What Does It Mean To Be An Artist?
- Ahmed Kheder
- Sep 5, 2022
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 15
While a scientist advances humanity through experimental discovery, an artist does so through emotionally impactful creations.
Being an artist is not just about being a person with the talent and the skills to conceptualize and make creative works, An artist is a person who can touch people's emotions to deliver a specific message.
Being an artist means you can immortalize the message you are delivering in your artwork, a message in an artwork could change the community's point of view towards an idea, or behavior, or even redefine what is ethical and what is not.
In this article, we embark on a journey to unravel the multifaceted essence of being an artist, delving into the intrinsic qualities, motivations, and challenges that define this unique calling.
What Does It Mean To Be An Artist?
At its core, being an artist is more than a profession or a hobby—it is a way of life, a deeply ingrained part of one's identity that shapes how one perceives the world and expresses themselves.
Artists' Creativity as a Way of Seeing
One of the defining characteristics of an artist is their innate ability to perceive the world through a lens of creativity. Artists possess a heightened sensitivity to beauty, emotion, and meaning in the world around them, often finding inspiration in the mundane and the extraordinary alike. They possess a unique perspective that enables them to transform ordinary objects, experiences, and emotions into works of art that resonate with others.
Artists' Pursuit of Self-Expression
At its heart, art is a form of self-expression—an outlet for artists to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and experiences with the world. For many artists, creating art is a deeply personal and introspective process, allowing them to explore their innermost thoughts, fears, and desires. Through their art, they can share their stories, perspectives, and vulnerabilities, forging connections with others and fostering empathy and understanding.
Artists' Commitment to Craft and Mastery
Being an artist requires dedication, discipline, and a lifelong commitment to honing one's craft. Artists devote countless hours to developing their skills, experimenting with new techniques, and pushing the boundaries of their creativity. They understand that mastery is a journey, not a destination, and embrace the challenges and setbacks that come with it as opportunities for growth and learning.
Artists: Embracing Vulnerability and Authenticity
Authenticity lies at the heart of artistry—the willingness to be vulnerable, to expose one's true self, flaws and all, through their creative work. Artists embrace imperfection and uncertainty, viewing mistakes and failures as integral parts of the creative process. They understand that true artistry requires courage—to challenge conventions, defy expectations, and stay true to one's vision, even in the face of criticism or rejection.
Artists: Bridging Divides and Inspiring Change
Art has the remarkable ability to transcend barriers of language, culture, and time, forging connections and sparking dialogue among people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. As cultural commentators and social observers, artists have the power to provoke thought, evoke emotion, and inspire change through their work. They recognize the responsibility that comes with their influence and strive to use their art as a catalyst for positive transformation in the world.
Navigating the Challenges of Being an Artist
Despite the inherent rewards of being an artist, the journey is not without its challenges. Artists often grapple with self-doubt, creative blocks, financial instability, and the pressures of societal expectations. Yet, it is precisely these struggles that fuel their resilience and determination to persevere—to continue creating, innovating, and pushing the boundaries of their artistry.
Being an artist is not about a job or degree; it is a lifestyle. It is about having a passion for your work, seeking continuous improvement, and striving for perfectionism with the highest level of self-motivation. Most importantly, artists never give up on their dreams.
To understand the word artist, we need first to define the word art, what is art, can we define art as a product of creativity and beauty? touching people's emotions is a critical, negative, or positive action, we would rather replace the word beauty because art could carry more than just beauty, art could carry the expressions of fear, anger, or even a horrifying sad tragedy, To be more accurate we can define art as "the creation of emotionally effective works that touch the heart to deliver a message."
To be an artist you need first to be able to touch people's feelings with your works, then the artist should be able to deliver his way of seeing the world to the hearts of his art viewers. The Stronger the artist's ability to reach people's emotions, the wider the message he is carrying will be delivered.
Artists: The Heartbeat of Humanity
While it may be obvious that Art impacts you emotionally, understanding that humanity's Belief in religious metaphysical matters was established by triggering auditory or visual emotional pathways would change the way we see Art.
