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 Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:42 am
"I don't do it because I enjoy it. But because it's the only way I can understand things."
This is a quote from one of my favourite artists, Dennis Creffield. I've been pondering it for a while now and I still can't decide if it applies. I'm not sure if I enjoy the act or if I simply garner some satisfaction from making new things. If I've gone out and come back with a load of drawings I consider anodyne or "safe" I get disheartened. If I feel like I've pushed myself it feels like work, not fun, but I get a huge sense of elation afterwards.
Maybe there's only real satisfaction in newness.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:42 am
hm..I can see his point but I don't agree with it personally...I do it because I enjoy it...and I enjoy being able to see myself improving when you look over your drawings. 3nodding it IS a greatw ay to express yourself though, and I do it for that too.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:15 pm
I don't think he or I feel this is something that should apply to people, just something I've been pondering.
I've had a good session if I have struggled, I think. It should feel like work, because it is... compelling, satisfying work. That's also why I have to draw from life; if I don't, it doesn't feel like work.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 2:42 pm
art is a mystery to me. every piece i finish i always find that i've learned something new. there's a sense of satisfection in that. i've also found that a lot of stuff i find myself doing is not about what the end result, but about the journey to get from point A to point B.
*too much thinking for one day*
burning_eyes
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:52 pm
i have to agree with cap'n on this one: art is definitely a mystery. i would imagine that it's much like music: it's a process. even if you become art (or music) god, you can't stop there. aren't isn't a stationary being, it's a flow of continuous movement.
as far as the quote, i think it's true to a point. i do enjoy drawing, even if it's hard. i enjoy doing it, not just the outcome. when i'm drawing, something happens and i see things in a less abstract manner, in a more concrete "this is how this works" way; even if i'm drawing something more abstract than realistic, i still see things like that. i can't do that with anything else; i'm extremely abstract when it comes to just about everything.
so...while i can see how people could agree with this quote, i'm gonna have to say that i can't 100% agree, because i do enjoy the act of drawing, not just the result and the satisfaction that comes with it. i don't really think in end-goals, i guess (hence why i struggled with the why at school so much, i guess).
btw, this was a great topic.
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Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 7:48 pm
Why I do art is completly beyond me. Half the time I get so overwhelmed and so frustrated I want to scream or stab my canvas. Sometimes I want to cry. Sometimes I just want to give up.
But I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Councelor says I'll flunk Japanese, I'm going to Japan 3 years later on a full merit scholarship. Bio teacher says that I won't survive chem, I end up the chem teacher's pet...English teacher says I don't know how to read, I score in the top 3 percent on my reading SATs.
Every painting or drawing, I set myself up with a problem I don't think I can solve. In this situation, I'm the person putting the limits, and I'm the person pushing them. I'm holding myself back and fighting forward at the same time...
I noticed that when I'm away for any period of time, I miss my bed, and my paints...It's more of an addiction for me than anything. I miss the feel of a brush loaded with paint on the canvas. I miss the pressure I put on myself to improve. I miss the ability to record what I saw and feal with my own hands...Sometimes I get a craving to draw or paint, and I'll sit there twitching until I'm able to.
No matter how angry I get. No matter how frustrated I get, that little world on the canvas is my world, and just the feeling of creating it and working through that annoyance is something I can't back away from. There's just something about the little window, and how I'm the master of what shows through and what doesn't that has me hooked.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:41 am
wow, it seems like everyone is getting really deep xp
drawing comes easy to me, but sometimes there are times when a certain part is difficult, and when you complete it, it feels very rewarding. even if it's easy, I find it rewarding to keep on improving at what I do.
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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:06 pm
Ulterior_Motives But I've never been one to back away from a challenge. Councelor says I'll flunk Japanese, I'm going to Japan 3 years later on a full merit scholarship. Bio teacher says that I won't survive chem, I end up the chem teacher's pet...English teacher says I don't know how to read, I score in the top 3 percent on my reading SATs. wtf is wrong with your teachers...?! seriously, that's pretty negative. i mean, my counselor didn't think i could make it into Wesleyan (but i did), but it wasn't like "yeah, they'll send you a bag of crap instead of a rejection letter, hoping you'll get the message" way to show them. and...i do, to some extent, agree with your other statements. although drawing is a challenge for me, i like it. i guess it's mostly because i haven't really felt challenged (or challenged myself like i could have--i take advanced classes, but i could do more independent study or something, try maybe) in school, but art (and music) is a real challenge. i have to admit, i just love it when someone in my art class says "you can't draw" and then my drawing pwns theirs. it's like sweet, sweet victory mrgreen
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Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:11 pm
I gots another, unrelated, quote from my all-time hero David Bomberg:
"An artist does not require to travel to produce good paintings. He will find all he wants or needs from within twelve yards to three miles of the place where he is established."
