All of my life I have been absolutely
fascinated with art. Paintings, statues, everything and anything that an artist
had poured their own blood, sweat, and tears into. When I was little, anytime I
could draw, I WOULD. I’d grab my box of sixty-four crayons, sit down wherever I found
comfortable in my grandpa's house, and I would UNLEASH my inner artist. My creations would range
anywhere from stick figure comics, on the spot mythical creatures, scenes from
movies or games I had just witnessed; Nothing could stop this little boy from
spreading his imagination all over the place.
This is the point where the story
gets kind of sad: I lost it. I lost my love for creating fabulous worlds with
the tips of my color sticks. My stick figure comics became poorly drawn in my eyes.
My mythical creature I would come up with became stupid. I tried desperately to
love my own work, but I HATED it. I saw how people around me could do amazing
things, while I was still in the corner drawing stick people and “Eiknarfs”. My
art teacher (not mentioning any names cough cough Mrs. Newberry) was my worst
critic. She scrutinized any and all of my creations, slowly killing the
beautiful artist that I was. I would draw a horse, she would say the mouth was too
big. I would draw one of my “Eiknarfs”, she would ask me if I was in second
grade. Nothing would please this woman unless it was exactly how she had
picture it, which was almost a polar opposite of what I enjoyed making.
One of my greatest friends I had in
Junior High was a guy names Lorenzo. He was one of the people that was amazing
at drawing that made me second guess my art. He could draw realistic people,
stick figure comics that were twenty times as funny as mine, he could even draw
amazing mythical creatures. Sure it put me down in the dumps seeing how good he
was, but he was also an inspiration. I would strive to draw as well as him,
although it was usually to no avail. We drew so many stick figure comics, and
even though I thought his were far better than mine, he would say mine were
just as good. That right there is how everyone should treat everyone. Instead of
telling someone they’re version is wrong just because it doesn’t match yours,
let them know that they gave their best and that they are amazing human beings.
Life is way too short to demean people all the time, if we had more Lorenzos
in this world, it would be a lot more loving place.
P.S. Even though Lorenzo could draw
hilarious stick figure comics and Mrs. Newberry could draw decent horses, only
I can draw an Eiknarf.
I remember that you used to draw all the time when we were younger! I know we weren't ever super close or anything, but I remember that! I'm sorry that you had to lose you're love for creating art. I know how that is to lose motivation to do something that you once loved. Because of what you said, I'm gonna try to be that type of person that motivates and inspires others rather than bring them down. By the way you're Eiknarf is looks like it belongs in a famous book or a movie or something! I love it!
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog. I am as well losing my love for art because someone else’s critic but I realized that it is MY art and I'll make it how I want to. It was mainly my mom who stopped me from walking away from art; you can say she was my Lorenzo. She’s also kind of a Frankie because she says she can't draw even though i get my artistic abilities from her. The world should definitely have more motivators, I agree. But I think the people who criticize also make us better by allowing us to believe and do what is true to ourselves.
ReplyDeleteReally cool post, Frank. I was never really good at art, and I was cool with other people being better, but I can relate with the part about being put down. People always want to fit you into their molds and reach their standards. But why on Earth should they do that? Especially in art. All you would be getting is a million replicas of the exact same horse. How boring is that?
ReplyDeleteI loved that you recognized a positive influence in your life. People that encourage you to grow without changing you are the best, and you’re totally right! We should pass that on and help others to progress. There’s too much negativity in the world, and that should change.
That's a great life lesson, always respect people's work and applaud them, even if it wasn't the best. Even if it wasn't good, chances are, that it is their best shot. Because who's going to show someone else their work if it wasn't their best work, especially art!? You hear people say that all of us are artists, some of us just keep practicing and get better and better until they are amazing. What if that is true? What if you could have been a better artist than Lorenzo? Maybe the scrutiny of people like Mrs. New berry toward your work just halted that progress toward you becoming an amazing artist? I truly believe that could be possible. I think that if someone never told you your work was bad and criticized it so much, without it being constructive, you really could have been a great artist. Any body can be great at anything. Some people just stop trying because they get made fun of or get put down. If people would stop doing this to kids, who knows what kind of amazingly talented people we could have in this world.
ReplyDeleteThis actually inspired me. I am not an artist at all and I have always colored outside the lines or drawn stick figures. I've always been self-conscious of what others will think of my art work, and like you because I couldn't actually draw anything I made up my own characters(they looked like pieces of toast. After reading this I thought, "Isn't art suppose to be a reflection of me or how I express myself? So it doesn't really matter if it looks good to anyone else."
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