THE STATE OF TODAY’S ART: I’m an artist. I do photo-realistic art in colored pencils (after 45 years of doing the same thing on 40 ft. billboards in oil paints). I look around me and see what is CALLED "art" today and I want to cry. To me, art is something composed with some TALENT. One time I saw a guy back a jet up to a large canvas and start the engine while he threw gallons of different colored paints into the jetstream. Then he cut it into one foot squares and sold each for $5,000.00. One time I took an old paint pallet I had used for years (it was a piece of clear plastic), turned it upside down and framed it. Then I entered it in an “art show” and won best of show. I did it just to prove a point. That’s the level of talent in most art today. People like me are called “dinosaurs.” They say if they had wanted a photograph they’d have bought a camera. This is how they con people into buying their "art." The only kind of "art" in this is the "con-art." in convincing people what they do IS real art.
One time NASCAR wanted a cover for the next year’s program at an auto race won the last year by a first year rookie by three inches over two former national champions. They only had a grainy black& white photo of this, which was at the time, the closest finish in the history of NASCAR, and won by a rookie. They needed color. So I used the photo for car positioning and did a colored pencil rendering of it. I even had to call them to learn the color of the lettering on the wall behind the cars (This was before TV covered every NASCAR race). Another time I did pictures of 12 super markets, where photos wouldn't do. I removed power lines, newspaper boxes, fireplugs, parked cars, etc. Something you couldn't do with a camera then. This was what I specialized in: creating photos where none existed, or while removing nonessentials. That takes talent. Most of today’s “art” doesn’t. This cartoon to which I’ve linked tells a lot about today’s “art.” (Sherman’s Lagoon)
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10 comments:
You really are very talented. I hope you feel what a gift that is to you from the Divine Spirit. You must never stop developing it.
Anon: Thank you.
Do you sell your art anywhere or on-line?
Anon: I used to sell to magazines. But I've been too busy to do much of it lately. In fact, I'm not even sure I can still do it since my stroke and bypass surgery. Thanks for your interest.
Do you mean the stroke affected motor control of your hands? If so, doing some art work would be good for establishing new neurological pathways in your brain. Other parts of our brain will take over. The brain is an amazing thing. Playing musical instrumets like violin or piano are also very good for re-programming the brain for motor control. Have you ever play any musical instrument? If so, that would also help. Having been injured by stroke and heart issues your art is even more inportant to you than ever. Don't give up that very central part of yourself.
So do you have any old art work lying around that someone might frame? You could sell those to supplement your income and give enjoyment to others as well. :) Maybe sell them on-line at your website?
Anon: It was a TIA and I don't think it particularly hurt my motor control. The problem is, I'm way too busy doing what I'm doing now to do much art work these days. Yes, I do have a bunch or old art laying around and I COULD frame it and sell some of it if I could find the time and the money to do it. Actually, I use what I do today to stimulate my brain.
Oh, heavens. You can sell your art unframed with no problem. People do that on e-bay all the time. I have even purchased unframed art there and framed myself. People tend to want to frame it to go with their decor, anyway. You can simply roll it in a cylinder mailer and mail it. Selling it framed adds extra weight and thus shipping cost and people would rather use that money to frame it to match their decor.
So what do you have lying a round and what would you want for it? (Hope you don't think I am being annoying....)
Stimulating your brain mentally is definitely a good thing. What I was talking about is stimulating it with repeating movement, like piano, painting, even video games. That establishes new motor-control pathways in the brain that with repetition become permanent.
Anon: Most of what I have is motor sports art mostly from the eighties, in colored pencil. some in black & white. some is mounted, but not framed. some of the mountings have been damaged in various moves. have no way of showing anybody what I have right now, for lack of a scanner, especially of any size at all. I do have some old photos of some of it, if I can find them.
You can put photos on-line at E-bay to show what the designs look like. One photo is free. Additional photos would be free if you host the photos somewhere on line yourself rather than have e-bay host them. For instance, you can upload photos to PhotoBucket for free and then simply paste the location of the photo into your listing on e-bay so e-bay knows where to get it. By now you could list them as "vintage", and describe or point out any damage to mountings. Often the damage to mountings would not be seen once framed and the buyer could do the framing.
Anon: Thanks; if I get some time, I'll do that.
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