The Importance Of Learning To Use Language For Visual Artists

I am noun gonna larn to youse the verb-al rite for Art's Sake. Yeah, im-spired. Ain't this jest impressive eloquwent?

***

Seriously, the school systems that most of us were required by law to attend did not require us to learn English merely as an employment program for teachers. We were taught English because in English-speaking countries, we are expected to be able to express ourselves competently.

The same principle applies to learning to use the language competently in non-English speaking countries.

So, this is now a discussion about discussing. I love it.

I really do not have a feel for how young people are taught grammar today, but I, like many, was taught with a fair degree of strictness. Then, in college English, I was demolished by an even greater wisdom revealing that all I had learned in elementary school was fluffy rubbish, and real writing involved so much more, ... even breaking rules creatively sometimes.

I've been complimented on my writing , and was actually offered a Job at the magazine I was featured in this past January, However....my Grammar is horrid. I am good at story telling (and am a chatter box in my day to day life) I'm fairly good at articulating on paper and creating entertaining reads but not so good at editing them.

The gift of gab is genetic and runs in the family.........Also in High School I did a module on creating my portfolio for University (which in the end I never went to) but in the module with every drawing we were required to write an essay ......or I guess I should say a descriptive summary on the work. I believe it helped me in the long run.......but Grammar.....Now that is what I need to practice.

I agree Robert language is important when being an Artist

Well done on the new thread. I'm looking forward to seeing good writing and perhaps even some help for people having bio issues.

Sheena P.,

Surprisingly, perfect grammar is not always the key to effective writing. Some people can present very entertaining reads that violate almost every formal rule that you were taught.

The artist, J. Smithline, whose bio I brought up in another post is a prime example. I learned from this guy just by interacting with him regularly on another artist forum years ago. His life experiences, his sense of humor, his on-the-edge appearance of sanity/insanity somehow all came together in these brilliant, often hilarious, short posts that had a greater impact than some of the finest formal writing that I have ever seen. He just had a touch. I think it was genetic. It violated everything, yet exceeded it. Oh, and his visual art was exceptional too.

Robert This artist you speak of sounds like a powerhouse....perfect package...good art and the ability to entertain = Success, in my opinion. "Followers" and fans would eat it up. Being relateable ...candid, fun and at times just honest and transparent yet professional ..... having good artwork to go with it...just can't be beat.

I find I get a better response from my art fans when I am able to write something with my posts...... but not too long, keep it short and not overdone...I believe it has worked to my advantage and also has made them feel like they "know" me...which in return has generated some hardcore loyal fans. Now the key is to keep them. I actually found one lady blogging about me......it was humbling, but intimidating.

I now am working on another Magazine article that will be out this October ... I am having a bit of writers block trying to stay true to my personality and my biggest fear is boring the readers....I want it to to read as if they are just having a conversation with me...not fact after fact "colored pencils blah blah blahhhhhhhhh"........I dont want to portray that I take myself too seriously but still want to be processional....This isn't my first publication but every time I receive an invitation I still get nervous and it's still is quite surreal to me.

I Agree Abbie...A Brilliant choice of Thread.......

Edit: When I was younger I would have never considered that I would be invited to write in Magazines......not only to have my artwork featured in them but to have to write for them too!!! (Yikes intimidating)

I never considered English class to go hand in hand with my Art studies and yet here I am today being asked to write for a Magazine about my art and techniques......who would of thought!......... A perfect example of how Language is important when being an artist.

Well, it's a discussion forum -- language is important. The proper use of words allows you to be understood. It's not a "Google" thing, it's a human to human connection thing, which is the best connection to make. If you write to communicate with people, Google will find you with no problem.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Robert,
this was the subject of my Masters thesis...oh so many years ago in 1971.

Artists still hide behind that poor rationalization, " I'm visual."

This conversation reminds me of something one of my design professors said....he told us that instead of being called graphic designers we should be called "visual communicators." I loved this because I had always excelled in Language Arts and now I understood that design and language were tied together.

We are all communicating all the time. How we say it--both with words and images--is just as important as what we are trying to say.

