Self-portrait and artists...!

Hey there!

So this is the first thing I did for my studys that I can actually show anyone! 8D

Everyone was like, "Awwwwww! She's sooo cute! Look at her dark circles around the eyes! And the fluffy haaair..."

Okay, I lied. Let's skip that part. It was praised and criticized, and all in all it was okay. There could definitely things I could have done better ^^°

And now, I will randomly change the subject to talk about something that bugged me for some time now - artiiiists! 8D

Several people have asked me the last time, why I react kind of negative when someone uses the term 'artist'.
First, I don't have a problem with someone calling someone else an artist.
I neither have a problem with someone calling me an artist.
I don't even have a problem with someone calling himselve an artist. Because there's no such thing as a strict definition of an artist, so anyone who likes it is allowed to be an artist.

What I do have a problem with, is the attitude that so very much people have, when they call themselve (or others) artists. There was a time when I was very active as a constructive critic on some forums and online galleries, and whenever I stumbled on a good picture that had some hard flaws on the other side, I wrote a constuctive critic under it. (I mainly corrected anatomy and stuff like that) Most times, I got reactions like "hey, thanks for the tips, I'll have a look at that next time!, and everything was nice and fluffy and full of unicorns and flowers.
But there were also these nice people on the internet (also in real life, but they were more subtle then) who didn't take criticism well. Which lead to reactions like
"What are you stupid? This isn't wrong, this is my STYLE!! I'm allowed to draw that way, cause I'm an ARTIST!"
Well, there's good wrong anatomy, when it all fits together*, and there's bad wrong anatomy, where it looks like your drawings are suffering from involuntary and unhealthy deformations.
And if the last is your "style", than fuck you, your 'style' sucks. To read more 'bout style or not style, have a look here.

"Artist" has somehow become a cheap word, used by people to lower others down and put themselves over them, and I don't want to play that game.

You're simply not an artist if you can't take on criticism and don't want to develop your 'art' and yourself.

So - that's why I don't really like to be called an artist, or like to hear how other people call themself artists..

In the end it's all about ignorance and people who use the words 'art' and 'artist' to legitimate themselves.

Have a nice day! 8D


*such drawing styles like Picasso, Naoko Takeuchi, Arina Tanemura, Anke Feuchtenberger, Kye Y. Chon, , Kandinsky, Ai Yazawa, and many many many more....