Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Artist and the Writer

This is a subject that doesn’t get addressed often enough, I think. I mean, give me a show of hands, how many of you writers out there believe you have some talent in visual arts? Visual being the key word in this instance, not literal.  Maybe some of you do, and that's great!  *thumbs up*

From what I’ve heard tell, though, there are a lot of writers out there who believe they are also amazing artists. Don’t get me wrong! They are artists in the craft of words… but sometimes – sometimes they’re not so great with a pencil and a sketchpad.

On the other hand, there are artists out there who think they are also writers. (Believe me, I know a few). They are so sure they can capture with words what they capture with paint when, more than half of the time, it just isn’t so.

And yet once more, there are those few people who really are talented in both areas. They’re very rare, it would seem… and yet they're not quite as rare as many think. In fact, if anyone reading this has a Deviant Art account, or would just like to browse the site, they might find several talented artists who are also talented writers and vise versa.

I guess it all depends on who you think you really are. If you really believe you are both, then what’s stopping you from being both? So you struggle with the visual aspect of art: take a few art classes, learn some stuff, keep practicing. You’ll get it. So you have trouble fitting words, sentences, and paragraphs together in a smooth flow; take some writing classes, go on line, read, study… it’s not like rocket science. Really anyone can learn to do these things! And when I say anyone, I mean anyone.  It just takes practice, as every action or talant does.

And of course there are those writers/artists who can do miracles with photo editing! (I’m still a baby in that area.)


Me though? I actually fall into the category of both. Yes, I’m a writer and an artist. And also a musician. Those are my three strengths. Some people are like that too (especially if they’ve been playing an instrument since they were young – which I actually haven’t had the pleasure of doing... just since I was 14.)


What? Don’t believe me? Here, I’ll give you a few examples of my artwork:






These are just a few of my favorite pieces (I have more faves, but I thought this post might get too long, so I decided not to post them yet.)
 
So what are your tallants?  Share them with me!  It be awesome to hear about them.  :)

5 comments:

Eldra From Daremo said...

Really beautiful, Star-Dreamer. My favorite piece that you did is the third one down (the young girl with folded angel wings). My talent isn't in art, though I'm not terrible, but my sister is amazing. You should check out both of her blogs.
http://artismygift.blogspot.com/
http://mylifeasadrawer.blogspot.com/

Star-Dreamer said...

Thank you. I'm glad you like her. :) I'll be sure to check out your sister's blogs; thanks for sharing them!

Eldra From Daremo said...

Thanks! And by the way, your book looks awesome! Can't wait until you get it published!

Nonexistant anymore said...

I doubt I'm both a writer and an artist. :) I really love sketching and I used to think I had skill there, but my real strength is writing, so that's the path I'm taking now. :) My main other talent is babycare (not very artsy that is it?). I have always had a baby sibling, and the most recent ones have been mostly in my care. I find rocking the baby for hours at a time very helpful for my creativity as I've thought of so many plot lines and story arcs that way. :) I also have a strong interest and some skill in acting, but I have no idea if it's a real talent.
Your drawings are really good. I especially love the last one because the lady has so much expression and life in her face.

Star-Dreamer said...

Merriette, to tell you the absolute truth, my real strength is writing too. I draw, but I can only do it when I'm inspired to. If I'm not inspired or in the mood... *shakes head sadly*... well, let's just say it gets ugly. I had this art project I was supposed to do last semester... a self portrait thing. *shivers* I hate to even look at the picture now! *shivers again.* But whatever you do, don't give up on your drawings either. I look at it this way: if I can write AND draw... well, I have a better idea of what my characters look like than anyone else, so I might as well draw them, right? (at least it makes sense in my head.)

*looking curious* how many siblings do you have? I'm the oldest of six and the youngest is 5... she's just starting to loose her baby teeth *big sob*. I spoil her rotten! :)