Art and Motivations.

I everyone, I have what's probably going to be a lengthy read for anyone that's interested.

To get started, I was on Ye Olde Tumblr when I saw a post from Alieraah, reblogged it and added my own two cents, which seems to be a reprehensible crime on Tumblr. _{(Though I'm not implicating Molly in this, she was a peach about it )} Most every time it's been like "god forbid I take that thing that you took from someone else who took it from someone else who took it fr...etc and add my own thoughts and opinions to it to go on MY blog. But I digress. Here's what I had to say in response to that.

I wasn't sure about making this journal because afterall, its just my opinion, a strong one, and who really gives a shit? I don't expect you to. But after talking to Molly about it I found a point I felt like making in this. I'm afraid that all too many people here specifically do things for the attention and that's just sad.

I'm a firm believer that art at its purist form should be for its own sake, or for the sake of the artist. If you make art for a living, that's cool, I can respect using your skills and passion to pay the bills, good on ya. But for something as fleeting and insincere as "attention" let alone from people on the internet I find contrived and commiserating. I just feel sad for you that you need people's attention that bad.

The main reason I wanted to post this was another thought I had in my conversation, how much do people change or censor their own art for the sake of their followers? How many of you have had an idea and gone "Oh god I can't post that I'd be reamed?" I've seen it here before and still see it all the time. To create art for attention is lame, but to taint your original inspiration for the sake of others I dare say is worse. Here's the preachy part of my journal, you should make your art, your way, for yourself, and fuck what anyone else thinks about it. Its for you, not them. 

My Motivations Are My Own

The reason I have this opinion I think is because of my roots as an "artist" which it took me a little while to consider myself as. My art is my MOCing, plain and simple. I don't really have any other creative outlets at this point. Music has been a dead end road for me so I focused on MOCing. Unlike what seems to be the norm, I was well underway in my MOCing endeavors and had already developed my skills past the super awkward learning phase(which wasn't that difficult for me actually), and the first thing anyone on the internet saw from me was Ryakk. This is where I was at when joining DA and submitting anything. At that point, I had already had Ryakk and many of my other MOCs for about 5 years. That was years of "creating" in a vacuum, doing it solely to keep myself occupied and sane. I did it even though no one gave a shit, not even my family, I did it for me. 6 years later and not much has changed about that, I'm still doing this for me and will continue to do it for me. This is the biggest reason why I loosely consider feedback, but don't take it too seriously, its also why I have a defense for pretty much any criticism anyone has towards my MOCs. There's almost always a reason behind what I do in a given MOC or MOCing situation.

My point here is that I've been following the beat of my own drum for years now as an artist, and it's working for me. Sure, I don't have as many followers here or anywhere as others out there. I'm not the most liked person around, but I've done things on my own terms, and still been relatively successful at it. That to me is worth more than thousands of followers or page views. And I encourage you to do what you do best and on your own terms as well. Be a leader, not a follower I say.

I think the spark to this flame would be this wonderfully executed scene from the Movie Birdman.

This in conjunction with the original post is what inspired me to write this journal. This is really relevant to what I'm trying to say and I think more eloquently makes one of the points I'm trying to make far better than I could ever put into words.

Sharing for others.

Creating art for yourself is one thing, posting it and sharing it is another. I am not without fault, I did for a time fall into being concerned with my standing and stats. I did things and withheld things because of how it would affect my following, then I realized that it didn't matter, people were going to make up their own minds about me or my work, and come and go anyways. So I decided that being true to myself was more important. I just don't feel like people are doing that much here. I see talented artists not post their more obscure or disturbing concepts because what would people think, or focusing on a specific subject just because that's what people respond to. That's especially true in the Bionicle fan community. I'd hate that, if I wanna draw kittens or sculpt something other than dragons, I'd have to, otherwise I'd go crazy and give it up all together. Don't feel trapped by your art, be freed by it. 

I also encourage posting because others care. That like I said is different. I post my MOCs and any other random crap that I come up with because people do enjoy it. I'm still here on DA and the internet MOCing community because I've made some friends here, people do enjoy seeing what I've created and I enjoy sharing what I've created, talking about it, and most of all, seeing other artist's creations as well. Mingling with other artists has been the most influential and rewarding experience for me. I've grown so much as an artist because of this site and Flickr. I don't want to stop doing that at any point in the foreseeable future. Share because other's care, but because you enjoy it to. If posting your artwork is a chore(which it seems to be to some people), then stop. If you can't be arsed to properly present your creation then why are you even posting in the first place?

Gratitude

I don't want to sound ungrateful though. I do really appreciate all the love people have given me for my artwork. I appreciate that you like my artwork, I'm honored anyone's been able to find inspiration from it, even to the point of creating their own versions of things I've done_{(SO MUCH MATTEO FAN ART!)}. This past year has been so rewarding for me, I feel like I'm being recognized at some really professional levels, to see my MOCs be featured and included among some of the best in the world by other AFOLs, that's gratifying as all hell. But at the end of the day, I do what I do for a very very simple reason...to scratch that itch in my brain that won't go away unless I do something creative. I encourage you to create art for the same reason, and not because of the faves, page views, and attention. I believe that should be a byproduct, not your motiviations in creative endeavors. My final piece of advice is this-Scratch the itch, the rest will come naturally.

Conclusion

I may have rambled a bit, I'm not sure if I really made my point clear. Its early in the morning I need to head to bed before work. I just wanted to get these thoughts out on paper so to speak and hear your thoughts and opinions on the matter to. Thanks for reading my sleep deprived nonsense. I'm going to bed now.