ART APPRECIATIONCommented [ap1]:

UNIT II: WEEK 3 AND 4

WHO MAKES ART – PROCESS

AND TRAINING
This unit explores artistic processes in their social
contexts, covering individual artists turning their ideas into
works of art, forms of collaborative creative projects, public art,
and the role of the viewer.

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:

explain the meaning of both form and content;
and
describe the role of the critic.

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1.1 THE ARTISTIC PROCESS

This article is an introduction to the

elements involved in creating a work of art.

How many times have you looked at a work of art and

wondered how the artist did it? Some think of the artist as a
solitary being, misunderstood by society, toiling away in the
studio to create a masterpiece, and yes, there is something
fantastic about a singular creative act becoming a work of art.
The reality is that artists rely on a support network that
includes family, friends, peers, industries, business and, in
essence, the whole society they live in. For example, an artist
may need only a piece of paper and pencil to create an
extraordinary drawing, but depends on a supplier in order to
acquire those two simple tools.

Whole industries surround art making, and artists rely

on many different materials in order to realize their work, from
the pencil and paper mentioned above to the painter's canvas,
paints and brushes, the sculptor's wood, stone and tools and
the photographer's film, digital camera and software or
chemicals used to manipulate an image.

After the artwork is finished there are other support

networks in place to help exhibit, market, move, store and
comment on it. Commercial art galleries are a relatively
recent innovation, springing up in Europe and America during
the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century. As these
societies concentrated their populations in cities and formed a
middle class, there was a need for businesses to provide works
of art for sale to a population that began to have more spare
time and some discretionary income. As art became more
affordable, the gallery became a place to focus solely on buying
and selling, and, in the process, making art a commodity.

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Museums have a different role in the world of visual

art. Their primary function is in the form of a cultural
repository – a place for viewing, researching and
conserving the very best examples of artistic cultural
heritage. Museums contain collections that can reflect a
particular culture or that of many, giving all of us the
chance to see some of the great art humanity has to offer.

The role of the critic commenting on art is another

function in the process. Critics offer insight into art's meaning
and make judgments determining 'good' or 'bad' art based on
the intellectual, aesthetic and cultural standards they reflect.
We will take a closer look at the role of the critic when we
explore meaning in another module.

In this way, museums, galleries and critics have become

gatekeepers in helping to determine what is considered art
within a culture like our own.

THE INDIVIDUAL ARTIST

Artists work in a variety of ways. Read this section

to get a sense of the individual differences in artists' style
of work.

We have seen art as a community or collaborative effort,

but many artists also work alone in studios, dedicated to the
singular idea of creating art through their own expressive
means and vision. In the creative process itself there are
usually many steps between an initial idea and the finished
work of art.

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Artists will use sketches and preliminary drawings to get

a more accurate image of what they want the finished work to
look like. Even then, they will create more complex trial pieces
before they ultimately decide on how it will look. View and read
about some of the sketches for Picasso's masterpiece Guernica
from 1937 to see how the process unfolds. Artists many times
will make different versions of an artwork, each time giving it
a slightly different look.
Some artists employ assistants or staff to run the
everyday administration of the studio; maintaining supplies,
helping with set up and lighting, managing the calendar and
all the things that can keep an artist away from the creative
time they need in order to work.
Some artists don't actually make their own works. They
hire people with specialized skills to do it for them under the
artist's direction. Fabricators and technicians are needed
when a work of art's size, weight, or other limitations make it
impossible for the artist to create it alone. Glass artist Dale
Chihuly employs many assistants to create and install his
glass forms.

ARTISTIC TRAINING METHODS

Read this text to understand the ways people have

historically trained to become artists and how artists are
trained today.

For centuries, craftsmen have formed associations that

preserve and teach the 'secrets' of their trade to apprentices in
order to perpetuate the knowledge and skill of their craft. In
general, the training of artists has historically meant working
as an apprentice with an established artist.

