The Best Lesson...

I tend to agree with you.

There really is some incredible work showcased on FAA. Easy to spend hours just browsing at it all. Even better when you can come to this forum and chat with the very talented artists to get insight into their creative process. What a privilege we have here!

I so agree.. I cannot tell you how empowering this is!

Dead right Diana. One great thing about the Internet - you can find work and artists of all kinds. Looking, looking, looking - and doing.

I do it regularly, the medium doesn't matter. I'm always looking to be inspired by someone else's talent, then it's off to the races to create my own.

Lovely thoughts, dare I say, 'inspired'...and inspiring........I do so agree, and it's nice to add my thoughts to yours...........Cheers, Vivian

right at ya, all! And for me, it is not at all about trying to get votes or faves on here at FAA... that is total nonsense to me. If I comment on your works, it is because I genuinely like your work... I am not looking for ridiculous promotions, etc....

I'm with you there, Diana. I've probably learned more from this site, from the generosity of other members, and from viewing others' work than from anywhere. I've stopped participating in group promotions for a while (never did much, anyway), because I really want to sit back and evaluate my own work with a more critical eye, rather than get all puffed up at the compliments one gets when participating. And I don't comment any more unless something grabs me in such a way that I can't help but say something, lol.

Vivian, nice to see you here again! I totally agree, also, Mario, that it doesn't matter what medium it is that we find inspiring -- it's all good.

for anyone who is new here, they are all talking about my work.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com


:)

I agree... I often look at others work on here in amazement. I feel like there are so many artist here to learn from. I am new to the photography in general and love the tips I get from others on FAA.

I endlessly look at other folks living and dead artworks.

Endlessly. Love it.

Dave

It can get discouraging at times, though. When I look at some of the beautiful photography on this site and compare it to my own, it often makes me wonder why I bother... :(

I buy quite a lot of books, preferring something solid in my hands and in print to internet images. I still look at the work of other artists online though, because not everyone has books behind them and there are some exceptionally talented people out there. It's all a great source of inspiration.

Jane - I think it's easy to become disheartened at times if you find someone's work that you aspire to. It can either push you forward or pull you down. I've always maintained the forward option as a preference if I want my photography to improve :)

I agree. You can't expect to sell art unless you are a buyer yourself - buying books, looking, buying museum tickets, going to galleries, being out in the world exploring and seeing.

You're right, Dave. A bit more positive thinking is required. I have to tell myself that I'm not in competition with others, rather that I'm trying to do the best I can for my own satisfaction.

I didn't see your comment, Edward, because you posted while I was typing. When you say, "You can't expect to sell art unless you are a buyer yourself ", do you mean that you can't expect to sell unless you know what other people are buying? That could be even more discouraging - it sounds as if you can't expect to sell unless you offer the same sort of thing as everybody else. I really don't want to do that. I want to do things my way and hope to be found by someone with similar tastes.

Indeed!

We're the first generation of artists to ever have this unprecedented opportunity. Because of the boundless potential of the Internet, we are no longer stuck in our lonely garrets, creating in a vacuum.

We can learn anything that catches our interest -- sometimes, directly from our contemporaries.
We can see the work of artists from every era and movement.
We can exhibit and sell our work to a worldwide audience -- all without setting foot outside (if we choose not to).

Even when concerned about sales -- or lack of such -- I remind myself that because I live in this technological time, I've already achieved greater success than the majority of artists who have ever lived! It's truly mind-bogging -- and very humbling. :-)

You're absolutely right, Diana -- I was a writer l-o-n-g before developing any real interest in art. It was the amazing, brilliant, books I read that made me want to write. It still is. :-)

FAA is a great resource that also motivates me constantly,...to try and improve,..to do better on each of my next images.

There's much talent here on FAA that is so well done and inspiring,.....at times I feel like starting over again from scratch.

As a result I've grown in the short time I've been here,...I've gone back and deleted particular pieces that I now see fell short of what I expect of myself.

It's a constant learning experience.

Wonderful post Diana.

There are times when I want to study and see others work and times when I don't want to see any other work. I just want to dig deeper into some focused study of my own. I lived the artists loft life in NYC for a time and at one point stopped going to the galleries. It's became a distraction. It took me several years to feel i wanted outside stimulus. Does that seem strange.

I learn and grow more by actively producing work than looking at others efforts. So the more I produce the better.

So true Diana! I have learned so much about marketing and tips on photography from this forum, and browsing other's work!

David Randall, you are bringing up an important or key point in this discussion. I agree completely. In order to have original type work, it's best at times to get away and retreat to a place without distractions.

I went to an art show this morning and it was wonderful, but my art doesn't look anything like the amazing artists that I just saw. I don't even want to compare, I just want to study the path that I'm headed on without the comparison or competitive elements.

Never compare -- no good can come of that! :-)

Here are two artists on FAA who have, so far, caused a significant creative impetus for me at one time or another:

* Dan Turner - caused the re-evaluation of my attitude towards copyright, which led to an interest in doing transformative digital art.
* Marlene Burns - by merely posting an image of one of her hand-painted abstracts, led me onto a tangent to create better quality digital abstracts, using my insight from Dan T. on transformation too.

Two unlikely characters, whom I have seen at odds with one another in this forum, somehow had a collective influence on me, just because I looked at their work.

There are others whom I tune into, but I can clearly trace some of my strongest efforts to those two specifically, ... so far.

Don't get me wrong, I feel no obligation to agree with every thing that these two might write here. In fact, I feel comfortable disagreeing with them on certain points. But I also have to give credit where credit is due. I find myself agreeing with many things they write about, but if I have a different view, then I will NOT hold back because of those positive contributions that I attribute to them.

So, ... I just did a "name and blame" thing, ... "blaming" two people that I named for having a positive influence on moi. (^_^)

Robert, I don't think there's a forum rule to cover that. ;-)