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Some pretty darn smart authors named Cervantes, Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, Shakespeare, and Madeleine L'Engle have all told me that "Comparisons are odious" (ok, ok, Shakespeare actually said they are odorous).
I think it's good advice.
I mentioned Shakespeare and Dan Brown fully aware of the impossibility of such comparison. One is regarded as the best autor ever, the other is regarded as a best-selling author with zero literary interest.
But I wonder if there is such thing as an "art factor" that all artists share, regardless of how different their lives and works are. Some type of "g-factor", related to the arts.
Last edited by elmejor77; 07-18-2018 at 07:27 AM..
As a screenwriter, I don't stop to think about my audience at all frankly,
I always admired screenwriters, I think they are the soul of movies and the entertainment industry in general. And sometimes it feels like they are a little bit forgotten and all the attention goes to actors, which is unfair, they just read and memorize their lines and are able to recite them in front of a camara, not that easy though, but the real talent is coming up with those lines in the first place.
In my opinion a succesful artist is one who looks at his or her creation with pride and thinks " I managed to convey what I had in mind when I started, I did a good job that justifies myself as an artist".
That's would be his or her intrinsic payment.
Then there can be extrinsic outcomes like everlasting fame, money and recognition, wich could be regarded as the icing of the cake.
The problem with measuring success by the creator looking upon their creation with pride, is that most creative people I have known, myself included, are very great critics of our own work. And to some extent, we might look upon our efforts with dissatisfaction and want to continually work and rework to make it better...yet we might be creating pieces that other people are totally impressed by, even to the point of willingness to pay a lot of money.
And of course it can depend on what kind of art you make and how you're trying to share it.
One of the more successful contemporary makers of visual art I know, is basically just a very well connected person. Her art is cool, kind of weird but cool, and it does make appearances in big galleries in NY and it does sell. But had she simply been alone and reclusive and not able to connect with other people well, it would sit stored somewhere and not see the light of day. If people are enthusiastic about YOU they are more likely to give your product a chance, view it, show it, read it, listen to it, invest in it with their time, attention, and perhaps money.
Creativity can't be quantified and enumerated. Trying to pin down creativity to a score or metric is futile.
I would consider myself "successful" personally if I were able to house and clothe and feed myself, live even a modest lifestyle, from producing and selling my creative endeavors.
That's what "success" looks like to me, at least the kind I care about. It feeds me.
Mostly because that means I can justifiably devote my time to it. Because if no one is buying, which has generally been the case for me with the art I have made, then I'm just doing it as a hobby, as recreation, as something I enjoy. And that's fine. But it will then be limited because I will have to put in full time hours in a cubicle somewhere to pay my living expenses.
It's nice if it renders the creator immortal and all, but that doesn't do the artist much good when they are "starving" during their life.
Creativity can't be quantified and enumerated. Trying to pin down creativity to a score or metric is futile.
I tend to agree with this. It's why I don't fully understand why some people focus so much energy on those who copy (sometimes steal) their work. I get how maddening it can be, and they have a right to be angry. But I believe that those who are truly creative have infinite capabilities. They should look at it like: "Wow. This person has so little faith in their own ability to create that they had to steal from me. I must be awesome!" But I know it's waaaaay easier said than done.
I tend to agree with this. It's why I don't fully understand why some people focus so much energy on those who copy (sometimes steal) their work. I get how maddening it can be, and they have a right to be angry. But I believe that those who are truly creative have infinite capabilities. They should look at it like: "Wow. This person has so little faith in their own ability to create that they had to steal from me. I must be awesome!" But I know it's waaaaay easier said than done.
My own opinion on that...
I don't make art that often because as I mentioned having limited time for it, and also limited energy...when I get home from work, my brain is mush and it's hard to focus on making anything. So my artistic endeavors are that rare and precious time I found to try and get my idea out of my head and into the world. And at that time, there is a good chance I might try and fail and try and fail to get it how I want it to be. It is not something that I effortlessly just poop out of my ear or something. I have to work at it, to make it a true form of expression of the idea I had.
So if someone steals my work, and claims it as their own, it is definitely an insult. It also is very discouraging, it does not make me want to keep creating, or to share or show my efforts with others, if that's all they're going to do. You are basically telling an artist that their art is worth less than a little fake boost to your own lying ego, when you steal their work.
Now being inspired by another artist is a bit different. Especially if you give them credit for the inspiration. Sometimes to get moving on a difficult project I will seek out images of something that I am "blocking" over...but I never look at them while I am making art. I sit and look at them, usually a number of images, then I close the browser or whatever and walk away and make my art. I avoid anything like copying, and just use such things to get a nudge.
In other words, as an artist, I do not believe that I have infinite capabilities, not in the slightest. I have limited time, limited energy, limited money for supplies. I'm lucky if I make 2-3 complete pieces of art in a whole year. So I don't view them as just disposable like that.
Da vinci seemed intelligent in engineering and creativity.
It's bizarre yet when I read poetry...it's with a melodic tempo. Two forms of art in unison. Not an easy task for a writer to master to draw in the audience.
My xhub absolutely adores the works of Poe. I was never much into that style of macabre. Yet it's creative I suppose.
After seeing an exhibit done by an elephant I'd say the human intellect is on course. For elephants never forget
In my opinion a succesful artist is one who looks at his or her creation with pride and thinks " I managed to convey what I had in mind when I started, I did a good job that justifies myself as an artist".
That's would be his or her intrinsic payment.
Then there can be extrinsic outcomes like everlasting fame, money and recognition, wich could be regarded as the icing of the cake.
The problem with measuring success by the creator looking upon their creation with pride, is that most creative people I have known, myself included, are very great critics of our own work. And to some extent, we might look upon our efforts with dissatisfaction and want to continually work and rework to make it better...yet we might be creating pieces that other people are totally impressed by, even to the point of willingness to pay a lot of money.
And of course it can depend on what kind of art you make and how you're trying to share it.
One of the more successful contemporary makers of visual art I know, is basically just a very well connected person. Her art is cool, kind of weird but cool, and it does make appearances in big galleries in NY and it does sell. But had she simply been alone and reclusive and not able to connect with other people well, it would sit stored somewhere and not see the light of day. If people are enthusiastic about YOU they are more likely to give your product a chance, view it, show it, read it, listen to it, invest in it with their time, attention, and perhaps money.
Age,gender, location, persistence, luck,personality all factor into it.
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