Art vs. Commercial Art - We all need to eat

"Creating" is one of the things that characterize an artist, but that term is rather ambiguous. We have the need to bring out what we have into our heart, our mind and our body in a different way. Sometimes people like our works and others don't, as well as we create works that are fantastic for everyone except us ourselves.

The problem raised in this post is that an artist also needs to eat. Based on the fact that everyone needs to pay their bills, rent, mortgage, food, etc., we find the great and terrible obstacle that must be faced by every artist and that is: earn a living with his/her art (it should be clarified that some artists have some styles and make works that are for the taste of almost all audiences, so these lines don't really involve them).

It is quite difficult to make a living with art, at least if we talk about the kind of art that comes out like a whirlwind of our interior and that makes us unique. As this is difficult, then we start working as commercial artists, making illustrations, drawings, pictures, photographs, among other things, that people in general consider nice or pleasant to have at home. People don't usually like to have a dramatic scene hanging on their wall, even when that scene speaks from inside, performs a social or internal criticism or establishes clarity to certain principles. Buyers prefer, in general, to see something that doesn't make them think too much and if it's so that has to take their thoughts to something positive, even if this is inconsequential in fact .

Then we have a great dilemma, we want to earn our living as artists with what produces our intellect and our spirit but we must adapt to the rules of consumption and "create" according to the buyers taste. Are we artists still doing this? Are we betraying ourselves? Is there a limit? Is there a balance between our artwork and our style and what we adapt to sell? Should we separate the type of work we make? I would say that depends on each case, but in general we should separate things.

We shouldn't change completely our style to fit with a fashion or a special buyer. It is our own style, the one we use to narrate and show our creations, the one that gives us an identity. We can't betray ourselves so much. So, how do we deal with it? Well..., let's continue working with our own and personal creations while creating a different line of works that we could call "commercial" but never let other people get confused. Otherwise, art itself is devalued and becomes a simple decoration product or a brand sale, among other things, but it isn't what it should be anymore: "a soul true expression".

I put myself as an example since criticism must begin at home. I have different lines of work, many ..., but I think that few of them really express art, even if some others can be considered like that for the rest of the world.

This is one of my commercial works, even this style can have some heart on it, but it is what it is:

And this is one of my paintings, perhaps it hasn't  so much details as my commercial works but it comes from my soul:

So, what is important here is to separate concepts, areas and works. We have to be conscious about our changes and the reason that leads us to make one or other kind of work. We should not lie to ourselves, our commercial work can be wonderful and even performed with a perfect technique but it's not coming from the original fire that burned our heart when we started with art. 

Nothing better for an artist (at least for those who aren't famous) than earn a living with commercial art but, please, never forget why you started in art, what took you there, what you felt when expressing yourself, in short, do not lose your identity and the way to yourself.

Find your style in photography - 8 - The right place and the right time

Hi friends!, here we are with "Find your style in photography" again, this time with an important tip that is: to be at the right moment at the right place.

As we have already talked about, there are too many photography styles and they all have their relevance. In this case, I imagine that usually happens to us of being specially looking for something that we have in mind and then we suddenly meet a different scene that captures our attention. No matters what we wanted, the composition we tried to work with or the previous idea we had, never let that new an unexpected capture go. We have (and need) to be really open minded with our camera, we never know when we're going to find something that could even be better than what we were looking for. An unexpected rain, a sudden flight of a bird or the feeling shown in a child's eyes.

We are surrounded by surprises and we just have to pay attention and be ready to shoot what comes to us. A good eye is the one that transforms a simple fact of life in an artwork, so don't wait for amazing things since simple ones make the difference sometimes. 

As an example of this, I want to show you Michael Hills' work that higlights for the spontaneity it reflects as if he always knew how to be at the right place at right time. Click on the images to enlarge them and know more about this artist whose works cover a wider variety than the ones shown here below.

When art reflects emotions

Hello friends! Today I want to talk about art, experiences and emotions. I think there is a great variety of artists, they are so varied as people are and, even when experts try to define and put them into categories, sometimes it is very difficult to reduce a style to simple words.

We have reached a point where it seems that art should only reflect those good and simple things of life, as if we had forgotten that we are something more than that, that we are made of experiences, emotions and feelings, and that it is these internal and immaterial issues brought to paper or canvas that really defines us as artists.

I have always admired those who have the ability to show in images what happens inside themselves or inside other people since they have the sensitivity of being able to appreciate things beyond the obvious. Either through colors, elements or lines used, these artists transmit us something different, something that comes from their own inner elaboration and often from their heart. What is an artist but who releases his/her inner questionings through a painting and allows us to see a personal own vision of the world through it? No matter how good you are with a pencil or a brush, if you don't put a little of your heart in what you do you only reproduce the evident.

We have Adina Art's works as an example of this. She, as an artist, offers us her idea about the facts of life showing us that a line is more than a line and that a color is more than that in what seem to be innocent compositions but that lead us to question ourselves about our experiences and feelings, yet without being exempt of great beauty. Adina does not delve into the drama, she uses the symbolic elements and leaves us enough freedom so that we can go further and reach our own conclusions.

I have chosen three of her works to show you, those that have personally been more representative to me, but it would not be fair that you only see these, as her work is more extensive and varied than what I can show in this article. So, I invite you to click on the images to really appreciate the work of this sensitive and great artist.