Art needs discipline

20 November 2014 Unknown 0 Comments

We had a great discussion after that first post. Thank you all for your comments. I learned a lot about creativity and it helped me solidify things that were nebulous.

Today I want to introduce my understanding of how art plays into creativity and explain why I think it needs discipline to thrive long-term.

Art is lots of fun. No matter what your favorite form of art is, most people describe it as the way that they express themselves. People often say that it's how they relax or that they can only feel like themselves when they are creating something in their chosen form of art.

When I think of art, usually the first thing that comes to mind is painting. I picture a disheveled individual in her attic covered in several colors of paint all over her face and clothes. She's staring at a large canvas in front of her that is itself a smattering of colors. To anyone else, her masterpiece is incomprehensible, but to her it has layers of meaning.

That's a broad generalization, I know. There's so many other forms of art, and not all artists are disheveled attic dwellers. I myself prefer creative writing. In my free time I write scifi/fantasy novels. I feel like I have these stories that are just screaming to be told. But some of these stories are pretty out there or very abstract.

As a side note, I will have some exciting news soon about my creative writing.

Going back to the discussion on art, painting and creative writing are very explorational. The process of creation is not very linear. It wanders back and forth and all around before it reaches a destination. Most artists think each work is never finished. There's always more polishing that could be done. There is no final destination.

Art by itself is a wandering exercise, an exploration. And that's why it needs discipline. Art's desire is to wander forever, searching, perfecting. It never ends and not only that, but where it goes is not always very useful to anyone but the artist (think Picasso). It also is not a very constant activity. By that I mean art happens like waves in the ocean. It flows and ebbs from my experience. It's not something that you can force. It takes time.

But if you add a touch of discipline and direction, you'll end up with masterpieces like just about anything Mozart created, or Brandon Sanderson, or Leonardo, or Pablo Neruda. There are countless other examples of people who were amazing artists whose dogged discipline and hard work led to art that will be remembered for generations.

Art needs discipline to thrive.