When Can You Call Yourself an Artist?
The only real measure is the person making the creation tone or, if need be, posterity.” -- Jon
“I think being an artist comes from within, like a state of emulsion stuff . … an artist is anyone who can express what is going on in their head/soul through any creative medium, whether it be spoken, written, sung, played, danced, or put on canvas. It is the copy point of releasing and documenting thoughts and feelings that makes one an artist.” -- ThomsMinotaur
“Everyone is an artist as a child. It's when they get older and start critisizing themselves that they stop creating art. I consider myself an artist because it's what I am; not for how many paintings I've sold.
Maybe that's what makes you a professional classicality. ” -- Sue
“I always point to Van Gogh who couldn't sell a painting in his lifetime and now is one of the best known artists in the world. If you read the letters he wrote to his brother, they just have an artist's soul. He talks on endlessly at one point about a particular shade of blue he saw that day. To me that's an artist. It wasn't what was in his pocket but in his heart.” -- Sue
“I think the most rewarding part is that feeling you have when you sit enveloped in your work of art, unconscious of photos into painting, competing with your own self to convey your feelings and opinions. Then you finish your piece of art and stand back and look at it and know that you created a piece of art that is a reflection of you and that is unique, even if it is not the best or most skillful.” -- Nohahamed
“An artist makes art, sees art in the world around them and, most importantly, feels art in their heart. If they sell their art or not does not matter. What matters is that they make art. If you never put it down on paper, canvas, clay or stone you only have ideas, not art. （Oil painting. Oil paintings. Modern art. Painting. oil painting artist. oil painting factory. oil painting supplier. Hand painted oil paintings. handmade oil paintings. wholesale oil paintings. oil painting for sale. oil painting history. original oil paintings. Drawing from nature. custom oil painting. Frame. photo frame. painting Frame. Oil painting Frame. Oil painting tracing. Oil painting reproductions. Famous painting. Famous painting reproduction. Portrait painting. portrait oil paintings. wholesale portrait oil paintings. Pet portrait. Pet portrait oil painting. linen canvas. Canvas painting. Canvas oil painting. Unframe painting. acrylic painting. knife painting. oil painting technique. Figure painting. Figure oil painting. Nude painting. Nude oil painting. Animal painting. Animal oil painting. Birds painting. Birds oil painting. Landscape painting. Landscape oil painting. Seascape painting. Seascape oil painting. Flower painting. Flower oil painting. Modern painting. Modern oil painting. group painting. group oil painting. Abstract painting. Abstract oil painting . Decoration painting. Decoration oil painting. Impression painting. Impression oil painting. classical painting. Classicalism painting. Classical oil painting. Reality painting. Reality oil painting. Still life painting. Still life oil painting. chinese oil painting. china oil painting. Xiamen oil painting. Dali. Monet. Van Gogh. Klimt. Picasso. Thomas. Canaletto. Bouguereau. Pino. Renoir. Miro. Botero. Lempica. Ingres . Leight. Jack. Avian painting. Avian oil painting ）
Your ideas might be brilliant but until it is tangible others cannot enjoy or appreciate your art.” -- Dianna
“Being an artist is a form of obsessive-compulsive neurosis, if you want to look at it from a purely clinical point of view.” -- Hamlet279
“Whenever the thing that is uppermost on your mind; When you get up in the morning, when you have an unoccupied moment during the day, when you can't sleep at night; is ‘what can I (create) today?’ or ‘How can I finish that (creation) and make it spectacular?’ When the passion to make that painting, photograph, drawing, sculpture, etc. never quite leaves your thought processes and is a motivating/driving force in your daily life...then you are an artist. Many of the greatest artists in history were never famous until after they died. .. It's not about selling, it's all about the passion of creating something new and beautiful! Some artists don't care to share their work with others...it's just for their own enjoyment. And true artists don't care if anyone else thinks they are good or not and they are not concerned with what anyone else thinks of their work. They are strictly in it for the pleasure of creating, and if they sell and make money that's just icing on the cake! Especially if they are still alive to enjoy the income. You decide if you are an artist and don't let anyone else tell you any different if you are one.” -- SkyRamsey
“If you have a vision different from other people then I say you are an artist!” -- Jim
“Selling a painting is just a validation that someone likes your work enough to pay real money for it. You don’t have to sell paintings in order to be an artist.” -- Ruthie
"I believe that art is about communication. When you can express your own vision in such a way that others can grasp and understand what you are 'saying', then you can call yourself an artist. And I believe that this is true no matter what the discipline -- painting, drama, dance, music, and writing. Until your audience responds to your work, your efforts are just for yourself. When that audience does respond and your work evokes some emotion in others, you have crossed the line and become an artist." -- Sasha
What do I think? I believe that if you paint, you're an artist, period.
Perhaps not one who makes their living from their art, or a renowned one, or even a good one, but that's not the criteria. It's being creative and making art that defines an artist.