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Mar. 15th, 2023 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatFor some reason or other - I'm drawing and painting people I see on the subway from memory. I'm calling it the subway series. I see the person on the ride to work or on the way home, take a mental snapshot. Then draw them when I get home, and paint them later.
I'm enjoying it. I tell people about it - and they suggest I sell the paintings. I've never tried to sell a painting, nor has my father, or anyone in the immediate family. My Aunt does sell her work - but she also has a degree in it. I'm from a family of artists, half are artists, the other half are engineers. It's a toss-up on which group is the most successful. Artists are sometimes a little bit more resourceful and clever in finding day jobs than engineers who are focused on careers.
Why is it that everything we do - folks feel the need to place a price tag on it?
"Oh, you wrote a book? Is it published? What is it about? Where can I get it? How many copies did you sell? How much did it cost?"
"Oh you drew a picture or painted something? Can I buy it? Are you selling it? You should do that!"
Sigh. Has no one ever heard of doing something just for fun? Just because you enjoy it? Do you get paid to play video games? Or write fanfic? Or create fan art?
Sometimes I just want to do it - because it's fun. I don't want to put a price tag on it or think about doing an art show right now. I just want to create and see what happens.
Note to self? This is why you don't share these types of activities with other people. Don't tell them about it - unless you plan on giving it to them to read or show it to them.
People are very weird about art.
For some reason or other they want to quantify it. Art is there to be enjoyed and interacted with. It's an expression of the artist - their attempt, however inadequate or successful - to communicate something inside them with the world. They are showing how they view things, what they are feeling, with others - and through that attempting to somehow connect to others.
It's not a request for criticism, how to improve, make money, market, or impress the critics or obtain awards. We're sharing our work to communicate and connect.
I don't know - I think it's very hard to shut up our inner critics. I struggle with mine. Working on it. A co-worker suggested I become a book, film and television critic as a side hustle - except already tried that. It didn't pan out. And besides everyone and their cat is a critique nowadays.
The world doesn't need another one. I only critique things in my journal to figure out why they didn't work or did work for me. Also to frigging remember them. Critiques are also more for other readers and viewers than for the artist - it's a way of interacting with the art. You are telling others what worked and didn't work for you, and getting their take on it as well. It's not for the artist. It's actually better if the artist is oblivious to your review - which is why I try not to post the review where an artist can see it.
***
Started listening to Bryan Cranston's (Walter White of Breaking Bad) autobiography entitled, A Life in Pieces - it's interesting. Far more interesting than Spare - partly because Cranston isn't whiny, and has done more interesting and varied things. Prince Harry and his family are, a bit, boring and bratty. (I really don't like the British Royal Family - and I may be among the few people on the planet who did not like Princess Diana. I still think she was a narcissistic twit who was hounded to death by the press.)
Cranston entered the police explorers program as a teen. This program provided him with the opportunity to view an autopsy, visit Interpol, and various police stations around the world, and view police work. It also enabled him to get work as a security guard. Cranston was also ordained and licensed to do "marriages" by a Reverend that he was staying with over the summer months. The first marriage he presided over was done in a small private plane, when he was about 19 or 20.
He tells stories about cleaning out chicken coops and being taught the right way to kill a chicken. Failing miserably on the first try. Also, being taken to a prostitute in Amsterdam as a teen and how horrible the whole experience truly was - this was on the police explorers program.
It's actually a cool program. I looked it up. There is one in New York.
Become a Law Enforcement Explorer for the NYPD
Cranston did it for LAPD. He was excellent at it - excelled in all the categories.
Cranston also relates his experiences in acting classes, including the first time he was requested to make out (again in his early 20s at the time). He's the son of a B sci-fi horror movie/television actor, who wasn't that successful. His story really gets across how difficult it is to make acting a career, and how many actors veer away from it in their lifetimes.
***
Babs was surprised that I continue to have empathy for BYT. "How you can continue to feel empathy for someone who hurt you as badly as she did, is beyond me."
Me: I can feel empathy for people I hate.
I take after my mother in this way. We managed to feel pity for the Doofus.
