Key Takeaways From An Artist’s Life
An artist is somebody engaged in an artistic activity, practicing an artistic art, or producing visual art. The most common use in academic and everyday speech, both personal and professional, refers generally to an artist in the visual arts alone. However, the term can sometimes apply to any one who exhibits, makes, performs, or produces visual art. Some people engage in different activities that would qualify as “art,” such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, music, dance, and theater. But the term “artist” typically includes all these types of artists, regardless of their specific types of activity.
There are four broad categories of art: fine art, portrait paintings, pop art, and abstract art. Fine art usually refers to the art of the Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Victorian periods, and includes works that show aspects of these periods. Portrait paintings are designed to create a visual record of an actual person’s life, from birth to the age and style of clothing. Pop art and abstract art styles that deal with exaggerated or random imagery, and are often characterized by an overuse of colors, shapes, and designs.
Some artists specialize in a particular type of artwork. An example of this is painters who produce only portraits paintings. Still-life artists, on the other hand, make works of art that include elements of the real world, such as plants, flowers, glass, and metal. Still-life artists also commonly deal with figurative painting, which utilizes images like clay sculptures to capture a subject in a still position. Others, like film painters, are involved with photography instead of painting.
An artist employs many different methods to achieve his or her goals, but a common one is to determine what aspect of life a piece of artwork will draw attention to, and then to build around that specific aspect. Achieving aesthetic balance is what gives any work of art for its aesthetic appeal. For example, if a piece of artwork deals largely with the beauty of nature, the artist may choose to include elements from nature to bring more of that natural beauty to the piece. In the same way, if a piece of artwork involves people and their relationships, the artist may include objects from within their daily lives to bring even more relevance to the subject matter.
Becoming a professional artist requires not only talent but also persistence. Often, aspiring artists begin to paint, then to paint more, and then to paint some more, until they reach a point where they have achieved a certain amount of success in their art. Some artists choose to continue on with their work as a hobby, while others pursue their artistic passions as a career. The most successful of these artists usually started out as students of the arts, but through hard work and determination, they have turned their hobby into a successful career.
The secret to becoming an artist includes learning about different art mediums, developing an artistic mindset, working with people, and making art accessible to the public. To be an artist takes work, patience, and perseverance. While there are many key points to become an artist, the main takeaways are that artistic inspiration can come from almost anything, from personal experience to studying architecture or other art forms. When an artist tries to make art relevant to society, it helps to make the public more aware of their surroundings and of the things that inspire them to create.
