Sunday, August 20, 2017

Weirdness

So I have been consumed lately by a lot of projects, but instead of posting about them (which I will eventually, maybe!), I feel like posting about something else - weird art.  I had a talk with one of my friends/fellow artists reminiscing about our days before Instagram, before Etsy shops, and before client work.  Back when we made art not just for ourselves, but with the thought that NO ONE was going to see it but us.  And honestly, I'm really missin' those days.

Don't get me wrong, I truly love the work I get to make for others.  I love being able to make people happy, or curious, or help embody their mission through a simple logo or painting.  Art has a, for lack of better terms, magical effect on the heart, and can be used for purposes far beyond an individual's creativity.  But that should never devalue the act of making art just for the sake of making it.

After going through years of training to be considered a "professional artist", taking art classes, having others tell me how to draw, how to critique others' work, how to brand myself, how to get more followers on Instagram (-_-), no one ever told me to make something just because I liked it.  In fact, it was frowned upon.  But it's a shame if artists lose that personal connection to their art, and sometimes I wonder if I've lost mine already.

I decided to look back through my old sketch books (stopping right before middle school era, because nobody needs to relive that), and it's crazy how different my style was then.  Yes I loved drawing animals and portraits back then, but most of my stuff was just WEIRD, with no rhyme or reason.  But looking at those old drawings, even though its been years since I made them, I am immediately taken back to the exact moment I drew them.  I still remember that feeling of sitting for hours, drawing swirls and eyeballs and fish with human teeth, because they were just ideas that I needed to get down on paper.

But if I posted my weird ass doodles on Instagram today, would people hate it?  Would they unfollow me?  Would they refuse to pay me for something like that?  Probably.  Which is why most artists go unknown and unappreciated until they die (because lets face it, we have a weird obsession with death/dead people).  The internet has certainly given artists an amazing outlet for reaching others and becoming successful in modern times, but it's also kind of ruined art.  Just like the way social media has given us a way to judge others lives/be judged my others, it has made artists focus on "likes" and public perception rather than personal satisfaction.  It's how artists get trapped in having to create the same things, over and over and over again.  And I shouldn't generalize it for all artists, but that's been my experience lately, and somethin's gotta change!

So from now on, I'm going to try to retrain my brain to not care so much about the other's opinions.  I'm going to make more work for myself, and if said brain will allow it, reconnect with my weirdness.




And here is a very messy Nirvana portrait to prove these were in fact from high school:




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And something else I haven't done in a while, here are some of my fave weird artists right now :p


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Artist names/Instagrams:

1. Emily Harrison-Ach / inkyemily
2. Irem Yazici / _.baobap._
3. Katie So / ghostmeadow