As an artist myself, I know how the artistic mind works. I didn't used to, and wondered for many years what the heck was wrong with me. I also wondered how other artistic people did not mind being called "crazy". Now, I understand, all artists are crazy. There are many forms of artistic talent, besides the average drawing, painting and sculpting style that everyone associates with being an artist, there are also those who produce music, song lyrics, comedians, photographers, writers, entertainers, even people who breed dogs and cats for show can be considered artists. The only thing is, if you tell a show breeder he or she is crazy, they get butthurt and insulted and will accuse you of slander. They have not yet learned how to see themselves as artists. But yes, even that can be considered artistry. Art forms are not limited to drawings and sculpting.
When I was a kid, I used to get offended by people calling me crazy. Not so much anymore! Now, I take it as a compliment because I am an artist. I am an illustrator and a writer, I am trying to learn to be a comedienne. I still have some practice to go through before I can be good at that. But I am a writer and an illustrator. My drawings may not be up to everybody's liking, but that's my style. Every artist has their style. Some are universally adored, some like mine, are in favor of myself and my friends. My style is more the cartoony-type drawings. But not anime or manga style. More like the old-fashioned Bugs Bunny/Disney style drawings. Those are what I favor. But not everyone likes that style and that is OK. I do what I am comfortable doing, just like all artists. It's different if someone commissions me to do say an anime-style drawing. I won't promise it'll be perfect, like what you see in anime cartoons, because it is not my usual style. I'm not saying I cannot do it, I'm just saying I prefer not to.
In order to be an artist, you have to be able to visualize what you want in your mind and make it come to life. You have to pay a lot of attention to details. This requires a lot of thinking, doodling, and at times, getting your mind to wander. This takes your mind into places you never thought possible. It makes you see things differently than the non-artistic person. It requires a lot of imagination. Some artists are self-taught. I was drawing pictures when I was only a year old, and making them look like the creatures they were supposed to look like. I even drew a picture of myself when I was 3 years old. Most kids made their heads round as a circle, but I knew I did not have a perfectly round head, and made it in the form of a real person's head. That was normal to me. The other kids scoffed, saying my picture was ugly.
People have tried to insult me by saying my drawings are not that good. But I always say in my mind, well, that's your opinion. I figure maybe they just don't like my style of drawing, and move on. I refuse to change my style, I don't want to switch to doing anime or manga style. So if people don't like my drawings because of that, that's fine with me. My style makes me who I am as an artist. If I change my style, I might as well change my whole identity too. I admit in some circles I do need more practice. Like I'd love to be able to do caricatures like you see in old cartoons. The first time I tried it, I messed up completely. I still don't consider myself a great caricaturist. But I just need a little more practice and I'll be perfect. Like in one story I wrote (from 1997), I had to do caricatures of dead celebrities (not Michael H, he was not gone then; so to any MH fans, he is not in this story). But I was not that great at it. I had done a few celebrity caricatures before, but they never came out that great. I still cannot do them very well. But I sure do try. In fact, I made Eddie Cantor look more like Desi Arnaz! Of course I have since fixed that error just because I was uncomfortable with that mix-up. My friend and supervisor said they don't have to look just perfect, but I was just not comfortable with that mistake being put out there. One person has bought the story, and he/she is probably thinking the same thing I did.
Artists always see things differently than most people. Most people see the world in basic colors, like red, white, black, blue, green, etc. Artists see the world like this: jet black, charcoal, slate, gray, navy blue, blue, cyan, turquoise, sky blue, sea blue, teal, forest green, emerald, green, sea green, etc. We don't see basic colors because we are very detail-oriented. We don't see the world in basic anything! That is why we are perceived as being crazy by most people. Sometimes, even other artists can seem crazy to me. Know about Mozart? He was one of the greatest composers ever! Wrote music that is still being performed today. But you know what his fascination was?? He was fascinated by crap. Beavis and Butthead would have had a field-day with him!! One of Mozart's most famous songs was titled "Sniff my ass", and I recently heard how he used to write to his mama about how he loved the smell of his own farts. Of course he was a kid then. Kids are naturally fascinated by things like that! He was a teenager when his mama died. But he was a great musician, and a lot of musicians today look up to him. I know Michael H was a great admirer of his. So was I in high school. While other kids in my class were listening to rock music, I was listening to Mozart and other classical music. But Mozart was indeed my favorite, and still is! I still love his music. The fact that he was fascinated by his own ass does not sway me from how wonderful I think his music was, because I understand about artists. That's why I don't go around downing anyone else's art work. I can look at another person's art and think it's beautiful just as much as I can say so about my own art.
I've never said anything about any one else's art work that I wouldn't say about my own. That's because I don't let my ego get in the way. I also don't let the fact that the artist is crazy dilute my view of their work, because then no one would like any forms of art. ALL artists are crazy, that's what makes them artists. If we weren't crazy, we wouldn't be real artists because our minds couldn't wander. We wouldn't be able to see the different things non-crazy people can't. Shoot, I've even met artists I didn't particularly like as people, and I don't mean show breeders either! LOL! I mean like this one boy I met in middle school. His name was Otis, and he had a bad attitude! He was mean! I didn't like him at all! But I will admit, he drew dragons better than I could back then. Of course I have gotten better at drawing dragons now, and may even do them better than he could! But back then, I thought his dragon pics were beautiful!! The best I could do in middle school for a dragon was make a dinosaur, and that is mostly what mine looked like, a cartoony-type dinosaur. LOL! Well, I am a lot better now. I've had many years of practice.
