From "Art Critic Jerry Saltz On His New Book 'How To Be An Artist'" (NPR).
Here's the book. Sample text:
March 29, 2020
"Pick up anything and start sketching. Your iPhone - take all those ridiculous pictures you took - all of that is a form of drawing."
"All the funny little songs you thought, oh, that's got a great lyric, those are the beginning of ideas. Every dream you have is a possible little bit of an idea. And all of that can be put into use - all of your obsessions. Yes, you like to watch dog videos. Well, maybe you might want to make one. So what if it's not that good? I'm telling you the lessons I've learned in a lifetime of doing it and being terrified of doing it and a lifetime of talking to real artists. The only way to take the curse of fear away from working - the only way is to get to work."
From "Art Critic Jerry Saltz On His New Book 'How To Be An Artist'" (NPR).
Here's the book. Sample text:
From "Art Critic Jerry Saltz On His New Book 'How To Be An Artist'" (NPR).
Here's the book. Sample text:
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21 comments:
There was something that stunk here a minute ago. Anyway...
I've read a number of entire books about writing, by writers. I've read articles, advice columns, and watched 'masterclasses' (though they were not close to that.) I've spent more time reading about writing than actually writing.
From the best writers to the least it all boils down to this: just do it. Just write. Write. Write. Or paint, paint, paint, or whatever it is that is crawling around your brain and under your skin. Do it. Do it like it's a job- regular hours doing it, every day. Get those ideas out and down on paper (or canvas or in a video). Get it out there regularly until the story has been laid out. You can go back to edit and fine tune on the 2nd go-round. But initially- just do it.
If you have kids try this game that I came up with by accident about 10 years ago: get their yearbook and draw someone, and then give them the drawing and the yearbook and see if they can figure it out. It's a fun game! We were playing last night and even cynical high school kids love it.
Remember when it was said that 10,000 hours at anything will make you an expert?
It's never too late. I took up the guitar in my 30's. Wouldn't say I'm an artist but I get a lot of enjoyment out of playing and singing. Also been woodworking and woodcrafting for a long, long time. It has progressed from general construction, to cabinet and furniture making, and now to turning. Again, not sure what I produce qualifies as art, but it sure is satisfying to make interesting stuff out of chunks of wood.
Do not interpret this as ass kissing: many of your photos are artistic. The subject and way you compose and edit are quite nice, capture & create a compelling scene, and invoke emotion. Sounds like art to me.
Easy mode: pick a kid with something unique about their appearance. Hard mode: pick a good looking kid and try not to make them look funny.
Isn’t this all about finding what you are good at and enjoy? Not just about writing, drawing, etc: the reality is that you may need to do enough of a thing to find out you just ain’t good at it. As long as you recognize that and don’t quit your day job.
Also, doing things for fun, can become miserable if you start doing it for money (to make a living), regardless of how good you are at it.
Which reminds me, what happened to the Althousean rats?
I would prefer to be a craftsman.
I recognize a similarity to exercise.
There are a dozen excellent reasons every morning for me to not step on that treadmill. And once I get started, it's mostly unpleasant, a matter of will to keep going.
When I'm done, 500 calories later, I feel good. Very good. But the next day or day after when I go back, there'll be a dozen reasons again.
I've rarely felt the need to write for the purpose of getting something off my chest. It happened more when I was working, but in retirement I try to let a lot of things roll off my back.
I am currently reading "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and have found the process fascinating. Don't expect to become a great artist, but have learned a great deal about how the effort can help me develop connections in the brain. Someone I love recently was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. She always was artistic and as she loses some abilities with everyday tasks is turning more and to art she hasn't tried in awhile. It won't change the ultimate result, but is making the experience a little better.
The bane of every artist is the urge to self-censor.
Follow the Zen principle of “first idea best idea.”
Sort out the wheat from the chaff later.
“Getting to work” is at times, easier said than done. Like any creative process, making art requires preparation, discipline and perseverance. Drawing is the foundation, it is a skill to be practiced. I draw daily so that when an idea or subject comes to me, I’m confident that I can give that idea form. I draw so that I can create a vocabulary of marks that express my intention and communicate what I have seen, real or imaginary. When drawing is done to the highest level, it is sublime.
I would prefer to pretend to be an architect.
One of the best pieces of advice I got from an art teacher was that it takes to artists to paint a picture. One to paint and the other to clobber the painter over the head with a hammer to get them to stop before he ruins it.
If you want to catch fish you have to be out on the water. That's why they call it fishing not catching.
I would prefer to pretend to be an architect.
The hard part is learning to tie a bow tie.
When I was getting back into photography 10 or 12 years ago (after taking 35 years off) on a recommendation I read "Art and Fear" by Bayles and Orland. Their key message is that your best teacher is the work itself, so don't give up, follow your interests, trust your instincts. Good advice, I read it twice. As I recall one writer is a musician and the other a painter; the point is that it applies to any art you may care to take up.
You may never become as good a draftsman as Albrect Durer, as good a guitarist as Roy Buchanan, or as good a photographer as Wynn Bullock, but your work will be your own and reflect your own unique personality.
Available through the Althouse Amazon portal, of course.
tcrosse @8:39 AM: The trick is getting your domestic partner to tie it for you.
Most people do not realize that the knot for a bow tie is the same as the knot they use to tie their shoe laces. They learned it by the time they were in first grade.
Most people do not realize that the knot for a bow tie is the same as the knot they use to tie their shoe laces.
The trick is to get the ends to come out even and to get the thing to sit straight. My Dad would give his bow tie the same attention he gave to his shoe laces, and that's how it looked.
tcrosse that's a hilarious picture you just painted of your Father.
When I learned to tie a bow tie that is how it was explained to me. I can't look in the mirror while I'm doing it until it is tied, then I fuss and adjust so it sits straight and doesn't have any stray creases or folds. Max two or three times a year.
I worked for Wang Laboratories in the 80's and early 90's. The founder, Dr. An Wang, always wore a bow tie. I didn't know him well enough to say whether he tied it every day or not. There was a senior marketing guy, Ken Olisa, a Brit, that wore a bow tie every day. I know he tied his by hand because he bragged that he did.
Jerry *Snowflake* Saltz is no Robert Hughes.
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