As an aside, one of my favorite non-art-related jobs I ever had was proofreader and copy editor for a magazine.

For Me,

It takes so long to form a simple sentence, it seems to ,on it's own, go from present to past tense.

Wanting to be concise yet clear, deciding when to add or remove a particular modifier becomes an ordeal. ( I just added "particular").

Moving phrases from one part of a sentence to another, and back again, and reading the sentence aloud each and every time, to find that "perfectly constructed" sentence seems to always turn out to be a futile goal.

SYNTAX!!, SYNTAX!!, SYNTAX!!

And when I finally submit my pithy comments, the discussions have usually gone on to new directions, making my bon mots irrelevant.

So it goes.

And I agree what R Allen said

Whether in a discussion thread here, in a comment on someone's image, or in a personal email, I try to always re-read my entire content at least once before I hit "post" or "send". Do I "catch" everything I'd like to? Of course not. But I do catch a lot of errors that would have bothered me later, some more than others.

Editing already (see!): Tone is as much what I look for when I re-read as anything else. Soooo easy to be misunderstood . . .

Less words, clearer message I always say.

I also used to make my living proofreading, writing, editing, etc. and then added the graphic involvement when I had an ad agency. I still quite enjoy writing. I try to make my descriptions enjoyable as an adjunct to the image. So, yes, Valerie, we are now visual communicators.

Anything important that I write I go to my sister to have her edit it.

All else gets a good once or twice over. I am getting to be a bit of a better writer.

Dave

I am a writer, technical, instructional and fictional. But I still am not sure the best kinds of descriptions to put on pictures. What do people want to know about the work they buy? Sometimes I'm afraid to give too much of a backstory. I think that the picture might have attracted someone because of an emotion or memory it invokes and the backstory might interfere with that.


I'd love to see someone analyze pictures that sell to see what they have in common. In theme, treatment, descriptions, keywords, even titles. Of course the outside advertising and personal relationships of the artist with their buyers would badly skew the results. I guess to see the results of words, a variety of people would have to post the same picture but change the words. And agree not to advertise? There's probably no way to do it....

I thank my lucky stars that I learned to write advertising copy before the internet came along. Space was limited and every word had to count. Great writers understand elegance.

Winston Churchill: “Pray state, this day, on one side of a sheet of paper, how the Royal navy is being adapted to meet the conditions of modern warfare.”

Nicolas Boileau: "Of every four words I write, I strike out three."

Mark Haddon: "Most of my work consisted of crossing out. Crossing out was the secret of all good writing."

T. S. Eliot: "Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers."


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

T S Eliot. Very wise. Very wise.

What you write David does grab attention, and is individual - and everything can get slightly uniform and a bit samey if we all conform to "good" writing! I agree with Nikolyn - it isss soooo easy to be misunderstood, everything has a multitude of meanings esp in a 2-d environment, how we express ourselves is limited by words. indeed. (chuckle, LOL) the body posture, smile, grin, dagger looks, tone, dont come across or perhaps do when they shouldn't... perhaps the piss off attitude applies too, i must say. i mean stfu is really funny. sometimes. Quite frankly i just come on to enjoy the fun and digs and the other stuff.... when im in the mood. If you have an outragious personality on these threads, as long as no one is too greatly offended and you have something to say, you might as well say it in (edit: your) words or pictures. I was down the tranquil canals and the grafitti art was awesome! Do you need 2 people to discuss or can you discuss with yourself... i mean what makes a discussion... a good discussion... assertions are somewhat the end points of some discussion, with one's self or others... and of course.. the start point of others....

