I often wonder what people really look at when they see a piece of artwork.

Do we really care about the quality of the work? Or more about the subject matter or character being presented? I know that may seem like a crazy, negative way to look at things, but I'm starting to think that the subject matter dictates more to us than the picture itself. Of course, a quality painting of a well-known character is more desirable than a bad painting of that character, but without people being interested in the character, the debate between quality and crap would probably never even take place......because no one would even be looking.

I'm not trying to argue with human nature, but it just makes me sad to think that most of us are so bias when we look at things. And what IS quality anyway? Realism? Abstraction? Detail? Simplicity? Design? It's all opinion. Everyone has such a concrete view/understanding of what they respect in art/illustration that we tend to forget that none of us, including myself, really understand anything. I'm not talking about technical skills or hard work either. Many people understand those things all too well. All I'm asking is can't we just look at something and say "I enjoy this" without knowing why?

Nope.

It has to be judged, broken down, critiqued and torn apart. Based mostly on what the subject matter already means to the viewer. I think that sucks......

Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful to be able to make a living as an illustrator and I hope to continue doing this for as long as I can; learning and discovering new possibilities and ways to accomplish a certain scene, mood or feeling. After all, making people happy when they see a painting or drawing IS very rewarding.

BUT, do I care about the subject matter (characters) I'm painting? Not really. Painting famous characters or popular themes is a wonderful way to get work in front of large audiences, because they advertise themselves, but one day, it'd be nice to create something that I actually care about. I haven't painted something important to me in a long long time. Again, bringing someone's story to life or satisfying a person's idea for a commission is something I'm very proud of, but artistically, creatively and personally I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything. It's someone else's vision.

Lately I just feel hollow. And tired......

What am I interested in? I have no idea........I'm terrified of the day when I do try to paint something only for the sake of enjoying the composition, light, brush strokes, pencil lines, or mood of the art alone, because it will probably only be judged or viewed on it's subject matter. I hope I'm wrong. I certainly don't mean to offend any artists on here that work hard day in and day out. I'm sure a shitload of people will disagree with this whole way of thinking, but since I don't write many journals and I don't have any upcoming events to mention, I thought I'd write about something that's on my mind. Think of it what you will...