[Oreste]

Hello there,


There is something I would like to ask you, artists.

Art, or more precisely digital painting is based on few big fields: Drawing, perspective, colours, light reflexions, anatomy etc.

When you have understand those, the basis; it's just repeating the same work on and on. The scenary, the perspective lines, the colours... Then, what's the purpose of keep on practicing painting/drawing? It's no more a question of practicing but perfecting.

When you know what Art is, when you can talk about it, you can debate about it... you have the reasons to stop, what are the reasons to continue?


Many thanks,

[Affected]

I'm not sure I've ever encountered anyone who's felt they've mastered their art.

[eyewoo]

Ditto hear for any serious artists...

As for me, I just have to do it. If I'm not making art, I get depressed and kind of lost...
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[Oreste]

Okay, I changed the word not to sound too radical.

I would like to know why an artist who is not making a living with his Art would keep on praticing Art.
I am just wondering all the amateurs artists around here can't be painting for no reasons, they must have an incentive but I can't make out what it is.

Thank you very much eyewoo for that honest answer.

[Max]

Oreste: It's simply the fun and gratification of creating things that are in your head. Mastering art is easy. Just "do" art, there just isn't more about it, except doing it, and having fun, doing it. You can create your own worlds, now tell me,...is there anything more fascinating? I can't think of anything. Art is more than just a hobby or job,...it's a way to live and enjoy life, to enjoy your amazing imagination.


...
I think your questions are very interesting. In philosophy, there have been people, who got to this point. They understood, that they have reached a special point from which it doesn't make any sense to go further and stopped philosophizing. In art, this might be possible too...it really depands on you.

[Cicinimo]

[Dile_]

Oh man, you must be really depressed to start asking such questions... Art is a passion. Not something you force yourself too and hate but just have to do it..
Do you realize how much stuff you CAN draw ? Do you realize how much stuff you hopefully have inside your head ? You can develope ideas with art, you can express yourself with it.. There is no point where you have done EVERYTHING that "art" has to offer. Skies the limit man.
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Drawing..

[Oreste]

Haha, Dile_. Is that what we call intuition? You are right, I'm at an inflexion point. I don't know to continue or to stop with Art.

To my eyes, any kind of activity is enjoyable–or can be enjoyable–for one thing: a successful final result. There is nothing more tremendous than feeling you did a great work. Being proud of our work is the best emotion one can have.
I doubt there is anything fun about painting or about the drawing process. It's just correcting flaws until a satisfactory result?
Personally, I don't feel anything like Kulich, nor Cicinimo while painting. The process is just necessary procedure to reach an end.

I didn't think that lots of the artists were emotive enough to feel something when they were sketching a figure, I didn't know it was possible to be that sensible to Art–at least, I thought it was the affairs of a small minority. To tell you the truth, I haven't even imagined that the process of making Art could be any fun.
If what you say prove to be right, my theory would fall through–which is a good thing I suppose.

[Max]

Now that's really interesting. I didn't know there were people who can't enjoy the process of making art. Maybe you should try a different approach?

[Tomasis]

when i stop to paint for a time, I feel urge to start again. When I start paint and get irritated by the results later, then I stop abruptly and this goes on..

[eyewoo]

[Tomasis]

[Max]

I also can't imagine being an professional illustrator without enjoying my work,...

[Tomasis]

I guess if one cannot enjoy of working professionally as an illustrator, other way is to play with art as an amateur It must have to feel quite refreshing when one doesn't have to think about limitations, requests of clients, pressure of time and money etc. Though free time is limited when one has to earn money at other way. You may think what's is the point to paint as amateur if you dont get nothing. But it is just a hobby as you choose to spend "expensive" time for. Like as another things as repairing cars or making drifts with this. Process of creating something from nothing is quite fun. Much better than some passive activities as see TV and bad films with the brain at "sleeping mode" If you wonder if you gonna keep to continue painting, it is better not to think about this and have nothing of goals or seeking for any meanings of doing artsy stuffs. Just enjoy of doing this while you're not concerned of results and following the desire of creating. Even if I suck and don't improve at painting but thankfully (or not) I manage somehow continue to use a pen sometimes even if it is no reason

[Ainmosni]

I think painting is a way to create something outside of yourself that is an expression of who you are and what you think is important. People who write, play music, sculpt, plant gardens, or make buildings do so for similar reasons. Part of it is just playing and letting the ideas and connections surface as well as being a way of bringing our concepts into the world where other people can experience them as well.

If I had to explain why I painted, I'd probably say for the feeling of validation when a work is completed and stands on it's own, but is still representative of yourself. Sort of a self-hypnosis that ends with a record of the process you went through.

Personally I've noticed that the more that I try to force myself to create the less the finished product gives me that feeling of accomplishment. So there really is something to be said about cultivating a creative lifestyle and letting the art produce itself rather than consciously trying to force the artwork into existence. By 'creative lifestyle' I mean surrounding yourself with mysteries that unveil themselves in ways that are too beautiful or significant to avoid recording in an artwork.

If someone does art professionally, hopefully it is with the same process as an independent artist doing their own thing; the professional just selects the projects that fit their style and taste and therefore create art that is meaningful. There are too many people who just do it for the money and make very banal work. Artists who've had the discipline to develop their own aesthetic can recognize this immediately.

P.S. Linking to Nietzsche doesn't mean I'm a neo-nazi. The concept is relevant, though.

[Tinusch]

^Exactly

[Drew]

[Tomasis]

maybe it'd be good to have a break from painting for a while

[Oreste]

Contrary to you Max, I don't know much people that are fond of the process of art–except students perhaps and very few artists who make art without any external constraints at all, or very few.