I'm so unread, it's embarrassing (I don't pretend otherwise), i need to read more, but i'd just forget to wroite anything, worthwhile or otherwise.. T S Elliot sounds like a sound name to explore one day...


edit: Not too sure i personally would 100% agree with the words implying everyone else is a failure if they are not highly successful, i'd contrast overwhelmingly succesful - those few that accounts for 0.001% of the human race to the 99.999% of the human race make that someone succesful, and strive for their own personal success in what ever form - otherwise its just words, pictures, nothing more, sitting there, on a page, on a wall, nothing else. artist plus art plus the observer, writer plus words plus reader make the work complete and that is all. Ive had people say in casual pub conversation, "I know what goood art is, its Loenardo DaVinci. Its all crap these days". And that was that. "This is my fav painter, he/she is good, you should all paint like him/her". i guess we should write like him/her too. I think we all know that 1 in a billion is very exceptional... Hardly a true gauge to success or failure. And money suceess - suree, if you got the money, made it, big congratulations! but sincerely, dont spit in the wind as they say :-) . I listened to a short doc on JK Rowling turnd down by everyone, publishers and agents, til she got offered £2000 total for her first 2 volumes by a start up (excl US rights).. she could so easily have been a fail... but then i guess she proved, by far, she wasn't!!

They used to say a picture was worth a thousand words and your words should paint a picture...Google sure messed that all up!

My belief is that we all tend to forget that the, picture came first. By that I mean humanity started with pictures and over time turned some of them into symbols and letters then finally into words and finally written language. Everything starts with the images. Sometimes a word may become a picture but I think that is more an interplay of different mediums thing. Two different forms are interacting.

The admitted hostility I sometimes have is for visual art that requires a written explanation for anyone to, "get it." If it makes one think maybe it's valid. I'm open to the idea. However when I'm looking at art I almost never read the, "explanations" for it unless it is extraordinary visually. I believe one day the, "Google" search will become more visual and no longer require the verbal as it does now. We may have to await something more sophisticated for that. For now we must cope with things as they are.

For those of us who believe in the creator, He spoke the world into creation.
From my perspective, words came first.

In a more generic vein, anyone who doesn't believe words have tremendous power, think about someone who hurt you with their words....10,20 30 years ago....do you recall what they said?

We write frankly and fearlessly but then we "modify" before we print.
- Life on the Mississippi
Mark Twain

Anyone who truly believes words don't matter, aren't needed or don't count, needs to watch this video, just posted by Dorothy:
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2658361&targetid=2658396#2658396

Marlene,

Possibly visualized before He, "spoke" I believe, but that's all speculation. It depends on whether you believe, "spoke" literal or metaphorical.

Speaking from personal experience language has played a large role in what now I can actually call my profession.....
I want my artwork to "speak" for itself however when its my turn to "speak" I have had to be able to articulate to my audience in such a way that they respond positively. I wouldn't want to taint the art with bad language skills......but the art also has to stand on its own first.

I would have never considered a magazine asking me to explain my techniques my likes and dislikes and endorse certain products for all to see, being a guide to others....
The art has spoken for itself.....now its my turn to "speak"......fingers crossed.

Religious topics are not allowed, therefore, I cannot respond to you, David.

Words certainly matter

But at times can stultify.

When objects don't exist unless a word is given to the objects

An experiment I've related before, was conducted a number of years ago:


1. A group of Australian children, with European heritage were asked to memorize the placement of familiar objects

They were presented with a board that had 36 squares (6 across and 6 down)

On each square there was a familiar object (coin, key, dice, etc)

The kids were asked to study the objects...One could hear them verbalized the names.

The objects were removed..and the kids were asked to replace the items.

They got about 25% right.


2. A group of Aboriginal children were asked to do the same thing

They were silent and got over 75% right.


3. Now, all the squares were replaced by stones

The European kids could Not get any right,

The Aboriginal kids still got 75% right

Words are my superpower. It's a facet of my personality that I am really proud of.

From early on, I had a very powerful imagination. I could see things in clouds that no one else saw. Complex ideas became pictures in my head and then turned back into words as I expressed my experiences to other people. People I talk to at gallery openings and in other situations (job interviews, for example) have always commented on my ability to turn a phrase.

I have told my Stepson, who is going into college this year, that developing a good vocabulary and an easy way with the language will be one of the best gifts he can ever give himself.

Now that I'm an artist, I frequently find myself explaining my ideas and motivations for specific images to other people. I have found that if you can do that well, you engage people further in your work. If you can tell them why you made something in a way that they can grasp, they take a little ownership of that image. They're connected to it in a more intimate way than a person who is just walking by looking at it. Having a command of language and the confidence to wield it with little flair and a lot of clarity enables you to truly communicate with people.

