Feb 25th 1-2-3: Consume A Lot Of Art
1: Consume A Lot Of Art ( 2 minute read )
Creating great art is a process that can be studied, broken down, and recreated.
My brother and I have both devoted years of our lives to studying art of various forms. In those years, there are certain ‘through lines’ we have noticed across the board. The similarities come from great artists of vastly different art forms.
‘Universal Similarities’ you could call them.
From, Video Game Director Hideo Kojima, to Musical Legend Paul McCartney, from renown author Stephen King, to artist virtuoso Kim Jung Gi.
There are striking, and powerful similarities to all of their creative processes.
The first step in recreating the framework of their processes is, ‘To Consume a Lot of Art’.
Just as ‘we are what we eat’ in a dietary sense, so too are we ‘what we eat’ from a creative standpoint as well. It’s a rather simple observation I made with my brother years ago when we were first delving into learning Music Theory basics. We were playing around with the major scale, and when one of us would ‘find something we liked’ the other would hear it, then mention how it reminded them of some small part of something we frequently listened to.
The observation was, in a more simply laid out form, that what we listened to frequently would frequently spike a pleasure response in our heads when we stumbled upon it on the guitar.
Even more simply it’s really just taking the concept of ‘building your visual, referential library’ that most visual artists use, and reengineering it for whatever art form you work in.
If you want to create GREAT art you MUST consume a LOT of art!
This idea works by giving you plenty to pull from and re-contextualize for your works, by knowing what has been done that has worked; and why?
As well as, knowing what has been done that didn’t work and why?
Fiction legend Stephen King, says that “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
The great Alan Moore talks about this idea of ‘mass artistic consumption’, and he poses that this is great for seeing what has been done that has worked.
And for seeing what has been done and didn’t work... then stealing that idea to do it properly.
Some might draw ire with the concept of stealing art.
Though I must say I find Alan’s approach to be both comical, and widely proven true.
As a good artist imitates, and a great artist steals.
One more thing that Alan says is “You should be able to read trash, great literature, and everything in between. Because if you only read great literature… you’re not getting a broad spectrum of how literature actually works.”
You see, simply consuming a lot of art is an integral part of understanding and creating art.
Here’s an in-short summary of this idea of ‘mass artistic consumption’
Consume a lot of art
Consume a lot of art to understand the mechanics of how your art form works
Consume it to have a large referential library to pull from
Consume it to see what has been done that has worked, and why?
Consume to see what has been done that has not worked, and why?
Steal from what hasn’t worked and find a way to make it work.
Next week I’ll get into Step 2 of how to create art with a similar process as the greats you love.
Step 2 is a fun one and it’s all about Creating art, and how you ought to approach that.
Now go consume some art! Then sit down and make something uniquely YOU!
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. A man is excitedly, solemnly, waiting for his train back home. Is he excited to see his family, and loved ones? Maybe his solemn attitude is due to impatience, and his yearning desire to be with those he loves? Where is he coming from? Why did he have to be away?
II. Personify the overwhelming anxiety that comes from performance anxiety.
3: Inspirational Quotes From Others
I. “I steal from every single movie ever made. If my work has anything, it’s that I’m taking this from this and that from that and mixing them together.”
-Quentin Tarantino, American Filmmaker and Actor
II. “We want you to take from us. We want you, at first, to steal from us, because you can’t steal. You will take what we give you, and you will put it in your own voice, and that’s how you will find your voice.”
-Francis Ford Coppola, American Filmmaker
III. “You need to fill up your visual library. That’s what helps you become a better artist.”
-Kim Jung Gi, Korean Illustrator and Cartoonist
Thank you so much for reading!