Tag: art
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The Lingering Feeling of Virtual Worlds
A Brave New World of Images Recently, I did a virtual reality experience about the Titanic. It included: Perhaps you know me by now, but I approach these things the way I would an art exhibit. I am fascinated by the way technology affects us- emotionally, physically, and psychologically. And this Titanic experience reminded me of the all-too-real… Read more
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5 Ways to Calm Down in 1 Minute or Less
Do you ever feel yourself getting wound up and out of control, unable to stop the feeling? For me, I start to grit my teeth, my breathing gets faster, my hands ball into fists, and I have trouble concentrating. In this state, life feels overwhelming and effort seems pointless. But I have learned 5 quick… Read more
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I Had a Great Year, So Why Am I Sad?
When I look back on 2025, so many wonderful things happened. I met someone special, went on exciting adventures, began to express myself, and enjoyed other people expressing themselves too. I should feel great about it. But instead, I am trapped in a feeling of tension and misplacement- like I am not actually able to… Read more
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Book #41- Reflections on “Frankenstein”
Book #41 Frankenstein By Mary Shelley Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a classic that has been on my reading list for a long time, and Halloween felt like the perfect season to read it. Two things struck me about this book: (This post will contain spoilers.) Adapting to Mary Shelley’s Writing Style Since this book was… Read more
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Failure Vs. Mistakes
Did You Make a Mistake or Fail? What if failure wasn’t a sign that you did the wrong thing? Maybe you were doing something incredibly right. Will Gompertz makes an important distinction in his book Think Like an Artist: the difference between failure and mistakes. He explains that a mistake happens when you are wrong. It… Read more
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Book #26- Reflections on “Think Like an Artist”
Book #26 Think Like an Artist By Will Gompertz Lack of Confidence in Creative People It is ironic that a lot of creative people suffer from a lack of confidence and imposter syndrome- since creative fields have some of the lowest standards of entry. You don’t need to pass a test to be a song… Read more
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Believing the Fantasy: Why Realism Still Matters in a CGI World
The Use of Practical & Digital Effects in Film The Lord of the Rings movies are some of the greatest movie masterpieces of all time. The movies were shot at the turn of the 21st century, and relied heavily on practical effects such as using location miniatures, meticulous attention to detail on costumes, body doubles, and forced… Read more
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How Images Shape Us: From Paintings to Deepfakes
Our Emotional Relationship to Technology I am constantly trying to assess and reassess my emotional relationship to technology. Looking at our emotional relationship to technology, I believe, will be a lot like us assessing our emotional relationship to art. This is just the next manifestation of it. I think “our emotional relation to images” will… Read more
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Book #17- Reflections on “Steal Like An Artist”
Book #17 Steal Like An Artist By Austin Kleon This book has been on my TBR list for a long time. I can’t believe how long it has taken me to get around to reading it considering it’s actually pretty short. It has a lot of wisdom in it, though. I wanted to devote this… Read more
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How To Kill Someone Without Ever Killing Them
The Importance of Personal Narrative The English language needs to invent a new word for the act of killing someone without ever killing them. While I was reading the graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman, there is a panel where his father admits to having thrown out Art’s late mother’s journals from the time she… Read more
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Modern-Day Posters
Our Need for Quick Information Before social media, before television, before radio, before even photography was invented there was the humble poster. This was the primary means of disseminating information on a wide scale to the general public. Often, posters need to have maximum visual impact for people walking, biking, driving, or taking public transit.… Read more
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Human Artist vs. Machine Artist
How to Define “Art” in the 21st Century What defines art? How will we define it in this new phase of humanity? Is art created using artificial intelligence considered “art”? Can a photograph generated using AI be compared to a photograph taken by a human? What is the distinction? I am trying to sort out… Read more
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The Blessing and Curse of Influence
The Relationship Between Influence and Originality In his book Drawing For Illustration, author Martin Salisbury talks about the number of artistic influences that modern day illustrators have access to. They are exposed to so much creativity from around the world at the click of a button. This access to information is incredible. Before the internet,… Read more
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A New Way of Looking at the World
