Artistry

The written word is powerful but it has a weakness. Crafting sentences together is rewarding, yet if one finds themselves bashing upon the rocks of hesitation, there is no bottom to save you from sinking forever. That is why recently, when the inability to process thoughts and feelings flares up, I have turned to artistry. In my specific case, drawing.

I’ll at least clarify that of course Writing is artwork. The flavor of that artwork, however, has been a steady and consistent level of average that sadly continues to vex me. However, drawing has taken a new life of expression that I never thought possible, yet perhaps that is an indicator of ability rather then capability. To elaborate, one tends to recognize certain talents to foster over others. While writing shares a joy unrivaled, it also is a fleeting joy; with no true reference point to determine improvement, one can only type away and watch the words coalesce into what one can describe as “good writing.” Artwork is not in that same category.

Artwork is clear and concise when it comes to ones deficiencies. People are biologically vision oriented, and as such discerning deficient details such as body proportion, color and size are easy to notice. This means when one draws a hand that looks as if the subject went through a tragic accident at a young age, you notice immediately. With writing, one must already be versed in sentence structure, vocabulary, accuracy in description and writing flow to simply create a passable story. As is often the case, many writers of great success are also writers of great artistic stagnation when one begins to reach the bottom in the wells of creative diversity. One that creates visual artwork, however, can find it easier to separate art that is complete from art that is not. In this way, art has given new life to my own perspectives and ability to strike new creative avenues of expression. For that I am grateful, for it has also allowed a spark to light my literary soul aflame, however brief it stays alight.