This is in no way a criticism. For the past several years I have been becoming more and more interested in art, and though I greatly admire those who can reproduce or create of photograph using only their hands and pens/paint, I tend to favor abstract art the most. I would like to start painting myself, but I have no formal training and could not draw a portrait of someone to save my life. Though I recognize many great abstract artists are incredibly skilled at producing a variety of styles, I also wonder if it's not possible to produce great abstract art without any talents for more realistic images. Any artsy folks here care to chime in?
Yes, of course, anyone can do it. But why would you want to be so damn pretentious as to do it?
That seems like a rather silly thing to say. But I understand the connotations of abstract art. It would be mostly for me. If other people happen to like my work that's great, but it would be for me just like one listens to music for self pleasure.
Who knows what the definition of "abstract" is anyway?
Not really "abstract" per se, but Jason Borbet, a sometime contributor to Letsrun, has actually figured out how to make a living as a full-time artist, when he quit his day job with Donald Trump.
That is a very interesting question. I knew a few people who went to art school. They said that anyone displaying the ability to do excellent portraiture or landscapes in more traditional styles (pre-impressionist) were not favored by the faculty and the general art school student culture. If you went to art school to perfect your ability to do these styles, you basically were out of luck. All the training was in learning all the zillion different contemporary styles and mediums available to artists today. But training in drawing or traditional water color was seen as something so basic as to be beneath everyone. So, the answer may be that no one really knows anymore whether contemporary artists are artists who have so completely mastered traditional styles that they are no longer worth their time or whether they are artists who never bothered with traditional works.
I cannot recall ever seeing any portraits, landscapes, etc. by Rothko, Twombly, Basquiat or any of the other important contemporary artists.
Disagree, fine arts vs written word--very different. An uber proficient guitarist might not make beautiful art if performing a dull song, but no elephant or 3 year old will ever master the guitar.
Rothko began as a figurative painter and struggled, for decades. His epiphany, the "color field paintings", highly paid for and openly love/despised/mocked, came about the same way a breakthrough race will: through hard work few actually see. Check this:
Finally, if you want to be an artist, be an artist. Paint each day. Push your comfort zone. If you are comfortable in abstract, force yourself to work on figurative studies. You may be a marathon runner, but we all need stride-outs.
Good luck. Work hard. Push yourself.
Thank you for the shout Malmo, hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
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As a painter myself, I can tell you that most if not all the famous contemporary abstract paintors that we know cannot paint correct figurative paintings.
If you have some knowledge it is very clear.
If you are used to the precision and details needed for say high level quality oil painting, you will see instantly that this very care needed is absent from the abstract paintors.
Miro, Picasso were not very good classic paintors in their early works.
Rothko began as a figurative painter and struggled, for decades. His epiphany, the "color field paintings", highly paid for and openly love/despised/mocked, came about the same way a breakthrough race will: through hard work few actually see. Check this:
Finally, if you want to be an artist, be an artist. Paint each day. Push your comfort zone. If you are comfortable in abstract, force yourself to work on figurative studies. You may be a marathon runner, but we all need stride-outs.
Good luck. Work hard. Push yourself.
Thank you for the shout Malmo, hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
This is the best post on this topic so far. All the greatest artists (and by this I mean musicians, painters, dancers, etc) had/have one very important thing in common over and above pure ability; they were deeply committed to making THEIR art, and they made A LOT OF IT.
What the public knows of most famous artists is but a tiny fraction of their actual output. Anything which is not coming from your soul is going to feel derivative and forced, and ultimately you will never stay with it; it's just the nature of the beast. As Borbay said, push yourself, try different disciplines and styles and media. But just my .02 here; the key is not to find the form in which you are the most technically proficient, it is to find the place which speaks to your creative spirit, your passion, because that's the only way you'll make the process of making art a part of your life, which in turn is the only way to actually be an 'artist'. To quote the great French dancer Sylvie Guillem, "It must be necessary for you to do it; it must be a necessity. Otherwise it's a job like any other."
Some amazing books which I found super inspiring and helpful with respect to establishing good creative habits; all these have been profoundly influential to me and collectively are a huge reason I emit something looking/feeling/sounding like art each and every day:
-What It Is, by Lynda Barry. Truly astonishing; this is honestly that rarest of birds, a legitimately life changing book. Profound and poignant; I draw and write each morning via approaches learned directly from this book.
-The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for life, Twyla Tharp. Great work by one of America's greatest choreographers on establishing creative space and habits; I use a lot directly from this, applicable to any artistic pursuit.
-Art and Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland. Fascinating work on how/why art gets made, and how so many people fall by the artistic wayside. Highly recommended.
I had three years of Highschool art classes and was always told by my teacher that I sure had a abstract way with color. Then I found out that people were not seeing what I thought that they were. I found out that I have colorblindness going into my senior year. I sure would love to get some of those glasses that help people see colors correctly.