Last night I went to Kiki’s art class. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this art academy out-of-somebody’s-home was very impressive. There were three or four classes running while I was there, one of which had adults in it making me feel guilty for considering myself an “artist.” They asked me what mediums I work in, and I told them “line art.” That sounds better than “comics,” right?
I sat next to her and whipped out Schlock Mercenary character portraits to add to the stack that has to go out with Sandra’s birthday thank-you notes. Each one took about 10 minutes. I finished five during Kiki’s one-hour class, and had time to walk around and look at stuff, too. Kiki’s instructor commented on how quickly I was going. “That’s the difference between art for art and art for money,” I told her. “Art for art can take its time. Art for money has to go FAST.”
And on that note, I’ve got some Schlock to crank out. This buffer won’t rebuild itself.
–Howard
Kiki loved having you there. We’ll have to send you with her again. Perhaps we should even wiggle the budget and pay the school for lessons and the space you take up. You’ll have to decide whether that meets your artistic needs.
Hmmmm … why do I have these odd images of the Picaso version of Schlock running around in my head? Very odd, indeed.
I have odd images of Howard whipping out sketches to pay for the class, like Picasso played by John Lovitz.
I just had this horrific mental image of Kiki from Sluggy Freelance meeting ChibiSchlock on an OvalKwik binge.
Feels pretentious, hmm? I feel the same way sometimes calling myself an engineer. I haven’t had much of the training. In Canada I gather I wouldn’t even be able to call myself one (in any legal sense, e.g. while applying for a job) because I haven’t completed the requisite training and gotten the certification. But to me, it’s not about training so much as how your mind works. Training is important (and I find myself wishing I had more), but there are plenty of people out there with engineering degrees but who are incapable of critical thinking or problem-solving. To me that is the real pretention.
“I’m fat and you’re stupid. But I can go on a diet.” 🙂 I can always knuckle down and get the training, yes?
You’re no less an artist because you don’t do a certain kind of art than a person has to be Bach or Lennon to be a musician. What’s important is the spirit. The talent. The creativity. It may need training and direction to be fully realized, but the talent is what drives it. Skill without talent makes you a draughtsman, not an artist.
(Not that a skilled draughstman isn’t worth his weight in gold. It’s just not what you’re aiming for here. 🙂