True communication opens doors not just to appreciation, but to relationship. And that's what art is all about.

AMEN, Cynthia.
Your work here is done ;)

Chicken or the egg?

You will have to have more eggs than chickens...he says glibly.


I do not see this whole debate as an either/or.

Words have never failed me, but I work on visual images. Two different languages.

I am in a way multilingual.

Dave

no one is saying either or.
If an artist doesn't produce something visual, what exactly would need a verbal adjunct?
Their coexistence creates the strength.

Ooops! Kind of too bad but I understand the no politics or religion thought. So we can paint the religious and spiritual but not speak of it or converse about it. Interesting. It must be tough for those making religious themed work. Not too uncommon. Oh well, lets be PC.

Look, I don't think verbal or written explanation wrong or that it isn't useful. I agree with Sheena that the work must stand on it's own however. I don't wish to wax eloquent on stick figure drawings. The words to me are more often advertising, explanatory, judge-mental and ancillary. Do I wish to sell? Sure. The words seem many times a silent sales pitch. Powerful for that and of course because we can not talk face to face it's all we have on FAA. The words critique, limit and judge more than assist the visual presentation for me despite the obvious value in a call to action and selling. The words for me sometimes overshadow the work because the work is not up to snuff. Again this is just my opinion.

Cynthia, I agree with you on that. I'm sure you will always sell and maybe communicate better than many others. The conversation is important yet if the images are poor, the idea is not be well conveyed, well then you can leave out the picture and just talk about it. Would you still make your work if that were true?

I see the words as something of a necessary evil.

Just some rambling thoughts.

Words can in fact help sell in a big way......

The description:

I changed the title of this piece after a wonderful dream I had. While I have had my share of romantic dreams this one was different. In this dream I was in my later years walking with my true love. I don't know if the couple actually in this image were high school sweethearts or they had taken many detours before the found each other but regardless if life's path is a straight line or a somewhat more complicated and circuitous route, they are exactly where they are supposed to be and at this point in my life; so am I.

The image is OK, the description in theory draws you into the image. In reality it has sold and sold large a few times so something works.



Perhaps it is both personally meaningful AND a way to draw in the viewer. (actually, so was the above.)

I am a retired Air Force officer but have always had a special respect for Marines, all Marines. No other branch of the military is quite as proud of their particular service as the Marines are. Regardless if you served briefly or retired at 30 years as a Gunny, once a Marine, Always a Marine.

The Marine Corps Emblem is steep in history. This particular emblem was shot against the background of my father-in-law's flag. He was Marine Recon in the Korean War and while his time in the Corps was brief it left a lasting impression on him. He proudly wore a US Marine hat every day until the day he died.

Semper Fi



Perhaps the words might just be a way of amusing myself......

So like, I used to be like you man, a total corporate grey suit zombie man.....
I lived in in this place on Fifth Avenue and was all set to marry this hot lady spider. On the night of my bachelor party we were partying in the Village and I ended up passing out in this Birkenstock Hostel place man..... Well I woke up to this hippie sticking his toes into my room so I bit him and whooooooaaaaaa. Like my whole life changed. All eight of my eyes were actually opened for the first time mannnnn, Life is not tones of grey and black but is psychedelic! Now I live in a commune. Fight the man, go GREEN and peace out......



Or.....

For you nonbelievers out there this should be proof enough that the legendary Bigfoot does indeed exist.

I became interested in Bigfoot when I was ten and saw a picture of the legendary beast in a Peterson's magazine. Later I had heard rumors that Bigfoot had been seen around Mobile Alabama and was still in the area. Well let me tell you I jumped in my own 4x4 and drove straight to Mobile! There he was, Bigfoot. My gosh the howls that came from the beast when he ran. For those that have never seen Bigfoot let me tell you he is HUGE in real life. He ran over six cars when I saw him and destroyed them all. If you still don't believe that he exists there is a whole family of Bigfoots, (or is it Bigfeet?) that live right by the interstate in suburban St Louis. I have SEEN them; trust me.

