least, personally I rarely agree with the results and see them as highly subjective.

The problem here is how the winner is determined ...

Art and Intuition - How Trustworthy Is an Artist's Inner Voice?

Artists are expected to follow their intuition. But does it always lead to great results? What if your intuition is playing a trick on you?

Intuition is important when creating art.

The stereotypical artist uses some kind of sixth sense instead of his mind. His ideas seem like a divine vision that he only has to bring in a physical form in order to create a timeless masterpiece ...

Only it doesn't work like this. Well, following one's intuition mindlessly does work sometimes. Paul McCartney is said to have composed the ingenious melody of Yesterday in a dream. But in most cases, especially in the cases of average-talented and yet inexperienced artists, this results in stepping into every cliché trap possible.

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.

Is Performing an Art Form?

Are actors, singers and musicians performing other people's creations actually artists? What do they create? This week I dive into the specifics of performing arts.

When performers enjoy themselves they pass this joy on to the audience.

Nowadays we have quite a culture of idolizing actors, musicians and singers. But being a writer, I kept wondering:

Art is about creating. Writers create stories. Composers create music. Artists create drawings and paintings. Architects create buildings. Sculptors create sculptures. Game developers create games. But what do actors, musicians and singers do other than perform what other people have created?

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?

Are Artists Unhappy People?

Unhappiness seems to be an artist's constant companion.

I stumbled over this question when browsing my idea list for this blog and decided ... Well, this is a question that keeps haunting me, so I decided it's about time to answer it.

The reason why I keep asking myself this question is simple: Whenever I read an artist's biography I always note that he or she had a pretty difficult life - if not for political or social reasons it were depression, a sickness, an addiction ... Or everything at once. I also note that people who seem content with their life and society often aren't very creative, just as if they don't feel the need for that. - Well, no, there is creativity in them, but it seems more practical: decorating their home, baking cookies ... No great, revolutionary stuff, if you know what I mean.

Last but not least, there's myself, the person I know best and watch all the time. Fighting suicidal thoughts since my teenage years, I wouldn't describe myself as a happy person. And as a matter of fact, I do feel a connection between my general unhappiness and my writing.

Art vs. Entertainment - Are Let's Plays an Art Form?

To make a truly interesting Let's Play isn't that easy.

As you may have noticed, I have a very broad definition of art. For me, art includes not only the classical forms like painting, sculpting, writing, music and so on, but also such things as cooking. With this in mind, it shouldn't be a surprise that for me it's only natural to consider video games an art form.

However, there is a phenomenon that is connected to games, but still is a different genre: Let's Plays, the scourge of YouTube. For those of you who don't know that it is: A Let's Play is a series of videos that shows someone playing and commenting a game. No more, no less. And believe it or not, they're highly popular. Many - if not most - successful YouTubers make Let's Plays.

Rules vs. Artistic Freedom - Why Perfection Is Boring

The only rule in art is that there are no rules.

If you ever joined an artist community you surely came across people crusading for the one and only true faith in the world of art: rules. People who criticize those who dare to disobey conventions, those who don't do what they consider "good" art. And maybe you're even one of these people. Maybe you're extremely annoyed by all these kids who justify their obvious mistakes with "artistic freedom". Hell, I've even seen amateur writers defending their spelling mistakes with this argument!

So how many rules are necessary and how much freedom is allowed?

What is Talent? - Why You're Not Automatically Talented If You're Gifted

Most important about art is enjoying it.

Writing my post on originality and coming up with the idea that knowledge might be more important for creating art than talent made me see the necessity of a definition of talent.

So what is it? - This question gets even more interesting as many great artists insist that they don't have much talent and that they acquired their skill through a lot of hard work. At the same time, there are lots of people who are called talented in their childhood, who can do something amazingly and still don't become professionals.

What Is Originality? - Why Talent Alone Isn't Enough for Being an Artist

Originality is nothing more than a new combination of already known material.

Let's start this blog with something really basic: Usually what is expected from art is originality. Something unique. And to create something unique is actually really hard, or otherwise I don't know why I often have the impression that most artworks are basically all the same. Let's be honest: We all plagiarize from each other - this is just the truth about how learning from each other works.

Be it motifs, techniques or ideas that inspire us ... Whatever we create is made of things we've seen earlier. There's always something that gave an artist his ingenious thought, since no idea plops out of nowhere. Sometimes it may feel this way, but when looking closely one can see that it's just a combination of what the artist already knows.