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The Middle Ages in Europe saw the formation of guilds

that included goldsmiths, glassmakers, stonemasons, medical
practitioners and artists, and were generally supported by a
king or the state, with local representatives overseeing the
quality of their production. In many traditional cultures,
apprenticeship is still how the artist learns their craft, skills
and expressions specific to that culture. Some nations actually
choose which artists have learned their skill to such a degree
that they are allowed and encouraged to teach others. It's
complex, but the satisfaction of looking at art comes from
exploring the work to find meaning, not shying away from it
because we may not initially understand it.

An example would be artists considered National

Treasures in Japan. In the developed nations, where
education is more available and considered more important
that experience, art schools have developed. The model for
these schools is the French Royal Academy founded by Louis
XIV in the 17th century. In the 19th century, the Victorians
first introduced art to the grade schools, thinking that teaching
the work of the masters would increase morality and that
teaching hand-eye coordination would make better employees
for the Industrial Revolution. These ideas still resonate, and
are one of the reasons art is considered important to children's
education.

A New York Times article by Steve Lohr explains how

this notion has carried into the realm of high technology and
the digital arts. A woman quoted in the article says that a
proficiency in digital animation is an asset less for technical
skills than for what she learned about analytic thinking.

Like most skilled professions and trades, artists spend

many years learning and applying their knowledge, techniques
and creativity. Art schools are found in most colleges and
universities, with degree programs at both the undergraduate
and graduate levels. There are independent art schools offering

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two and four year programs in traditional studio arts, graphic

arts and design.

The degree earned by students usually ends with a

culminating exhibition and directs them towards becoming
exhibiting artists, graphic designers or teachers. Such degrees
also consider the marketing and sales practices of art in
contemporary culture.
Many artists learn their craft on their own through
practice, study and experimentation. Whether they come from
art schools or not, it takes a strong desire to practice and
become an artist today. There are no longer the historical
opportunities to work under church, state or cultural
sponsorships. Instead the artist is driven to sell their work in
some other venue, from a craft fair to a big New York City
gallery (New York City is the official center of art and culture
in the United States). There are very few communities that can
support the selling of art on a large scale, as it is generally
considered a luxury item often linked to wealth and power.
This is a modern reflection of the original role of the art gallery.

What is required to become an artist? Skill is

one of the hallmarks that we often value in a work of
art. Becoming skilled means a continual repetition of
a craft or procedure until it becomes second nature.
Talent is certainly another consideration, but talent
alone does not necessarily produce good art. Like
any endeavor, becoming an artist takes
determination, patience, skill, a strong mental
attitude and years of practice.

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Creativity is another element necessary to become an

artist. What exactly is creativity? It's linked to imagination and
the ability to transcend traditional ways of thinking, with an
exaggerated use of alternatives, ideas and techniques to invent
new forms and avenues of expression. The music composer Leo
Ornstein described creativity this way:

"Once you've heard what you've created, you

can't explain how it's done. But you look at it
and say 'there's the evidence'."

Creativity is used in traditional art forms as well as more

innovative ones. It's what an artist uses to take something
ordinary and make it extraordinary. Creativity can be a
double-edged sword in that it's one thing that artists are most
criticized for, especially in the arena of buying and selling art.
In general the buying public tends to want things they
recognize, rather than artwork that challenges or requires
thinking. This dichotomy is illustrated by a poem by English
writer Robert Graves, "Epitaph on an Unfortunate Artist":

He found a formula for drawing

comic rabbits
This formula for drawing comic
rabbits paid,
So in the end he could not change
the tragic habits
This formula for drawing comic
rabbits made.

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The ability to give visual expression is really what art is

all about. It can range from creating pieces just for beauty's
sake (aesthetics) or for social, political or spiritual meaning. To
fully appreciate the artist and their voice we need to consider
that if we value expression we must value a multitude of
voices, some of which contradict our own values and ideas.
The artistic process culminates in a form of human expression
that reaches all of us at some level.