I have an art process, certain stages and methods that I use to create art—which was different a few years ago, and will be different a few years from now. It may be different next month, and that is fine. Don’t simply mimic or use a method because convention says “that method is how masters do it.” Don’t mimic a method simply because you think it “looks amazing.” Great artists pursue a process their whole life, because a real process, a true and honest process, is your way of creating art based on theories you believe in. That will change and evolve. I want to adamantly state that you should pursue an art education more than art training. If you are attending an academy, studio, or school which only focuses on a process or method, you are doing yourself a disservice. Your art education needs to involve teachers and mentors who guide, point, and direct you towards finding, exploring, and testing theories of art fundamentals. Find mentors—from within the arts and without—who guide you towards understanding how to use the Principles of Design to manipulate the Elements of Art in a way that can truly express what you want to say with your work—or what you want to ask with your work. If you find yourself in an art training setting, learn all you can about technical process, but make sure you are reflecting and testing the theory of those methods. Great artists have an ever evolving process which is based on theories they believe in.
There are two things which great artists ask themselves. First, how do I make meaningful art? Second, what process do I use to make art?
I have good news and bad news. The bad news first. You will spend your whole life trying to answer those questions. Now the good news: you will spend your whole life trying to answer those two questions. As an artist, you will always be dissatisfied to some degree. You will always be striving to make art that is meaningful, and to develop a process that works for you. Poor artists master a method, accept it as their process, and make artwork in that way forever more. I heard an interview once with David Bowie where he said—and I’m paraphrasing—‘when you are in the deep part of the water where your toes can barely touch, and you feel a little uncertain and afraid, that’s where exciting things happen.’ All great artists have a process which changes. Michelangelo’s David and St. Peter’s Pieta, (created early in his life), are vastly different than his Deposition or his Rondanini Pieta (created near the end of his life). Picasso’s process changed dramatically. Rembrandt’s early portraits and his last portraits are very different in process.
Now these artist’s weren’t only great at the end of their life. We appreciate the work from their entire lifetime, but we mostly appreciate their work from the point in their life when they started to answer the question of meaning. Don’t dwell on your frustration if you are having trouble getting your work to reflect what you want it to say. I suggest creating work in a series—even great musicians needed multiple movements for their work. Base your series on a certain meaning, and within that series have some of the works be attempts at answering a question, and some that simply pose the question. Give the question to the world. Your reflections on life sometimes generate questions which take years to answer, or generate feelings, emotions, and insights which are difficult to convey. Don’t dwell on frustration. All art throughout history, all art in our museums, are attempts.
You’ll spend your whole life pursuing an organized process and how to give meaning to your art, but if you work hard and are dedicated, and if you are honest in that pursuit, and you are brave enough to share what you are making, you are going to create great art along the way. Make it your mantra—how do I make meaningful art, and what process do I use? Our museums and textbooks are filled with the work of great artists who worked hard in pursuit of those questions. The work of artists changes because as they go through life experiences, what is meaningful to them changes, and what theories they embrace evolves. If you feel uncertain or dissatisfied with your work, and how you are making it, but you are continuing to work, then you are on the right track. Now all you have to add is honesty, continued dedication and hard work regardless of uncertainty, and bravery to share what it is you are making—even if the artwork doesn’t fully express what you want to say or a level of mastery you want to convey.
When I was younger, I had in the back of my mind this idea that after I worked for x number of years, and after I had reached a certain level of mastery, then I would step onto the art scene and show what I can do to the world. Recognition and success would be mine. That isn’t what we do. We are artists. We reflect on life around us. We put those reflections into our artwork. We work hard to produce work and share our findings in that worthy pursuit. The world will or will not recognize you when they want to—don’t let that concern you. A lot of artists who we love and revere and deeply appreciate, were unknown in their lifetime.
I invite and challenge you to test whether or not what I’m saying is true. Pick a great artist and read about that artist’s life. Next, look at artwork from different periods of his/her life, and ask yourself two questions—what is the meaning of this artwork, and what process did the artist use to create it. Do that for each work. You’ll find that the artist was reflecting on the life around them, on their experience with humanity, and striving to put it into their work. You’ll find that how they create art changed—based influences adjusting different theories they believed in. You’ll also find that the most common theory great artists believe in, is that their process should be molded by its ability to express what they want to say.
In summary, great artists aren’t born great, and it isn’t just really skilled and talented people who create great art. Great artists are those who have four attributes. They are thoughtful—they reflect on life. They are dedicated. They are brave. They are honest. Great artists are those who seek to put meaning in their work—just seek—and develop or adopt a process based on theories they believe in, weighed against its ability to express that meaning.
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