literature

To Be An Artist

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LunaNoctis's avatar
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Literature Text

1: "Look at these paintings. They're just awful."

2: "That's their vision as an artist. Don't hate, my friend."

1: "Oh I know about being an artist. I know how to draw."

2: "Being able to draw doesn't make you an artist."

1: "Huh?"

2: "You gotta feel it.
You gotta taste it, know it, eat it, breathe it, see it, LIVE it.
You gotta shudder as the colors pour from your veins.
You gotta scrape at the canvas just to understand your vision.
You can't eat - you gotta STARVE!
You gotta lose a loaf of bread for some tubes of paint and fall asleep at your canvas still dressed in yo paint splattered apron.
You gotta get F's because you were too busy daydreaming about what your next project will be.
You gotta get writer's block.
You gotta get artist's block.
You gotta get blocks of your blocks then get blocked some more.
You gotta get drained of inspiration for years then explode with something amazing.
You gotta scramble to the nearest object just to put it down somewhere.
You gotta spray, shake, and vandalize.
You gotta break rules.
You gotta beg for a reaction.
You gotta wake up at 2 am to spew your ideas on paper, on text, on ink-stained skin.
You gotta type til your fingers cramp and burn at the joints.
You gotta double check, triple check, quadruple check, quintuple check, sextuple check, check again then check some more.
You gotta cry salty tears when others walk past you.
You gotta post your name everywhere.
You gotta scream it, sing it,  draw it out like notes on notebook paper.
You gotta skip class.
You gotta look at every blank surface as if it were the start of a new journey.
You gotta show emotions.
You gotta mimic the emotions of your character on your face as you draw.
You gotta adjust, re-adjust, re-re-adjust.
You gotta change the settings.
You gotta create your own light.
You gotta work in pitch black.
You gotta erase, you gotta tear out pages and pages and pages and end up drawing on cardboard.
You gotta play it like the ribcage that protects your heart.
You gotta close your eyes and let your ears do the talking.
You gotta cut, you gotta paste and mend and burn even when it's life threatening.
You gotta spend all yo damn money on it.
You gotta stay up til 4 in the morning just to fill in the lines.
You gotta get laughed at.
You gotta do the laughing.
You gotta stand perfectly still.

And if you don't do all of that then you're no artist. You just draw."
I don't know why, but this would sound better if a black person was saying it. (african american, sorry)

~~~~

This came to me at 2 am and I couldn't sleep until I jotted it all down.

I think we can all agree that there's a difference between drawing or doing an art-related task, and actually BEING an artist. It's like playing games vs. being a GAMER. It's like singing songs vs. being a SINGER. It's like cutting your hair vs. being a HAIR STYLIST. Get my drift?

I tried to incorporate every art form that I could think of, or that I myself have experimented with. Sorry if I missed some - I think making this any longer would be an eyesore however lol.

~~~~~

Btw I know I got the "quadruple, quintuple...etc" part wrong. Stfu lol.

~~~~~~

CRITIQUE FOR WRITTEN REVOLUTION:

Why is it written the way it is?
This peice is meant to be read aloud, and it didn't quite sound right unless it was given a sort of slang to it. I'm not trying to pinpoint the voice anyone uses to read this to any certain "accent" or "character", but without it it certainly lacks a lot of depth. I have mentioned that reading it in an African American sort of...tone(?)...makes it sound better but that's just my opinion, lol. I'm not trying to be racist or particular, there's just...you know...it's like....ahh it's hard to explain lol. But one can use whatever way of speaking they want when reading. It's really up to the reader.

Why are the people only listed as numbers like 1 and 2? Why don't you use names or descriptions of the people?
I want the main focus to be the dialogue of #2. I don't mean to make them seem insignificant, I just don't want people to get too caught up in any background story or details about the people in general. This way, they can use their imagination to fill in who they want 1 and 2 to be, making them easier to relate to.

While reading this, can one understand how it's meant to be read by the way I wrote it? Is the pace too fast? Should I rewrite the way certain lines are written in order to help create a better mood? Can fellow artists relate to this piece at all, and understand the message I'm trying to get across?

Thank you.
© 2010 - 2024 LunaNoctis
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apricotpeach's avatar
Thank you for this it made me so much more motivated!