As a teacher I often hear things like “I’m not very good” or “mine doesn’t look very good,” or “I don’t know how to draw something so I didn’t put it into my artwork.”
We don’t make art to look good or to impress anyone. We make art for us—the artist. Never make art and consider what someone is going to think about it. Every piece of artwork you make should be made for two reasons:
1. A reason to reflect on our own feelings and experiences---to understand life.
2. To practice. Every piece of art you make is practice.
If you drew your nativity and said to yourself, I can’t draw camels so I’m not going to put camels into it—when are you going to start drawing camels? Every artwork is practice, and you have to make 1,000 pieces that ‘look bad’ before you get to the masterpiece. That is a reality, and it becomes easier when you stop considering what other people will say about your work. When I tell you your work is great, I mean it. There are a hundred things in it I would change, but it’s practice. Challenge yourself.
We make artwork for two reasons: to reflect on our own feelings, and to practice. That’s it. Don’t strive for praise or awards. Consider all your artwork, not just your sketchbook, as a diary. See your work as practice and as a chance to reflect on how you feel about something, and as a means to understand.
I don’t care how skilled you are, I want to know why you drew that subject, why it is important to you, and what insights you have about it. I want to see your experiences in your work. Many of the greatest artists in history were unknown, or even known and rejected, for their work. But they reflected on their life experiences, on the human experience, and they put it into their work.
“Who are you?”
“What experiences have you had that make you who you are?”
“What insights do you have into being human?”
The answers to these questions are your subject matter. That is what you should put into your artwork. The objects and narrative of your work is not the subject matter. You have experienced and are experiencing deep feelings. As you go through your life you will have more. Ponder on them and the pondering will lead to insights. That is how the human genius is cultivated. That genius is inside all of us. Brave artists put that into their work.
“Find out what is really important to you. Then sing your song.
You will have something to sing about and your whole heart will be in the singing.”
– Robert Henri, The Art Spirit
If you don’t know who you are, your work will be empty or shallow. Your singing will be empty. Your dancing will have no meaning. Your musical performance will be robotic. Your writing will be just words. Your art form will be meaningless.
There is such a thing as empathy. When you come across someone who has experienced something that you are going through, you connect with that person. It strengthens you. Share what you have been through, and you’ll be that for someone.
Take time to answer the questions ‘Who am I?’ and then answer it in whatever art you do.
That's what I think.
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