The Artistry of Idealism

I love Art; each instance of making, touching, seeing, observing art, is a moment of self discovery. It is law to never leave the house without a sketchbook and pen in my magic school bus sized handbag. Napkins often become canvases in my hands, margins of notebooks are doomed to become doodle zones, and notepads hold short stories, quotes, rough portraits, and reminders of images to recreate. So ingrained into my way of life, Art shapes the way I see the world around me.

In an arguably loony way I am also... artistically detached. You think maybe this is a form of escapism? I do not disagree. But, what's wrong with that? Doesn't a little madness make reality bearable? AND, if not for me, how would you otherwise know you were (more) normal?

Anyway, lets philosophically dive into my way of thinking for a moment.

Best selling author and doctor Deepak Chopra is credited with the following quote: "You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible." Credited as a master of stress-free living and self mastery, Deepak Chopra is also an example of limitlessness, in belief and teachings. With these few words, he makes it clear that infinite possibility exists within us and limits of reality, in convergence with imagination, are individually built and maintained. The place where we each find an unlimited source inside is where we obliterate limits of outer possibility.

Art has always been my key that unlocks that inner source. Learning how to make better art has made me better, too, at life.

101 things to Learn in Art School by Kit White

provides an list of names artistic style, concepts, and technical terms. With a few examples, I'll demonstrate how a few of these numbered tips are also life lessons, cited directly from the book:

12. Perception is a reciprocal action

(Not in the sense that the picture stares back at you in curiosity, analyzing you.) The idea, for art, is that you activate the image by engaging it. A sight must be noticed to be seen. Just so, an art piece be looked upon to have meaning, and the found meaning is a reflection of your looking.

Engagement with the art exposes your point of view. Your frame of reference is made apparent in interaction with differing subject matter.

Deepak Chopra has noted "Our minds influence the key activity of the brain, which then influences everything; perception, cognition, thoughts and feelings, personal relationships; they’re all a projection of you." The way the world around me appears is result not of what I see but of my vision.

Apply this to life how? An evaluation of sight must be conducted before a prescription may be supplied. So, let your sight show you how you see.

38. Complexity derives from the presence of contradiction

Simplification of naturally occurring conflict, especially in pursuit of a more natural state in the appearance of your art, is actually a deviation from nature.

Opposition is as natural as agreeability, just as chaos is as natural as order. 101 Things to Learn in Art School supplements this idea with a drawing of a woman reclining near a building as plain and structurally perfect as she is unique and complex.

Apply this to life how? Be not thrown off by deep, complex, firm challenges to normality. Lean into absurdity as much as reason; understand isolation in simplicity is a deviation from nature, made beautiful by contradiction.

71. The light under which you work affects whatever you do.

Anyone who has ever sketched or painted a still life would know you have to have to be aware of the light source, maintaining its positioning in your piece for a realistic product. Light is a tool to communicate realism. Choices of color, shading, positioning, and even medium are made in respect to the portrayal of light when creating a work.

Light, interpreted figuratively, has enough meaning for a rather intense denotative and connotative analysis. A few meanings: near weightlessness, brightness, a guide and signifier of release from darkness, emotional/physical/spiritual lack of burden, illumination, and all range of clarity to blindness. Light holds any one of these meanings, or all of them.

Apply this to life? How? Figure out what kind of light you have, lack, and need to live, create, and communicate in the way you want.

Your source might differ from mine, but to find it I look for happy laughter, alone time, space to be creative, and the unfiltered and joyous feeling of freedom.

77. The human face is not flat.

A two-dimensional portrait will look cartoonish. Depth - shadows, ridges, wrinkles, dimples, bumps, scars - makes a drawing not only interesting, but believable! This is applicable in all types of artistry. Writing a story with flat characters results in a potentially stellar work suffering from superficiality.

How to apply this to life? Depth mustn't only apply to vividness of imagination, but to expectations in standard human interaction. I find myself happily unsurprised by flaws and exceptionally weird surprises in the people around me. Expectations of multi-dimensionality leave room for forgiveness and the gift of amazement.

86. Objectivity is largely an illusion.

The eye itself is biased. If I told you to explain the process of invisible photons being converted through a series of actions and reactions in the eye and brain to form visions and images.... well, let's just say you absolutely couldn't. The act of seeing is itself the process of creating images from the stimuli we receive and interpret. The world is yours to see, therefore to create. What a great deal of responsibility.

Knowing this, it is clear our realities differ with each of us. If we all painted the same picture, none would be the same, although we would each have the same reference. Just so is every aspect of the world around us.

Einstein described relativity with the example "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." Time can move differently for each of us, just as a force, action, or experience can act upon you differently. We each experience illusions foreign to each other daily. This realization is only jarring if we decide there has to be more order than chaos, or that we have to be able to understand and accept the way of the universe.

The idea? Your world is what you make it. Your life is how you see it. Make it cool and weird and interesting. Find its light. Give it dimension. Disregard everything else.

I wish you well in your artistic endeavors.