Viewing the World With Intention I read Drawing for Illustration by Martin Salisbury fully knowing that I will never become a professional illustrator. I just wanted to know more about it. I really enjoyed the way so many of the artists featured in the book talked about drawing. I could feel their love for their… Read more
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When Curiosity Chooses the Book: Reading Drawing For Illustration
Reading For Curiosity, Not Goals I really enjoyed taking the time to read Drawing For Illustration by Martin Salisbury. I would not say it is a form of artistry that I had previously put much thought into. This book gave me a new appreciation for it. I have started to notice all the illustrations around… Read more
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Book #12- Reflections on “Drawing For Illustration”
Book #12 Drawing For Illustration By Martin Salisbury I have been choosing a lot of art books for my 2025 Reading Challenge, which is to read 52 books in 2025. Although I do occasionally create art, it is more of a hobby. I think one of the reasons that I am hesitant to call myself… Read more
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The Difference Between Subject-Matter and Content
What is a Creative Work Really About? In his book How To Be An Artist, Jerry Saltz makes the distinction between art’s subject matter and its content. The subject matter is what a piece is about, the content is what the piece is about. The subject matter of a painting, for example, might be a… Read more
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Thinking Like a Critic vs. Thinking Like an Artist
Critical vs. Creative Thinking One of my issues that I have with the modern school system is that it teaches students to largely think like a critic. We are taught to dissect things, find the problem and the solution. Creativity doesn’t work like that. Often the questions are open-ended and the answers are subconscious. It… Read more
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Art and Its Relationship to Honesty
“Art is a lie that tells the truth”- Picasso In my latest post, I was talking about Roy Lichtenstein and how he uses exaggeration to make a point. His exaggeration points toward truth, not away from it. It reminds me of the famous Picasso line: “art is a lie that tells the truth”. Exaggeration does… Read more
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An Artistic Exercise
Art That Makes Me Uncomfortable In his book How To Be An Artist, Jerry Saltz suggests to list three artists whose work makes you feel uncomfortable and then list three reasons why you are uncomfortable. Fine, I’ll bite. I’ll do the exercise. I will write about one of those examples in this blog post. The… Read more
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When Does Standardization Benefit Originality?
Finding Creative Opportunity In How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz, he says in order to be creative, don’t just simply mash two distinct art styles together but instead focus on the space in-between these styles. I think this is great advice, not just for art. The modern world is expanding rapidly- socially, technologically,… Read more
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Getting Lost
Originality is Often Romanticized In my latest blog post about the book How To Be An Artist by Jerry Saltz, I talked about straying from the well-worn path. I alluded to some of the pros and cons of doing so. However, I also admit that this is something I am still struggling with. I think… Read more
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Book #11- Reflections on “How To Be An Artist”
Book #11 How To Be An Artist By Jerry Saltz Do You Want a Formulaic or Creative Life? In this book, Saltz is talking about artist Sol LeWitt when he says, “Rigid adherence to formula can trap you in a cul-de-sac….” This resonates quite literally with me. My bachelor’s degree is in mathematics. It is… Read more
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Authentic Self-Expression
Thoughts in Progress I don’t want to get ahead of myself with this post, but I do want to get my thoughts down. All three of the books I have read so far have inspired what I am going to say: The Creative Act by Rick Rubin, The House of My Mother by Shari Franke,… Read more
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Hesitation and Perfectionism
My last two posts have been musings on the book The Creative Act by Rick Rubin. As soon as I clicked “publish” for my latest post about four reasons for my own low creative self-esteem, I realized an incredible irony. I was unsure whether to post it and this hesitancy ironically revealed a fifth reason:… Read more
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Why Do I Have Low Creative Self-Esteem?
I drew this picture the other day but will regularly tell people “I am not an artist”. Sure, I do it as a hobby but I’ve never been formally trained. My general attitude toward my art is a sort of hands-in-my-pockets, playing-with-a-pebble-with-my-shoe sort of aww-schucks self-deprecation. Why? This low self-esteem is a terrible thing as… Read more
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Book #1- Reflections on “The Creative Act”
Book #1 The Creative Act: A Way of Being By Rick Rubin Creative Struggles This was the perfect book to start my 2025 Reading Challenge with. It captures the essence of everything I hope to get from this challenge, which is to increase my inspiration, peace, creativity, and authenticity. This book is so peaceful. I… Read more