One of my favourite episodes of Duckman (spoiler alert by the by) is where it’s discovered that Ajax, the main character’s slightly dimwitted (okay, that’s a bit of an understatement) son turns out to have a talent for writing poetry.
Soon, however, this talent is exploited by a large corporation, who end up paying Duckman vast amounts of money for his son’s works. The only problem is, Ajax isn’t happy. When he was just writing them for fun, he got enjoyment out of it. But now, he’s expected to write poetry about specific things that people seem to want to read about. And that takes away all of the pleasure from it, making the poor child miserable. While Duckman is greedy, selfish and generally a terrible excuse for a father, he notices that something is wrong and asks him what’s the matter. After hearing that Ajax isn’t happy, Duckman promises to sort things out. And, in the end, he gives up all the wealth he’s paid just so that his son can do what makes him feel good. The episode ends with one of his poems being blown away by the wind, and landing next to a couple having a picnic. One of them picks it up and reads it aloud. His date finds it beautiful, and it’s kind of implied that they end up together because of that. In my opinion, that is all you’ll ever need to know about art.
When writing, or singing, or drawing, or expressing yourself in any form, I think it’s always important that you do it for yourself, first and foremost. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks; just do it anyhaps. This might seem like a kind of selfish thing to say, but I don’t see it that way. In fact, to me, ’tis actually the most selfless method of producing art. You could just create something that you know would please the majority, but your heart wouldn’t be in it. You’d be holding back, not channeling your very essence through it. Yes, many will like it, but will anybody love it? Will it change somebody’s life? Will it affect them in ways they cannot properly express through words alone, and thus inspire them to be artists themselves? When writing, I just do it because it makes me happy to create things, to use my imagination, to string words together so that they sound pretty, even if they don’t mean anything. And you see, that in itself gives them meaning. Because I enjoy it. Because it makes me happy. And sometimes, it makes other people happy too. One of the nicest feelings for me is when I write something for myself, and it ends up affecting somebody else. Even if only one other person in the whole universe likes it, then I feel like I’ve created something that has worth, that has value. Through art, I want to make others happy, and to feel something special and important. It’s almost an intimate thing, really, shared between the artist and zir audience. It’s something special.
True that. It’s something I often have to remind myself of. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept that all these characters and scenes were put in my head primarily for my own use. That I’m under no obligation to share them with anyone, even though I occasionally wonder if it’s my life’s purpose to do so.
Nice gravatar btw. 🙂 You should do a post about your favorite beverages.
Some of the best writers never shared their works with others. 😉 Twas only after their death that they were all discovered.
Sharing your art can be good, but it isn’t necessary either. Even if it just makes you happy, that’s enough. 🙂
Thankies. 😀 You know, I might just do that… 😉
Words wouldn’t be enough to express how much I agree. 🙂
😀
Reading this made me happy and reinforced my own beliefs about art. I actually have no respect for artists who create solely for the approval of others. Their art becomes meaningless because they don’t have a personal investment in it. I have always made it clear that I write, create, and sing for myself. Everyone in the world may think I totally suck, but I don’t do any of this for them. I create art to stay psychologically healthy and feel good. A weight is lifted once a creation is sent out into the universe. It’s wonderful when people love what you do, but it’s not necessary.
I can tell that your art is unaffected by the outside and I love that. Your art inspires me not only because it’s quality work, but because I appreciate the honesty you pour into your craft. 😀
Aww thank you! 😀 I think that art should be sincere, and so I try to be as sincere as I can with what I write.
I adore your art too. 😀