So You Want To Be An Artist? — Part 1
Mastering The Artists Most Powerful Tool
So, you’ve been bitten by the bug, huh? One day, while sitting around calmly reading your favourite authors latest offering you sat up nursing a new welt on your arm, the letters A-R-T blazing in swollen irritated flesh, and proclaimed in a proud and distinct voice “I’m going to be an artist!”
Well, good for you! Welcome. Art could always use a few new afficianados. Why shouldn’t you be one?
Welcome to the first in a series of articles designed to help you, the newcomer, learn about what you’ll need in order to be the professional artist that you want, and know you can be.
This article pertains to the number one tool you are going to need to master if you want to become a professional artist. It will be the biggest weapon in your artistic arsenal. It will guide your hand in everything created by it. It will be a part of every artwork you make. It will make or break your practice, drive you to excel or destine you to languish in obscurity. You will need to understand it, learn how to wield it and bend its power to your will.
Is it a fantastic new paintbrush? Could it be a stone chisel or a printing press? Hang on. It’s a tried, tested and true technique used by the masters, lost to time but that I’ve rediscovered and am now going to unveil to you in this post, right? Nope. This tool — is you.
The #1 tool of the artistic trades you should master is you. “Well, why?” you might ask. Good question. The answer is this.
Art is communication. It consists of an initiator (you, the artist) and a receiver (your audience). With both parties working together, successful conveyance of ideas and emotions can be acheived and we’ll have cogent communication. Now we’re connecting!
But what if the initiator side of that equation is weak? What if the artist doesn’t know who they are, what they desire or what they’re hoping to acheive with their artwork? The two sides of the equation won’t balance out making for a disastrous discourse of sloppy, disconnected miscommunication and this isn’t why we make Art. Knowing a little bit about who you are, what you desire and where you want that desire to take you before you get started will make all the difference in the world.
I’ve touched on this topic before in previous articles. A little reiteration never hurts. Getting to know a little something about yourself will be an invaluable tool in aiding your professional practice to get on track quickly and smoothly.
Here are three questions you should ask yourself before beginning your journey.
Number 1: Who am I?
Let’s start with an…’ahem’, easy one, shall we?
Most of us drift through our lives never having any real understanding about who or what we are. Content to grumble through arduous work days and spend aimless evenings in front of televisions, many people live in total ignorance and are happy to do so.
One could also argue that life is a journey of self discovery and none of us can truly know who we are until the end draws near. True, we will continue to learn about ourselves as our lives progress, growing from our successes and failures. We will always be changing as individuals but there’s a level of conscious action we can take to sharpen that process and bring it into ardent focus. With a little effort we can learn about who each of us truly is at the moment and use that knowledge to inform our artistic practices to ensure the highest quality form of communication. For the artist, this is a must.
Find out what you like; what you don’t. What works? What doesn’t? Are you a painter? Are you a sculptor? Maybe you like form over design. Maybe you like line work above colour. Perhaps you’ll like getting involved in the process of making art over the resultant work itself. You might prefer immediacy over lengthy, labour intensive practices.
Are you politically motivated? Do you have scornful things to say about the government or society? or are you more into whimsy and a free flow of emotions? What types of activities do you like to engage in? Would you rather spend your free time out in the majesty of nature or are you a nightclub crawler? Are you a morning person or a night owl?
These are a few examples of questions which represent just the tip of an iceberg in personal exploration. Having a connection to yourself is the first step in becoming a professional artist. No one can truly know who you are except you. You’ll be putting a little piece of yourself into each artwork and if you don’t know what that piece is, neither will anyone else.
Number 2: What is driving my artwork?
This question is all about you, the ‘initiator’.
Now that you’ve decided to be an artist and you’ve got a pretty good handle on who you are, finding out what is driving your art practice will be of great benefit to you. Simply knowing who you are hasn’t dictated your impulses to make art. Lots of people know exactly who they are yet they have no whims whatsoever to engage in Art.
That leads us to surmise that there must be something greater than a knowledge of yourself which has driven you to this point of creation. What is it that’s driving you?
For me, the impetus is to communicate. Art is the way I talk to the world. I think in visuals so I communicate in visuals. I’m sure I would have gone mad a long time ago if I didn’t have this outlet to release what’s stored up in my mind. I wouldn’t doubt that insanity has descended on some people due to a lack of this necessary creative resource. When I approach the question “What is driving my artwork?” I answer “Communication is driving my artwork.” What about you?
Maybe you have concepts on your mind that are bigger than words. You’re entertaining some highfalutin intellectual ideas and they need to be illustrated to be understood. You’ll find there are a lot of artists who dwell in the spiritual realms who use Art in this fashion – words just won’t cut it. You can talk till you’re blue in the mouth about the chakras of the ‘etheric double of man’ and still get know where. Paint it out and you’ll be rolling.
Many artists are ruled more by emotion than by intellect. Perhaps Art for you is a release of pent up emotional stress be it positive or negative. Angry, expressionistic art gets made just as often as delicate and loving art. If you find visual mediums give you a more positive cathartic release than kicking the neighbours dog, then good. We’re emotional beings. Release of emotion is a valid drive.
Perhaps you’re just like me. Visuals are what you eat, think and breathe and nothing short of making Art will suffice. Communication — how I love it.
People make Art for any number of personal reasons and all of them have validity. Figuring out what is driving your production of artwork will help you with the next question.
Number 3: Where do I want that drive to take me?
Having an understanding about yourself and what’s driving you to create leads you to the next step which is deciding for yourself where you want this compulsion to take you. There are any number of avenues that can be trod with your new found understanding about yourself and your desires.
Do you want to be a rockstar in the art industry? Will you be unsatisfied until you get a solo show at the hippest gallery in New York city, your name up in lights, papparazzi hounding you? Want to be on the cover of every pertinent art magazine, smiling smuggly at every ego inflating glossy cover?
Perhaps your desires are leading you down a more modest path. If you like your current profession and have no desire to quit it to pursue Art fulltime you may have to settle for being a ‘weekend artist’ taking time when you have it, to create Art. This will leave opportunities open to show your artwork at local juried exhibitions or cafes and perhaps the occasional street festival when you’ve got enough work to do so. Will this satisfy your desires?
For myself, my desire to communicate is enormous and my desire has led me to a lifestyle dedicated to the creation of Art. This means that my day job is making Art, linking my income to making Art. I’m creating it, writing about it, presenting it, communicating with it and selling it and I’m doing so in a professional and successful manner. The goal for me is not to become famous or sought after. I’m creating a cycle of successful communication that will perpetuate itself and continue for my entire life. Fame and fortune may ensue but that is out of my hands.
What about you?
Knowing who you are, what you desire from your artwork and where you want it to take you will infinitely improve your professional practice. It won’t matter which mediums you decide to specialize in or which subjects you decide to tackle. You will invest yourself in your practice, you will drive your practice and you will direct it. The more knowledge you have about yourself before going into Art, the more effective your communication will be. These three simple questions will make you the master of the most important Art making tool in the world, you.
For now, that is all. Goodnight.
Articles of interst: So You Want To Be An Artist — Part 2?
Finding Your Artistic Path