Now, when I first saw Bigfoot he was blue but age has away of turning our hair gray and when talking about monster trucks it is more of a rust color that seems to prevail as they age.

Is this the legendary Bigfoot that I once saw at a tractor pull in Mobile Alabama? I can't say for sure but it should certainly settle the argument of whether such monster trucks actually exist or not!

Yes,
david, it is tough....the most I can do is have accompanying texts in the description, explaining the religious implications, the translations and my interpretation as an artist.

Lots of good words here.

Next, a question: Why do a number of visual artists seem to resent words? Postmodern art? Dadaism? ... or is it something more basic?

I'd say a lot of resentment comes from one's own insecurities or abilities to use them
"command of language" is a powerful and meaningful phrase.

My grammar ain't always perfect so I shouldn't be pointing fingers BUT what horrifies me is when certain adults here continually use "sell" when they mean "sale". Have no idea why that particular mistake makes me crazy but it does.

When I look at posts on other sites (Craigslist, comments to stories on news sites, etc.) I am appalled by the atrocious spelling and grammar. Is our school system just churning out hordes of people who don't know how to construct a sentence? I recently read posts by a preschool teacher here and it scared me to think that she is educating children. Aren't teachers in this country required to pass a basic literacy test before earning their degree?

Speaking of which, I made a sell just this morning.

buahahahahahahahahahahaha

" The conversation is important yet if the images are poor, the idea is not be well conveyed, well then you can leave out the picture and just talk about it."

That is the difference between defending your work and illuminating it. I find that those with poor quality artwork spend more time on the former and less on the latter. The former never leads to true communication, the latter frequently does.

I'm one of those people that thinks truly good artwork should never require description. It's like a joke, if you have to explain it then it wasn't funny to start with. I do think that all artwork can make a better connection if the creator is able to shine a light that lets the viewer see the work in a different way, a more connected way.



Me personally, my descriptions are usually short and sweet, mostly because I think of my images as beginnings of stories. I just like to share the idea or the moment that inspired the image and let my viewers fill in the rest. However if I'm asked in person, I usually have my version of the story to share. I love hearing the thoughts of others before I tell them my thoughts, people always surprise me, they have the best ideas and interpretations!

"I'm one of those people that thinks truly good artwork should never require description. It's like a joke, if you have to explain it then it wasn't funny to start with."

Exactly. As an artist specializing in abstract I am loath to write flowery descriptions of what the art is supposed to mean. That kills the interaction with the viewer. Good abstracts invite the viewers interpretation and involvement. Their descriptions are often far more involved than anything I put into the art. That's a huge payoff.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Yes, but this isn't only referring to describing our work this thread is about language as a whole. It's about language going hand in hand with being an artist. ....
The artwork should stand on its own all I am interpreting that some are saying here is that they believe the description can be beneficial.

Setting aside the subject of describing our work which is only a part of what I believe this thread is about. Language and communication as an artist has proven to be an important part of my Job. Responding to commission and licensing requests, generating artwork posts and effective social media interaction, writing magazine articles about myself and my work as well as communicating in interviews when being featured are all things I have had to do. Describing artwork is just a small piece of the pie.......lets say I never described my drawings for anyone I still would have to use language in other ways. This isn't just about describing a piece of art.

"This isn't just about describing a piece of art."

Not at all. Language skills in every area are vital. Language is like music -- the space between the notes is critical. What you leave out is every bit as important as what you say.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Oh, Kathleen....you and I could start our own thread about all of that!

Re: Describing / Illuminating / Defending a work of art with words

If one is presenting a new way of seeing things , wouldn't that require a new way of saying things?

Edit:
At times during the early years of hustling, having free weekend., I would contact promoters, at the last minute, to do their shows...Saying that I created "Vulture Sculptures from scavenged natural matter"...When pushed to go further in the description I refused.. Saying that if words were able to get you to comprehend what I actually did,and not what you just may picture I do, then doing it is fruitless....Why bother??

As an artist specializing in abstract I am loath to write flowery descriptions of what the art is supposed to mean.

