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10:29 AM - Thurs 8.05.21
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"You like my work? Clearly, you don't know what you're talking about."

Something I keep thinking, regarding writing in here, is that if I write all the time, in spite of sometimes "having nothing to write about", it will spur me to find new things to write about, maybe even encourage me to develop as a capital-w "Writer".

Could happen, right?

Anyway...

There was not a big "plan" for today, but even the minimal plan I had has changed - Now, instead of talking to Mark and Jane Z. this afternoon, as is the Thursday afternoon norm, Jane R. will be here, scanner in hand, scanning my drawings (Mark and Jane, both my seniors, have a much more active social life than I do - If they have to change our talk time, it's usually because they have a social engagement, while if I do, it's probably because I have a Doctor's appointment or the like)

The idea of scanning my drawings is to create an online "store" (Perhaps as part of a personal website) so I can sell said drawings, and/or prints of said drawings.

That's pretty amazing, just the idea of selling my drawings (Or prints of same); I have drawn intermittently for years, but have never taken it as seriously as I might have.

And, perhaps because of that, I've never really "gone public" till now (In the past, I never "grew" much as an artist, in large part because, 1. I mostly just copied pictures from comic books, and, 2. when drawing from photographs or still-lifes, and hitting "challenges" to my abilities - like "hair", "hands", "shading", "perspective", etc - I would give up, rather than work through the frustration).

(This is typically the place where I'd go into what I feel my current "deficiencies" are. But instead, I'll just say that I think I'm better than I was in areas, but still feel there's a ton of room for improvement. And happily, I've got the time and inclination to work on it.)

But it's been fun to take my drawing online, get a lot of nice feedback (I have very few trolls on my online media accounts, in general, or in terms of my drawing), and even get the occasional inquiry as to whether or not I sell my art.

...which is part of why I don't want to "get into the weeds" regarding what I think of my current efforts - If I'm interested in people buying my drawings, it makes no sense to, at the same time, be telling them why they shouldn't.

Beyond that - it's just rude.

That goes back to a very old memory from the theatre...

After a performance of a play I was in, someone came backstage and was very complimentary about my work. But instead of just saying "thank you" and taking the compliment, I launched into a litany of everything that had gone wrong with the performance they'd just seen.

When the person left, an older actor in the cast approached me, having overheard the interaction, and told me it was "bad form" to do what I'd just done, that I should just say "Thank you" and let the audience member go on their way.

And that actor was entirely right - It's rude to, in effect, tell someone who enjoyed your work that they don't know what they're talking about.

When I went online with my drawings, I kind of "hedged my bets" in that regard (Though I didn't think that's what I was doing at the time) - I said (first to myself, then to others) that I was going online with my "imperfect" drawings to get used to the idea of "putting myself out there", regardless of my personal feelings about the work.

And I think that's fine - wait till your acting/writing/drawing/whatever is "good enough", whatever that means, and you'll never end up showing anyone anything - but I think I should have kept that sentiment to myself.

Because it's not your job, as an artist - of any stripe - to tell your audience what they should make of your work.

Your job is to do your best, put yourself "out there", and let the chips fall where they may.

And thus endeth the lesson.

Till next time...


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