PE: The power of context

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A picture is indeed "worth a thousand words", a complex idea can be conveyed with a single still image. This quote also characterizes one of the main goals of visualizations, namely making it possible to absorb large amounts of data quickly. In our perception of artworks we see every day, some get closer to our hearts than others. Imagine a painting, strong and powerful, technique showing an experienced, steady hand, needing nothing but a pair of eyes to enter one's sensitive soul. Are you satisfied with what you see? I wouldn't count on that, but I would be quite sure that after a while your head fills with numerous questions.

On the contrary, your favorite artist publishes their recent work and you, as always, immediately love it. If, however, you would allow your mind a little exercise, you could clearly see that if this work was shown to you at random, under different circumstances and you would not know the author, hardly would it catch your interest for a second.

What is important than, the picture or the context? I will let you decide for yourself, what I intend to mention in this article are a few tips for artists that can hardly understand why their wonderful artworks go around unnoticed. Meanwhile, I strongly hope these will help you on your way to become properly understood and recognized.



:bulletpurple: SIGN IT - In all your creations, you should always use one specific signature, the one that is readable by people. The importance of signing every artwork you make is clear, every time someone sees a piece of art they like, first question asked is "Who is the artist?" The answer needs to be there.

beware of  -  Signature so big and glaring that it puts the picture itself in the corner looks rather ridiculous.

 :bulletpurple:TITLE IT - This is very important, many artists does not bother with titles and their works end up either "untitled" or with numbers as if their creations were cups of coffee. Title says quite a lot about your perception of your own work - giving it a proper name establishes personal attachment, revealing part of its message, thought, idea.

beware of - Offensive and inappropriate titles, numbers, random letters.

:bulletpurple: DATE IT - Especially when the artwork you are presenting was made earlier and your style has developed ever since. By dating your works, you provide your audience a timeline in which they can follow your progress, development of your technique and subjects.

beware of - Providing a false information.

:bulletpurple: EXPLAIN IT - on DeviantArt we have an "artist description" window that gives you enough space for anything you would want to say about the artwork and I suggest you use it. Personally, nothing saddens me more than to see a wonderful artwork with blank and deaf description. Besides artwork commentary, you are welcome to mention your progress, was the work spontaneous or carefully planned, what thoughts command you to work this way, etc.

beware of - Overly long essays, inappropriate phrases but mainly indecent self-criticism - if you truly hate it so much, don't publish it.

:bulletpurple: PLACE IT IN A LARGER CONTEXT - What and who influenced you? What book were you reading, what music were you listening to? What was going on in your personal life? These questions seem to be too much, but often it is exactly a deep personal experience that leads you towards creating something unusual. If you dare to share it, you are on a good way to form a strong connection between your artworks and your audience.

beware of - Listing numerous insignificant events or publishing inside jokes nobody but you understands.

:bulletpurple: LIST THE INGREDIENTS - Techniques you've used shouldn't under no circumstances remain a mystery, make it transparent, list your tools consistently. Not only you will help starting artists and students by pointing them to the right direction towards a specific technique, but you will most likely avoid suspicions regarding origin of your artwork.

beware of - There is no need to list 20 graphite pencils you've used in your sketch one by one, your eraser or a tissue. As with everything, stick to the point.

:bulletpurple: BE - THERE - Publish your works continuously, give it time, be open for discussion and opinions. Write personal journals from time to time, if you like. People will start perceiving your work in a context of yourself, your thoughts and circumstances in which you create. Remember that a "familiar thing" is always seen differently than an unknown picture out of context.

beware of - Overdoing it.




What is your perception of thoughts mentioned in this article? How do you go around giving your artworks a title? Do you have a habit of publishing continuously or keep your art to yourself?


Write your thoughts in the comments below :heart:

:frail:



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© 2013 - 2024 jane-beata
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Pascua-Tanya's avatar
Bullet; Pink What is your perception of thoughts mentioned in this article?

Many things explained in the article are very successful and it is important for we as artists that this was considered. In Traditional Arts (and in any kind of art in general) is much more important our creative process, the development new artistic proposals that the result itself ... art only can learned at seeing art from other artists, investigate in depth those that are of our interest (to learn how have worked with color, shape ... all those elements of the plastic language, together with materials, techniques and themes of the work), of which their work helps us as inspiration to open new possibilities in our art ... not copying to those artists, but to go beyond what they have done and develop our own art. We can learn a lot during this process and this is how we can transcend as an artists, so it is important that other people, especially new artists can know our artistic and creative process and what this has led, to serve as inspiration and support for your own process. Many artists in history has been inspired by contemporary artists to them (my teachers say it is even better study to the artists of the XX and XXI centuries, they have much more to contribute to our creative process) or of previous times for his work. In schools and colleges of Arts you can learn techniques and general "rules", but all your creative process (research, experimentation, etc.) depends on you and only you :)

We learn art not only looking at the work of another artist (and we must also know how to LOOK, which is visual analysis of the pictorial and the significance of the work), also investigating the artist through books, magazines and websites. It's much nicer when an artist of here shares as has been the process by creating this work and says the necessary in the comment as an artist, because that is very important ^^

Bullet; Pink How do you go around giving your artworks a title?

I always put a title to my work. There will always depend on something that is in the work, especially if it is figurative ... in the case of an abstract work, the title may refer to the color in it, some recognizable form or simply no specific title

Bullet; Pink Do you have a habit of publishing continuously or keep your art to yourself?

Fan Art is what I have published more frequently and Traditional Arts very little, although I have some work I have done during my studies of art (even currently studying). However, it's something I want to change so that people can see the original work I've done and deepen my own creative process, because even I have many things to learn. Artists such as Kandinsky, Robert Delaunay, the Impressionists ... have captured my interest and are good inspiration for me. In fact, my main interest is in abstract art and those artistic movements where artists decided to experiment with his work to open these roads for future generations, rather than abide by the "academic art" as was in previous centuries. No, art is now more free and experimental, that's what I like of art :)