I'm totally with you on that one. I might describe a little about how I did it, but flowery descriptions? ... nope, not gonna do 'em.

If I were a pee painter, I might describe the fact that I peed green as a result of how I conditioned my fluid intake for the day, but I would not go all deep and meaningful on peeing green. My description, in this case, might actually take away from the viewer's experience of it, so maybe, in this case, I would say nothing about pee, since the fluid dynamic forms of that particular session might have been particularly elegant, which we do not usually associate with bathroom habits. (^_^)

Robert,

Re: Pee Painting

YOU'RE IN a form of art, I have no desire to delve into.

Does anyone understands Art and music is a universal language. There is a reason for that. It speaks itself. language is optional.
if you speak more than one language which should I use for this site. I know this is a dumb question. The FAA is viewed by many different countries.
Are you only interested in English speaking viewers? Those wanting to market?

Maybe I create my bio and story about my work to english, and Korean, french, german I think I might have to learn more languages to cover other countries. Many do speak English but I am not sure if they are good enough to understand my artistic views

Roger S.,

I am NOT into pee painting. I was merely presenting an example, using myself as a puppet in the example. I have no real interests in urinary artifacts, since I have already pissed away enough of my life as it is.(^_^)

Hoye S.,

You bring up a really good point, ... one that makes me feel globally inadequate. It has taken me decades to master English as well as I have. I just do not think that a human life span allows enough time to get this sort of mastery in multiple languages, unless you choose languages as a life pursuit. Then where would I find time for art?

We have to assume that the language in which a website is written is the language necessary for using THAT website's DISCUSSION forum.

I do not really believe that visual art and music are universal languages. I believe that they have universal appeals that exceed language. They can never replace or substitute for language. Calling them languages is a metaphor.

one thing i have noticed about the relation of words of aesthetic justification i call it or perhaps perchance just art talk about a picture/painting is in the interpretations of the authors of artbooks who critique/interpret the picture/image/painting. i have the art book open infront of me on the page with say the image conveyed on the left side of the book and the words of critique by the art author on the other and i swear that in some of the descriptions and interpretation of the work by the author i wonder whether they have even inspected the painting revealed just on the other page. i swear i remeber or alas i can't actually bring to mind or the jury any solid instances of evidence to show and tell. good god i think i'm waffling.
a movy i love one of my most favourite seven degrees of seperation which was also turned into a play and putinto another medium as well i think it began as a play then moved into movie and i'm not sure if it was originally from short story first in provenance any the main characters were art dealers based in new york. they were in the business of selling the high end luxury pieces of art worth hundreds of millions of dollars. i remember from the film how they lavishly hosted meals of these buyers and like in business generally there is the element of the civilised/the educated. stories sell or can tip the ballance in signing off the deal. they told stories about the latest antics of this young black rip off artist who was schamming them and these stories captivated the potential buyers and gave them the pr of educated human players.

i disagree about learning foreign languages. languages comes easy human beings it's what sets us apart from Americans.any human anywhere who is reasonably normal can if they want to master at least one other human language. the united nations as far as i am aware seems to expect humanity to try to attempt communicating in at least 4 languages. i reckon to get the most coverage a package of english, manderin, spanish and hindi would give you remarkable world/global coverage. i myself speak and have tried hard to master spanish, german, french, italian are the ones i have mostly kept up with but korean and japanese are not impossible. first of all like anything else in life you must have a negative defeatist attitude and give up saying i cannot do it. that is the only way one shall loose. and it is all about loosing or at least trying your best to fail.

Robert, you are so correct that verbal expression matters in art, in so many ways, from a title to a description. I am reminded of this most recently in my book publishing efforts. I am publishing art pictorial books and although the books are mainly about the visual art, adding a verbal component, in this case quotes are paired with the art work. This practice of placing a quote next to the art work totally changes the dynamic of the art work and adds a new dimension to convey, thoughts, ideas, and emotion to the work. Thank goodness for spell checker.

Capitalize where it is conventionally expected.

Use white line breaks to separate many lines of text.

Learn what a period, comma and apostrophe do.