Yes, Arts and Religion target affecting Humanity's emotions to enhance delivering their message to the hearts. For example, Psalms of Judaism are sacred songs or hymns, in particular any of those contained in the biblical Book of Psalms and used in Jewish worship. The reading of psalms is viewed in Jewish tradition as a vehicle for gaining God's favor.
psalms are thus often specially recited in times of trouble, such as poverty, disease, or physical danger, Psalms actually trigger auditory sensory stimulation of human emotions.
Another example, is the religion of Islam "Recitation of the Holy Quran", via auditory emotional effect, contributes to the release of endorphins by stimulating alpha brain waves. Therefore, it enhances the stress threshold, removes negative emotions, and creates a sense of relaxation.
Christianity also, not only utilized the Psalms for emotional stimulation. Christianity also triggered visionary emotional stimulation, we see extensive utilization of painting and sculpting in Christianity's approach to its followers' hearts. Images of Jesus and narrative scenes from the Life of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints are the most common subjects. Christianity makes far wider use of images than related religions, in which figurative representations of the Prophets are forbidden, such as Islam and Judaism.
Even The so-called Theosophical doctrine, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to the 3rd century CE.
It also encompasses wider religious philosophies like Vedānta, Mahāyāna, Qabbalah, and Sufism. The theosophical Luciferian "daemonic" society did not find better than abstract art to represent its ideas to the public, via Hilma Af Klint's abstract paintings, the so-called "high masters" of theosophy were trying to send a message to humanity, as Hilma believed.
When we look closely at metaphysical attempts to affect humanity via the emotional auditory and visionary pathways, we understand how critical the rule of emotions on a human being is, and we understand why art in all its forms is a great matter.
Artist's Role Model
When we look at history, we see that many artists started their artistic careers in the early stages, but this was not the case with Van Gogh. Vincent began his artistic career in the late twenties and early thirties, but he showed creativity and art that many artists did not show for many years.
Therefore, he attended a technical school in Brussels, Belgium where he learned the basic theory. After leaving school, he returned to his father's house in the country. Here, he honed his skill in painting landscapes and interpreting human experience through art.
Van Gogh produced more than 2,100 artworks over ten years only! Among them are 850 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, and this is a large number that many artists today fear to reach, unfortunately, although Van Gogh's paintings are now sold for millions of dollars, he only sold one of them.
Claude Monet was a French landscape painter; he was born on 14 November 1840 in Paris, France, and died on 5 December 1926, in Giverny. He has a great impact on art, as he is the founder of impressionist painting and is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially, in his trials to paint nature as he perceived it.
Monet was first taught how to paint in the open air in Le Havre, where his first teacher, Eugène Boudin taught him so. Afterward, he moved to Paris, where he formed lifelong friendships with other younger painters such as Alfred Sisley, Renoir, Pierre-Auguste, and Paul Cézanne.
Beginning in the mid-1860s, Monet decided to pursue a different style in which, rather than trying to reproduce the scene before him in detail, he recorded on the spot the impression that a relaxed, fleeting moment vision might receive. Not only that but also in 1874, he helped coordinate an impartial exhibition of work by himself and his friends in this style, separate from the official Salon.
One of Monet's works in the exhibition, Impression: Sunrise (1872), inspired journalist Louis Leroy to name the group. Throughout the 1870s, Monet along with the other Impressionists wanted to explore not only that but also exhibited together in this style. By 1881, the original group had begun to disintegrate, with only Monet continuing to critically examine nature with the same zeal.
Also, Monet developed his method of creating a series of several studies of the same motif in his mature works (e.g., haystacks, 1891, and Rouen Cathedral, 1894), changing canvases as the light or his interest shifted.
When we look at the life of artists like Vincent Van Gogh or Monet, "we see that being an artist means more than just having a paintbrush or chisel in your hand, To be an artist is a state of mind, a way of seeing the world."
Conclusion
To be an artist is to embark on a lifelong journey of self-discovery, creativity, and expression. It is a calling that demands courage, authenticity, and unwavering dedication—to one's craft, to one's vision, and to the transformative power of art. So, whether you paint, sculpt, write, dance, or create in any other form, embrace the essence of being an artist, and let your creativity illuminate the world.
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