The Inbox:
How can you create art when you cut all other experiences out of your life? Art is made through
both your own imagination and your life experiences. Combining the two creates the most pure form of art as it is the true representation of both yourself and the world as you see it. If you're not experiencing life, how
can you represent it or draw inspiration from it?
The
Outbox:
I meant to reply to this, but I wanted to play video games instead at that previous moment in time. Go figure.
I agree, in that an aspect of trying to be a creative professional involves the relationships and experiences I take part in. But it's not a very practical decision to make that the most significant aspect of bettering my artwork or animation.
Nothing I do socially or recreationally is significant. Don't get me wrong, I like my friends and I"m grateful I have friends who put up with me. But really, I need to be social so that I don't go crazy. I don't need to do social things to be a better artist. Maybe this would be different if I was a graphic designer or designing MTV IDs or something. The observation of people and current trends and the club circuit is I suppose, important with that kind of design.
What I need to do now though, and one of the main reasons I'm going back to school out of state, is to work on the practical and technical issues involved with my craft quietly, and without distraction.
I mean, it's important to know how to talk to people, and understand myself on whatever intimate, emotional level people should know themselves. It's important to always know what your heart is saying to you.
But this specific perspective isn't something to like, make into its own animal. It doesn"t make sense to me separate my work from my life experiences. My life experiences are the things I create.
Posting that quote by Shaw in my last entry made me come off as an angsty, cruel sonofabitch. I didn"t mean for it to be interpreted like that. But here's the thing. Although I never purposefully try to hurt people by choosing my artwork over any/all relations I have with the world outside my drafting table and digital studio, it still happens. What I think Shaw was trying to say is that there isn't really anything romantic about being an artist. There's nothing cool about it, and people who do this kind of stuff shouldn't be praised simply because they make it their life's work to better their craft.
I think Shaw was saying that artists are flawed. Artists are single-minded individuals who make no apology for the way they are. Likewise, they expect no praise for the way they lead their life.