If everybody did only these few things, then internet communication would be so much better.

A prime example of how lack of expected conventions left me clueless was the now-closed discussion by the person complaining about being stalked. In that post, abbreviations were not capitalized, and so my eye just breezed right over them, not even realizing they were abbreviations. Acronyms were not capitalized, again causing me to see them as invisible gibberish. Simple conventions, if followed, then, make huge differences in comprehension.

"I'm one of those people that thinks truly good artwork should never require description. It's like a joke, if you have to explain it then it wasn't funny to start with."

I think that's true sometimes. I think it depends on the piece of art, the audience, what is being explained, and other aspects of context. Certain pieces of art speak for themselves.

Regardless, the viewer's appreciation of the art is often enhanced by a discussion of the context...

********

"That's your grandmother when she was 16 years old, not a self-portrait? You look like her, you have her eyes and nose, but her mouth is different."

"You didn't use any photographs, you painted that from life? I have a new appreciation for your painting skills."

"Wait, that bridge in the drawing is the *old" Woodrow Wilson Bridge, not the new one! The bridge is gone, but I was just there a couple of months ago, and that piling from the abandoned wharf is still there. I used to live in Alexandria. When did you draw this?"

"That's colored pencil? I thought it was a painting"

"Oh, that's about [fill in the blank] war/political situation. It must have been terrifying to live through that."

"I like that painting better, now that I know the snowfield is based on a local place."

"You were trying to paint like Cezanne? Yes, I can see that... you did the background with the leaves the way Cezanne did the background in some of his paintings, but the cloth doesn't look like Cezanne's work at all, his whites have more color in them, and he abstracts the shapes and patterns of cloth more."

****
Even without seeing the artwork, doesn't the commentary make you want to look?

Cheryl,
You couldn't have offered a better case for the importance of verbal skills!!!!

Just last week, someone left a comment on one of my Judaic paintings that it was playful and cheerful....if only he had read the description....it was anything but. I'm glad he enjoyed it at his level, but it was never the intention of the prayer that is begging the creator to have mercy.

There are many different ways to write about art. Not all of these ways involve the deep emotions of the artist or the meaning for the artist.

In fact, I try to avoid this way. I might suggest it poetically sometimes, but I never say it in first person.

If someone jokes where I did not intend it, then I really have no problem with this. Such a disparity in individual reactions shows that art is not a language - it is a motivator of language.

Marlene reminds me that before FAA was redesigned, the descriptions weren't always visible to someone viewing the site with a smaller screen and this could be proof enough that art isn't as universal as we'd like. Colors, subjects, and situations can mean different things to different cultures. Those who don't share a background with the artist could misinterpret the intention of the piece entirely. I'm not sure a human being can avoid reducing images to symbols since we are hardwired for language.

Vanessa (and Marlene): "Those who don't share a background with the artist could misinterpret the intention of the piece entirely." That's very true.

I used to work across the street from the Smithsonian museums. The Hirshhorn museum was the closest one. I remember a large installation piece where you walked through small drab rooms containing a mix of objects, some were familiar, some were not. It was an oddly disconcerting experience, as modern art is often intended to be. Sometimes it seems the only real point of some works of contemporary art is to create a feeling of unease, a goal which I find shallow and not very interesting, it's been done, and done again, so often (my personal taste).

After I read the description, I understood that this was a recreation of late soviet-era housing in Moscow, where people often lived with several families crowded together in one small apartment. Suddenly it was much more interesting.

Once again, nice illustration Cheryl. Right across the street from the Smithsonian? That must have been fantastic!

To those who have been expressing hostility towards the idea of using descriptions for your art, I want to say: your rebellion can hurt you and words can help you.
Adding a description doesn't necessarily keep a viewer from "getting it" in their own way, but it might help a search engine "get it" at all!. Adding a good description doesn't mean spelling out the meaning it could encourage a viewer to ponder it. Use keywords; say how it was done and what colors it contains. I don't feature work in any of my groups without a description, which is for the artists' and viewers' benefit.
If you missed them, please read Cheryl Adams' posts above!!