I can identify. I definitely find myself making better work the longer I spend getting to know my locations or buildings through drawing. And it's all there, all the lines and shapes you need, on your doorstep. Of course I'd like to go see Cantebury Cathedral and spend a day drawing, but altogether it'll be the places I'm more familiar with that will produce the truer paintings.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:24 am
Doug of Akkad I gots another, unrelated, quote from my all-time hero David Bomberg: "An artist does not require to travel to produce good paintings. He will find all he wants or needs from within twelve yards to three miles of the place where he is established." I can identify. I definitely find myself making better work the longer I spend getting to know my locations or buildings through drawing. And it's all there, all the lines and shapes you need, on your doorstep. Of course I'd like to go see Cantebury Cathedral and spend a day drawing, but altogether it'll be the places I'm more familiar with that will produce the truer paintings. David Bomberg's paintings are great, and I can see that you're influenced by him in your own work. 3nodding I think, if you look in the right places, you can find the most interesting piece of work in your own area, without having to travel to a different country. I've found things which made great photographs just on the road next to my house sweatdrop
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:24 pm
wink
Would you believe, I didn't know of him until I delved a bit further into Auerbach and Kossoff's early careers. Seriously glad I looked further. Everything I read about him is inspirational, and all his teaching makes sense.
The book I'm reading at the moment has lengthy extracts from writing by him and his second wife. There's a few pages describing a painting expedition in the Scots Highlands that can only be described as an odyssey. If I had the patience I'd transcribe it all because it's crazy the things they put themselves through to get these paintings. They seem to spend half of it sleeping rough on the sides of hills, or snowed in ruined crofter's cottages.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:16 pm
Doug of Akkad wink Would you believe, I didn't know of him until I delved a bit further into Auerbach and Kossoff's early careers. Seriously glad I looked further. Everything I read about him is inspirational, and all his teaching makes sense. The book I'm reading at the moment has lengthy extracts from writing by him and his second wife. There's a few pages describing a painting expedition in the Scots Highlands that can only be described as an odyssey. If I had the patience I'd transcribe it all because it's crazy the things they put themselves through to get these paintings. They seem to spend half of it sleeping rough on the sides of hills, or snowed in ruined crofter's cottages. you know, i'm sure it sounds stupid and juvinille, but i'd love to lead a life as epic and romantic as that. something about the spontenaiety of it definitely appeals to me. much like the whole "starving artist" thing appeals; it almost seems like i'd need it, otherwise my work couldn't be as rewarding. maybe someday i'll give up all my flaming worldly possessions to live a real life. or maybe its not as necessary as it seems.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:59 pm
in the flicker. you know, i'm sure it sounds stupid and juvinille, but i'd love to lead a life as epic and romantic as that. something about the spontenaiety of it definitely appeals to me. much like the whole "starving artist" thing appeals; it almost seems like i'd need it, otherwise my work couldn't be as rewarding Ach, certainly, I think lots of people feel that way sometimes. I know I do. I also know I'd prefer to have my home comforts to come back to though! Bomberg certainly led the starving artist life at a few points though. There's this bit near the end of the expedition where they've run out of money completely and a car hits a rabbit on the road to the last village they spend the night in: this rabbit is like a gift from the gods, and forms most of their last meal.
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Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:29 pm
Rabbit as a last meal?? He should have visited the good ol' Southern part of the States. He might've hit a deer, and then he could've had a feast for his last meal. xd
Terribly sorry if that all sounds rather juvenile or anything...
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 1:33 pm
euclids_triangle Rabbit as a last meal?? He should have visited the good ol' Southern part of the States. He might've hit a deer, and then he could've had a feast for his last meal. xd Terribly sorry if that all sounds rather juvenile or anything... amen to that! people hit deer all the time down here, and, on top of that, deer is delicious! i haven't yet eaten rabbit, though i want to. i need to find a recipe on how to cook it and then buy it from my local food depot (which actually sells rabbit, among other things)
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