I can’t count how many writers and composers have complained that their hack work, ground out under financial or other pressure, has become their most popular and enduring, while their personal favorites languish unappreciated.
The most immediate way to see this is from a comic. People cannot help laughing if they like it and staring if they don’t. With an art piece they can say “Oh, that’s very …. interesting” and try to say what they think you’d like to hear. But a “ha, ha, ha” is hard to fake.
And, as you know, what causes “ha, ha, ha” varies wildly across readers.
This. Very much this. The pieces I knock out in about five minutes are the ones that the people on deviantART or wherever else wind up faving the heck out of. And the ones that took several hours just get sort of a meh.
I suppose that “understanding art” means trying to understand the artist’s ideas. So really, we’re trying to figure each other out… all the time! Because we are all different, art is relative…. therefore we can’t understand all art!
People deal with enough complexity in their lives. For most, (save the pinkie-in-the-air crowd) art is about enjoyment and relaxation.
Perhaps the reason that fans prefer the art that you dashed off to the art that took you hours is that what you spent the least time on is the easiest to understand and appreciate. Stripped of all pretense and distraction, so to speak.
Not that they are stupid. I hang art on my walls to help me relax and enjoy. I have books on my walls to help me think and reason. (Also to relax and enjoy- I have a LOT of science fiction!)
I am not denigrating visual art as a media for a message, but saying that often, as in real life, simplicity is easiest to appreciate.
The amount of time that we spend on a creation has little to do with it’s perceived value. After a certain amount of effort, all we are doing is adding unnecessary embellishment.
I know that for myself, I have many times driven a project into garbage in pursuit of perfection.
Art is one of those funny things, ain’t it? It means different things to different people. And for true, it matters not how much one spends on piece that determines its enjoyment or it’s worth. If you look at some of John Lennon’s art… just a few lines and probably didn’t take but several minutes, if that, to create… and yet these artworks speak to people.
Too, I am always amazed at how something that I’ve created but had little enthusiasm for is often lauded over… versus something I spent twice as much time on and I love it, gets little attention. It’s just a funny thing.
Thanks for the welcome.
You are absolutely right, art means different things to different people. I happen to like webcomics, because so many artists really enjoy the creation and sharing. Thank you for that!
I have given up on some that were so visually perfect that it was all the artist could do to update once a month, which made it difficult to follow the story.
Your strip is one of my favorites because it is an example of minimalist lines, that is, it appears to be no more complex than it must be. It takes great skill to make minimalism work, by the way.
But it is the entire comic that I enjoy, the visual plus the story and dialogue. It is obvious that you really care about the strip and the characters.
By the way, I am not one for drawing- my art is as a machinist. Lathe and mill instead of pen and ink, so to speak.
art is perspective, but art is also understanding art. -frank
It reminds me of the Simpson’s episode when Marge painted Mr. Burns.
Mr. Burns (quietly): “And thank you for not making fun of my genitalia.”
Marge (to Homer after Mr. Burns leaves): “I thought I did.”
I can’t count how many writers and composers have complained that their hack work, ground out under financial or other pressure, has become their most popular and enduring, while their personal favorites languish unappreciated.
The most immediate way to see this is from a comic. People cannot help laughing if they like it and staring if they don’t. With an art piece they can say “Oh, that’s very …. interesting” and try to say what they think you’d like to hear. But a “ha, ha, ha” is hard to fake.
And, as you know, what causes “ha, ha, ha” varies wildly across readers.
Truth that tickles makes us smile. Truth that hurts makes us laugh out loud!
I can totally relate to this. I may not always understand art but I know what I like!
Art is in the eye of the beholder I guess. Pure trash though, is pretty recognizable to everyone it’s just that some won’t admit it.
This. Very much this. The pieces I knock out in about five minutes are the ones that the people on deviantART or wherever else wind up faving the heck out of. And the ones that took several hours just get sort of a meh.
It gets disheartening.
I suppose that “understanding art” means trying to understand the artist’s ideas. So really, we’re trying to figure each other out… all the time! Because we are all different, art is relative…. therefore we can’t understand all art!
People deal with enough complexity in their lives. For most, (save the pinkie-in-the-air crowd) art is about enjoyment and relaxation.
Perhaps the reason that fans prefer the art that you dashed off to the art that took you hours is that what you spent the least time on is the easiest to understand and appreciate. Stripped of all pretense and distraction, so to speak.
Not that they are stupid. I hang art on my walls to help me relax and enjoy. I have books on my walls to help me think and reason. (Also to relax and enjoy- I have a LOT of science fiction!)
I am not denigrating visual art as a media for a message, but saying that often, as in real life, simplicity is easiest to appreciate.
The amount of time that we spend on a creation has little to do with it’s perceived value. After a certain amount of effort, all we are doing is adding unnecessary embellishment.
I know that for myself, I have many times driven a project into garbage in pursuit of perfection.
Hello, Petercat… Welcome to Squid Row…
Art is one of those funny things, ain’t it? It means different things to different people. And for true, it matters not how much one spends on piece that determines its enjoyment or it’s worth. If you look at some of John Lennon’s art… just a few lines and probably didn’t take but several minutes, if that, to create… and yet these artworks speak to people.
Too, I am always amazed at how something that I’ve created but had little enthusiasm for is often lauded over… versus something I spent twice as much time on and I love it, gets little attention. It’s just a funny thing.
Thanks for the welcome.
You are absolutely right, art means different things to different people. I happen to like webcomics, because so many artists really enjoy the creation and sharing. Thank you for that!
I have given up on some that were so visually perfect that it was all the artist could do to update once a month, which made it difficult to follow the story.
Your strip is one of my favorites because it is an example of minimalist lines, that is, it appears to be no more complex than it must be. It takes great skill to make minimalism work, by the way.
But it is the entire comic that I enjoy, the visual plus the story and dialogue. It is obvious that you really care about the strip and the characters.
By the way, I am not one for drawing- my art is as a machinist. Lathe and mill instead of pen and ink, so to speak.