I've always been able to see more than one side to every argument. It makes for a very confusing life.
I'm enjoying it. I tell people about it - and they suggest I sell the paintings. I've never tried to sell a painting, nor has my father, or anyone in the immediate family. My Aunt does sell her work - but she also has a degree in it. I'm from a family of artists, half are artists, the other half are engineers. It's a toss-up on which group is the most successful. Artists are sometimes a little bit more resourceful and clever in finding day jobs than engineers who are focused on careers.
Why is it that everything we do - folks feel the need to place a price tag on it?
"Oh, you wrote a book? Is it published? What is it about? Where can I get it? How many copies did you sell? How much did it cost?"
"Oh you drew a picture or painted something? Can I buy it? Are you selling it? You should do that!"
Sigh. Has no one ever heard of doing something just for fun? Just because you enjoy it? Do you get paid to play video games? Or write fanfic? Or create fan art?
Sometimes I just want to do it - because it's fun. I don't want to put a price tag on it or think about doing an art show right now. I just want to create and see what happens.
Note to self? This is why you don't share these types of activities with other people. Don't tell them about it - unless you plan on giving it to them to read or show it to them.
People are very weird about art.
For some reason or other they want to quantify it. Art is there to be enjoyed and interacted with. It's an expression of the artist - their attempt, however inadequate or successful - to communicate something inside them with the world. They are showing how they view things, what they are feeling, with others - and through that attempting to somehow connect to others.
It's not a request for criticism, how to improve, make money, market, or impress the critics or obtain awards. We're sharing our work to communicate and connect.
I don't know - I think it's very hard to shut up our inner critics. I struggle with mine. Working on it. A co-worker suggested I become a book, film and television critic as a side hustle - except already tried that. It didn't pan out. And besides everyone and their cat is a critique nowadays.
The world doesn't need another one. I only critique things in my journal to figure out why they didn't work or did work for me. Also to frigging remember them. Critiques are also more for other readers and viewers than for the artist - it's a way of interacting with the art. You are telling others what worked and didn't work for you, and getting their take on it as well. It's not for the artist. It's actually better if the artist is oblivious to your review - which is why I try not to post the review where an artist can see it.
***
Started listening to Bryan Cranston's (Walter White of Breaking Bad) autobiography entitled, A Life in Pieces - it's interesting. Far more interesting than Spare - partly because Cranston isn't whiny, and has done more interesting and varied things. Prince Harry and his family are, a bit, boring and bratty. (I really don't like the British Royal Family - and I may be among the few people on the planet who did not like Princess Diana. I still think she was a narcissistic twit who was hounded to death by the press.)
Cranston entered the police explorers program as a teen. This program provided him with the opportunity to view an autopsy, visit Interpol, and various police stations around the world, and view police work. It also enabled him to get work as a security guard. Cranston was also ordained and licensed to do "marriages" by a Reverend that he was staying with over the summer months. The first marriage he presided over was done in a small private plane, when he was about 19 or 20.
He tells stories about cleaning out chicken coops and being taught the right way to kill a chicken. Failing miserably on the first try. Also, being taken to a prostitute in Amsterdam as a teen and how horrible the whole experience truly was - this was on the police explorers program.
It's actually a cool program. I looked it up. There is one in New York.
Become a Law Enforcement Explorer for the NYPD
Cranston did it for LAPD. He was excellent at it - excelled in all the categories.
Cranston also relates his experiences in acting classes, including the first time he was requested to make out (again in his early 20s at the time). He's the son of a B sci-fi horror movie/television actor, who wasn't that successful. His story really gets across how difficult it is to make acting a career, and how many actors veer away from it in their lifetimes.
***
Babs was surprised that I continue to have empathy for BYT. "How you can continue to feel empathy for someone who hurt you as badly as she did, is beyond me."
Me: I can feel empathy for people I hate.
I take after my mother in this way. We managed to feel pity for the Doofus.
I've always been able to see more than one side to every argument. It makes for a very confusing life.
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Date: 2023-03-16 09:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-03-16 04:59 pm (UTC)