Maybe it's due to my narrow thinking but here's my explaination.

Successfulness is one of the big engines that motivates people to do what they do. For instance, one wants to study History because he thinks he is good at it. And indeed, he can be keen on it. It's almost easy, go through books, study hard, in the end you can specialise into what you like the most.

However concerning art, it's different. The way to successfulness is different. Unlike studying History, you can just go on head down. Even though you can specialize–that's the point where I disagree with Ainmosni–in a domain you like you can't do it as you like. If you a designer you can design the most beautiful thing in the world, if it doesn't please your company it would be rejected. 90% chance of that rejection would be due to the lack of demand, too elitist. Money rules the world. Perhaps you are an artist but everyone else is not. You have to be accessible to the mass.

The 'problem'–if I may say so–with art is that the artist directly interacts with a public. I suppose no one wish to end up with making art for oneself in a little corner of his attic. So in the end you have few solutions. Either, you work on your own for your own, or you work with the others for the others.

[sweetums]

Then, I think you should quit, and never pick up a pen or pencil and draw anything ever again.

You do not gain the intrinsic value of creation.
You have no clue as to the passion to create, with the result merely a by-product of the creative process.
You foolishly (and stupidly) believe that art is made for the public, when art is made for the artist.

IF the artist CHOOSES to interact with the public, then there is POSSIBLY a level or standard to be somehow mastered or catered to. Even so, your fatally flawed premise has no legs to stand on, because at that point, you have wandered into the realm of Sales and Profit, which, at its core, has NOTHING to do with the creative process. Those who create solely for the purpose of selling, rather than creating, are not artists. They are art whores.

So, I suggest you quit art immediately. You are evidently far too dense to "get it," and this is one of those almost instinctive things, that you are evidently not genetically predisposed to comprehending.

There are a great many artists who are quite good, and quite prolific. I personally know one, who has approximately 2000 (at least) paintings of all sizes (the smallest I've seen was 4"x7", the largest, so far, 10'x6'), spanning the past 40+ years, some breathtakingly beautiful. Her husband built her a huge studio attached to their house, and refused to let her sell or show any of them. He recently died, and some who knew her and her art turned to the media. They did a large sectional on her in the Sunday paper, and included photos of just some of her works. Galleries all over town (and from out of town) have contacted her, and she STILL refuses to sell or display her works. "I didn't make these for the rest of the world, I make these for my own pleasure..." And the undying appreciation of those of us privileged enough to be allowed to visit her in her studio...

Step away from the easel, and go read a book or something...Unless, that is, you've decided that since you know how to read, there is nothing left for you do with books...

The creative process of art is too good for you, not the other way around...

To answer your silly, pseudo-philosophical question, I will stop painting when they pry my brush out of my cold, dead, fingers, and not a moment sooner!
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Life is short. Expect nothing, enjoy everything.
That which does not kill you should make you wiser...

[Nag]

Lot of good answers here.

I just really enjoy the progress of painting, it�s probably the most enjoyable thing I do. I start to get serious withdrawal symptoms usually in 1-2 days if I don�t sit down to paint or draw.

It sounds to me that making art for you is a bit like doing the dishes, it�s not really a fun thing to do but you look forward to the end result when it�s all finished.

If you don�t enjoy doing it, then don�t. Might sound a bit harsh but I usually avoid doing things I don�t like.








P.s. I actually quite like doing the dishes.

[neff]

There are nice dishes too.
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[Drew]

Sweetums, holy cow, did you not get your coffee this morning?

As for the content of your post, it seems odd to me that you don't seem to understand that different people create art for different reasons. That doesn't make their art any less valid. The exchanging of money for artwork doesn't make it somehow cease to be art. The fact that I've created art that helps to fulfill another artist's vision doesn't mean that I'm no longer an artist, or what I've created isn't art.

Additionally, if you think there's nothing creative about business, then you know nothing about business. Artists (a term I dislike more and more) are not the only people who create.

[Max]

I have to agree with Drew on this one. There are many reasons for making art. And not a single one of them is or can be wrong. Doing it for money doesn't make it any less valuable. Doing it for fun, for pain,...doesn't matter, it's a personal thing, it's everyones personal definition of art. Not even the process or result matters, only your feelings doing what you do. You don't have to be creative, you don't even have to be any good at it,...art is beyond that values, that's why it actually IS art.

[neff]

[Oreste]

Imbeciles: those who don't think like us. Isn't it Sweetums?

It was a child's play. I understand what you mean; you are not the first one that blames me for that reason. I don't have those 'almost instinctive things', I'm not 'predisposed to comprehending'. I've heard these hundreds times, but it doesn't help very much.

So... everyone here seems to be quite comfortable with art around here

[FallDamage]

"So... everyone here seems to be quite comfortable with art around here"

More likely that those who aren't as comfortable don't pop into discussions quite so often. Your getting the opinions from the diehard sijun regulars who've been around the various online art forums for years, so it shouldn't be surprising that their commitment is fairly hardcore and instinctual at this point.

Sijun is a fairly specialized community, after all. Not too many people who draw barbarians, monsters and spaceships do it for the money.

[Tinusch]

I would imagine that the more training you have, the more you are able to enjoy the process. When you've got a good grip on manipulating light and shadows and anatomy, then your imagination's the limit. You can really just have fun with the process and simply create, knowing that your solid foundations will back you up and ensure that what you create looks good in the end. Whereas having no training in anything really, I'm often frustrated and limited by the process, but I usually continue just for that feeling of having created something.

[Max]

Totally agree with you on that Tinusch. There is stuff I really love to draw and most ofthe time the results are "okay". Whereas there's stuff I always get depressed about...

[Tomasis]

is it women? haha