Thoughts on One's Almost Profession

So, for various reasons (not really various, for one specific reason), I have been thinking about art and the creation of it lately. I've come to a few conclusions. I think learning to draw things as they are and as you see them (i.e.: realistically) is easier than learning to draw things 1) as you see them in your mind and 2) with your own style (however "realistic" that is). I mean, anyone can learn to draw a realistic portrait of a guy sitting in front of you. That's all well and good, but it's another thing entirely to draw a scene you see entirely in your head, and with your fingerprint on it no less. To quote Mr. Micawber, in short, I think developing your own style is more difficult than learning to draw from life.

That being said, I think you have to learn to draw from life, otherwise you won't know how to draw anything really well and make it look real. But once you know how to look at things and make them come out the end of your pencil, you can really go in any direction you like, and picking the direction is a whole different animal.

So, I'm not saying this to disparage myself or anyone else who obsesses over getting the right hair in the right place on someone's head, because that's fun. But for various reasons, I have to come to respect artists who can dream things up and put them down on paper and make them look awesome and original. And now I'm going to bang my head on the desk because I can't do that.

In other news, phlegm sucks and the aftertaste of cough drops sucks too. I got some lotion kleenexs today and they're pretty awesome. I also announced in my class today that my favorite artist NC Wyeth and the professor agreed that he is fantastic and underappreciated. Hurrah! One less person to convert. Of course, as a non-Western art professor I think he is probably naturally more open minded in his definition of "art." And, really, what is art anyway except what you think it is?

Oh, and just to be clear because I wasn't really: in this case I'm talking about drawing people and people sorts of things. This isn't an argument that abstract art takes more skill than realistic art.