What Makes an Artist, An Artist?

So what is it that makes an artist, an artist? Is it technical skill with their medium of choice? Is it an original, thought-provoking idea? Is it popularity with the masses? Is it being innovative and doing things no one else has done before?

Hmmm, . . . well, for what it’s worth, here’s my two cents on this subject. Technical skill, while essential to any form of art, is not the only ingredient. If we never progress beyond copying someone else’s work, or slavishly copying photographs, we never put ourselves out there. If we’re always using someone else’s photos, we become not much more than a Xerox machine. Don’t get me wrong, I use photos for reference too, but usually they’re my own photos or at least I use them only for reference—not copying them. If you’ve created a piece that is a copy of someone else’s photo, in my estimation, the photographer is the artist.

I feel as if so many of us have gotten stuck. We sometimes call it artist’s block—what should I draw today? I can’t think of anything—hey, you got any ideas? Wow, take a look at that photo! Isn’t that amazing—I MUST draw or paint that! It’s difficult to know ourselves, but as artists, that’s what we’re called to do. It’s our job to put our hearts and souls down on the paper or canvas—our unique experience of the world.

What is YOUR experience in the Universe that we live in? That photo that you love is artwork that was successful—the photographer made you feel something. That photo triggered a response in you. That is art; that is what art is supposed to do! Analyze what it is in that photo that draws you in—what does it make you feel and why? Find what moves you and make your art uniquely yours. Be brave and share your own unique perspective with the world!