Barney Davey: Doing Outdoes Dreaming
Doing Out Does Dreaming
There is a deeply entrenched and equally misguided notion among many visual artists that the creative process is all about inspiration.
While certainly no one will argue being inspired is not valuable, others argue it is an overrated factor when it comes to being a successful artist. One such person is the incomparable Chuck Close.
Chuck Close’s career has been extraordinary by any standards. He has stood as a towering iconic figure on the contemporary art scene for decades. It would be easy for one to think inspiration drives his motivation.
Quite to the contrary, in a talk titled Painting Process / Process Painting for MOMA, he comes straightforward to say otherwise, “Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just get to work.” Click the link below to see him in the short video.
The point Close makes is that more comes doing the work than it does waiting for the muse. This advice goes well beyond being practical for visual artists. It equally applies to any vocation.
I would put it this way: “Doing out does dreaming.” If you have been putting off doing the work while waiting for magical mystical inspiration, you would do well for yourself to heed the words of Chuck Close and just get to work.
Taking action creates consequences that often come in the manner of good things happening in the form of support that comes from unexpected sources.
Do not wait for anything when you can start now!
Watch this video for more about Chuck Close:
Written by Ariane Goodwin
Posted under smARTist Telesummit 2010
Tags: Ariane Goodwin, Barney Davey, smARTist Telesummit
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237 days ago,
Artist Activist said:
I think the point about work being very important and crucial is valid. But I want to point one thing about Chuck Close, he has done the same thing over and over for years, and that is portraiture. So of course he just needs to work. It takes inspiration and dreaming to reinvent yourself.
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237 days ago,
Bonnie Kelso said:
I think the word inspiration is the wrong word for him to use. How can inspiration be a bad thing? This is not possible. What we are really talking about here is laziness and procrastination. Both of which I am guilty of at times. :-)
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237 days ago,
Sari Grove said:
Well, if you like to do Chuck Close style of work, you’ll listen…If you don’t, then you might want to take the opposite path…What I take from this is that bread & butter type photo realistic portraits do not require inspiration in order for the artist to earn a living…& that original ground breaking new thought didactic works of art Do require inspiration…Helpful, for those who didn’t know these two paths…Personally, I wait for inspiration before working…
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237 days ago,
Tam said:
I am very inspiration/intuition driven, but I am learning that inspiration not only can hit while I am already painting, it is more likely to. And it is really great to have it arrive when I already have a brush in my hand.
In the meantime I am still painting and learning. If it is less inspired, so be it.
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232 days ago,
Brennen McElhaney said:
Bonnie Kelso is right on. Hard work is essential, both in times of inspiration and times of frustration. But inspiration is always welcome.
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