(no subject)

[ans99]

In the art world, there is no good or bad. Let me just get that out there right up front. There are people out there who, it's pretty much universally agreed upon, make some amazing things. There are people out there who make some (universally agreed upon) truly awful things, as we have seen on wonderful sites like regretsy.

And then there are people who make some mediocre things, things that don't stand out or that are... halfway decent in some way but lacking in skill or execution. These are the people that either get no recognition for their work, or if they do it's because they've accumulated some measure of social esteem-- in other words, they have friends, and they're well-liked, and it doesn't matter how much their stuff sucks because people just want to like it. And they go on thinking that the stuff they do is okay-- and in the grand scheme it is, yes, but on an artistic or creative scale it is incredibly mediocre and just not valuable.

I am one of those people who does not get much feedback from what I do. And I know that most artists are incredibly down on their own work, never think it's good enough, can never get it to truly reflect its potential and what they saw living in their heads. But sometimes I have to wonder whether *I* am one of those mediocre artists-- bad, but not bad enough to be notorious. Just... bland and sadly lacking.

To be honest, artistically? I feel alone. I don't have a base of friends or cohorts to draw upon when I need feedback or when I have a specific question or problem concerning mechanics of this or that art form, or creative blocks, or any of that. Probably the closest I have is my RPing group, which is likely why I continue to do it. Any real connection art-wise has largely been found there.

After next week I'm taking some time off and trying again to set up something resembling an art career. But I have to tell you, guys, I'm flagging. I'm losing motivation. I need to fix this, and I don't know how. I want to make amazing things, I want to share my ideas with the world-- but nobody's listening. I dunno. Maybe I just have nothing worthwhile to say.

Comments

[catlips.livejournal.com]

i don't think feedback = any indication of how "good" an artist you are - with the understanding that even the shittiest artist can produce "good" artwork and the best can produce things that aren't so great. i don't know a lot about art as a whole, but i would think that plenty of great artists got very little to no feedback at first. much less good feedback. it would be sad to see you give up for that reason. i think you're very talented and being artistic/creative also seems to be cathartic for you, the way writing is for me. personally even if i just write lj entries and nothing else for the rest of my life - well i'd like some recognition and validation too, but i'd be at least somewhat ok with that. i think! haha.

<3

[freyja.livejournal.com]

Thanks for all that. I won't stop creating, because you just CAN'T do that, I'd go crazy. Crazier. I just wonder sometimes if my dream is a joke. Selling art requires people buying it, which in turn requires people liking it enough to buy it, which in turn requires people knowing it exists, and I'm notorious for being unknown.

But yeah, maybe this is normal. It's just every time I see a piece of crap get praised up and down I sort of want to kill myself. My crap doesn't get that sort of attention, not ever, not by anyone who doesn't personally know me, and it hurts, undeniably.