So, if you are an artist, and someone calls you "crazy" or "delusional", don't take it offensively! Those people are just saying you are a very fine, artistic person who deserves the title very well. That's how I see it!
When I was a kid, I used to get offended by people calling me crazy. Not so much anymore! Now, I take it as a compliment because I am an artist. I am an illustrator and a writer, I am trying to learn to be a comedienne. I still have some practice to go through before I can be good at that. But I am a writer and an illustrator. My drawings may not be up to everybody's liking, but that's my style. Every artist has their style. Some are universally adored, some like mine, are in favor of myself and my friends. My style is more the cartoony-type drawings. But not anime or manga style. More like the old-fashioned Bugs Bunny/Disney style drawings. Those are what I favor. But not everyone likes that style and that is OK. I do what I am comfortable doing, just like all artists. It's different if someone commissions me to do say an anime-style drawing. I won't promise it'll be perfect, like what you see in anime cartoons, because it is not my usual style. I'm not saying I cannot do it, I'm just saying I prefer not to.
In order to be an artist, you have to be able to visualize what you want in your mind and make it come to life. You have to pay a lot of attention to details. This requires a lot of thinking, doodling, and at times, getting your mind to wander. This takes your mind into places you never thought possible. It makes you see things differently than the non-artistic person. It requires a lot of imagination. Some artists are self-taught. I was drawing pictures when I was only a year old, and making them look like the creatures they were supposed to look like. I even drew a picture of myself when I was 3 years old. Most kids made their heads round as a circle, but I knew I did not have a perfectly round head, and made it in the form of a real person's head. That was normal to me. The other kids scoffed, saying my picture was ugly.
People have tried to insult me by saying my drawings are not that good. But I always say in my mind, well, that's your opinion. I figure maybe they just don't like my style of drawing, and move on. I refuse to change my style, I don't want to switch to doing anime or manga style. So if people don't like my drawings because of that, that's fine with me. My style makes me who I am as an artist. If I change my style, I might as well change my whole identity too. I admit in some circles I do need more practice. Like I'd love to be able to do caricatures like you see in old cartoons. The first time I tried it, I messed up completely. I still don't consider myself a great caricaturist. But I just need a little more practice and I'll be perfect. Like in one story I wrote (from 1997), I had to do caricatures of dead celebrities (not Michael H, he was not gone then; so to any MH fans, he is not in this story). But I was not that great at it. I had done a few celebrity caricatures before, but they never came out that great. I still cannot do them very well. But I sure do try. In fact, I made Eddie Cantor look more like Desi Arnaz! Of course I have since fixed that error just because I was uncomfortable with that mix-up. My friend and supervisor said they don't have to look just perfect, but I was just not comfortable with that mistake being put out there. One person has bought the story, and he/she is probably thinking the same thing I did.
Artists always see things differently than most people. Most people see the world in basic colors, like red, white, black, blue, green, etc. Artists see the world like this: jet black, charcoal, slate, gray, navy blue, blue, cyan, turquoise, sky blue, sea blue, teal, forest green, emerald, green, sea green, etc. We don't see basic colors because we are very detail-oriented. We don't see the world in basic anything! That is why we are perceived as being crazy by most people. Sometimes, even other artists can seem crazy to me. Know about Mozart? He was one of the greatest composers ever! Wrote music that is still being performed today. But you know what his fascination was?? He was fascinated by crap. Beavis and Butthead would have had a field-day with him!! One of Mozart's most famous songs was titled "Sniff my ass", and I recently heard how he used to write to his mama about how he loved the smell of his own farts. Of course he was a kid then. Kids are naturally fascinated by things like that! He was a teenager when his mama died. But he was a great musician, and a lot of musicians today look up to him. I know Michael H was a great admirer of his. So was I in high school. While other kids in my class were listening to rock music, I was listening to Mozart and other classical music. But Mozart was indeed my favorite, and still is! I still love his music. The fact that he was fascinated by his own ass does not sway me from how wonderful I think his music was, because I understand about artists. That's why I don't go around downing anyone else's art work. I can look at another person's art and think it's beautiful just as much as I can say so about my own art.
I've never said anything about any one else's art work that I wouldn't say about my own. That's because I don't let my ego get in the way. I also don't let the fact that the artist is crazy dilute my view of their work, because then no one would like any forms of art. ALL artists are crazy, that's what makes them artists. If we weren't crazy, we wouldn't be real artists because our minds couldn't wander. We wouldn't be able to see the different things non-crazy people can't. Shoot, I've even met artists I didn't particularly like as people, and I don't mean show breeders either! LOL! I mean like this one boy I met in middle school. His name was Otis, and he had a bad attitude! He was mean! I didn't like him at all! But I will admit, he drew dragons better than I could back then. Of course I have gotten better at drawing dragons now, and may even do them better than he could! But back then, I thought his dragon pics were beautiful!! The best I could do in middle school for a dragon was make a dinosaur, and that is mostly what mine looked like, a cartoony-type dinosaur. LOL! Well, I am a lot better now. I've had many years of practice.
So, if you are an artist, and someone calls you "crazy" or "delusional", don't take it offensively! Those people are just saying you are a very fine, artistic person who deserves the title very well. That's how I see it!
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