What’s Up Art?

[Martin Hash]

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As a kid, I imagined being a comic book artist; more than imagined, I drew constantly. I was the best draftsman in my high school, and even continued drawing into my late teens but it took too much time for so little reward, and electronics beckoned. I always thought I’d go back to it when I was an old man; not old enough yet, I guess? I did hire lots of artists though, hundreds of them; made 3D-computer animated movies in the early days. Dealt with artist-ego on a daily basis. Since I was paying for it, I was the one who said what was “good.” This is a huge problem in the creative community: everyone else thinks everyone else’s art is bad while theirs is good. I understand why: I don’t like 999 out of 1000 of anything anybody else does. If I were the benchmark, almost everyone who other people consider successful would be failures. For example, I don’t particularly like Beethoven; in fact, I dislike almost all classical music and I hate Shakespeare. Could my DNA be damaged?

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I’m my own expert on lots of things, including art; I don’t need or want anyone else’s opinion. I claim expertise because not only do I consider myself an artist, I also collect art. In comic book writing & drawing, Carl Barks is god, and Jack Kirby is the finest artist to ever exist. Some people agree with me but there’s lots of people who don't. There's nothing anyone can point at that can convince someone else. Talking about the quality of art is like talking about wine; total waste of time, and there’s way, way too much luck involved. For example, the Mona Lisa became considered one of highest quality of art ever, and it was all luck. It was stolen at a time when photographs were being introduced into newspapers, and it showed up well in print so was endlessly printed, raising its perceived importance in the public consciousness to #1 in fame. Every Frank Frazetta painting is better than it.

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Someone with an Art degree could certainly tell me that my opinion is wrong and they know better about “fine” art: style, technique & craftsmanship, but by that definition, my plumber & dentist are fine artists. To keep art in its own category outside of craftsmen is why I call people who do the imaging, "artists." None of my own art: drawing, writing, acting, etc., is a commercial or critical success, though some of it did end up in magazines, at film shows, and even in theaters overseas. I still have a Korean poster for one of my movies. However, the pieces that I consider “good” ARE good, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.