For the last couple of years, I have been nurturing my ability to draw and paint, among other things, and so I started thinking about what it means to be an artist or to be considered an artist. Anyone can put images on paper or canvas or whatever. Good and bad. That act of creation or performing a certain type of activity is not what makes someone an artist. I think it is a bit more existential than that. When most people think of an artist the image of a painter or sculptor comes to mind. Now don’t get me wrong, those who create art are certainly artists but being an artist is so much more than that. I worked on computers for almost thirty years and, not to brag, but at some point, I was capable enough that I could fix or solve just about any problem that came up. Now, I didn’t just robotically step up and fix things, I provided a certain amount of convivial customer service that invited people to trust and rely on my know-how and personality. In many ways, I could have been referred to as an artist at what I did mostly because of how I did it not what I did specifically.
Being an artist is more about how things are done rather than what things are done. Look at any art form and think about what is taught to the aspiring art creator. No matter what medium is used all of them lead up to and emphasize that you must find your own “voice” and make it an expression of your own vision. That should tell you right there that it is about how not what. They all talk about finding your personal style of expression. For a while, I struggled with what that was or is for myself when it came to the things I created. It wasn’t until I started thinking about what it meant to be an artist that I realized it isn’t about style or medium or content, it was about how you personally expressed all those things. Whether it be in writing, painting, drawing or any other medium you use to create or just plain do something in.
A couple of my favorite visual artists throughout my life have been Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo. I have always been inspired by the look and feel of their art. The representative detail expressed in their artwork always amazed me. It wasn’t hyper-realism, you could never mistake it for a photograph… It was hyper-representation, it did not look real and did look real at the same time. The detail was so exaggerated and unmistakable that the art itself came alive. Which is an interesting segue into individual expression. These two artists have both created art in the same genre and even of some of the same characters and in a similar style. However, if you look at the works of each you can instantly tell them apart and there is no mistaking one for the other. Each of these two great artists has their own expression even though they created similar works in the same genre and style.
Now, when it comes to individual expression, visual artists don’t have an exclusive. You can, of course, find it in the written word as well. Sometimes it is more subtle but it is always there. One of my favorite book series was a fantasy series called “Thieve’s World”. It was the combined work of several writers who collaborated on the stories and characters. In the first few books, each story was written by a single author and so had a single voice. After a while, the collaboration started getting more intricate when the storyline and character were intermingled with each other. Even though they were writing stories and characters who had distinct characteristics of their own, you could usually tell one author from another due to their personal “voice” in the writing. Once again we see it is about how not what.
I constantly have to remind myself of this concept because, of course, I am nowhere as good as those artists when it comes to drawing and painting…but I am getting better. That leads to probably one of the most important things to keep in mind when you do anything… Mindset. Yes, the power of positive thinking blah blah blah. That isn’t exactly what I mean. Of course, it helps but what actually keeps you thinking positively, or any way for that matter? Let’s talk about what mindset really is. It isn’t about positivity, it is about willpower. Yes, think about it. No matter the consequence, if you have in your mind that you can or will do a thing then you will. Succeed or fail, either way, you did it. Positive thinking is that you will eventually succeed but the mindset that you can do it is what keeps you going.
A good example of this is recovery after surgery. In 2022 I had two full knee replacement surgeries in the span of 5 months. I spoke with other people who had the same procedure (though only one, not two knees) and the resulting opinions about the recovery and aftermath were mixed. Most were indifferent about their walking ability after the fact saying things like “yes, they walk better but…” and it was mostly aches and pains complaints. My experience was very different… In a good way. The pain I had before was gone. Yes gone completely. Sure, I had aches and pains in my legs but the fact is my knees themselves were fine and the joint pain was gone. Plus, according to everyone I talked to (medical staff and other patients) my recovery was amazingly fast. Now, I have no personal frame of reference as the recovery for both of my legs was about the same. Some minor differences but taken as a whole basically the same. So from my perspective, it was normal….
I had full mobility after 2 months of physical therapy. For each knee. Now, it took a bit of work, and yes it was painful but in the end, I knew it would be better than before. How much improvement there was did not matter to me because I could walk without joint pain. Before the surgeries, I had spent the majority of my time in the prior 2 years not walking or standing. The pain was so bad that I could not be on my feet for more than a few minutes. Any time I went in public I had to either use a wheelchair or some form of mobility scooter. I didn’t know what to expect would be the result before the first surgery other than what other people had said about it. However, once I was on my feet afterward, even though there was weakness and a lot of pain from the surgery itself, I knew. I could tell the difference and was excited to keep going. At that moment I knew that no matter what; I would be walking without that pain and was determined to get to the other side (so to speak). So, it was not positive thinking on my part. It was the mindset that no matter what happened I could walk again.
Mindset is a funny thing and I apply the same thing in terms of my artistic endeavors because you have to keep in mind that even if you don’t measure up to so-and-so that you can still do it. You have to keep in mind that you actually can do this, everyone can tell a story or draw a picture. Whether it is any good is largely about developing skills and you can’t do that if you don’t try. So try. No matter what happens in the end just try, what will it hurt? The only variable is time and you will either enjoy or succeed or dislike or fail at what you do or you won’t but you will know that you can do it.
To me, that is what being an artist is all about no matter what the scope is… Mindset. I’m not the best or the worst but I do things because I can, and I like to think with a bit of my own flair.