Are we artists or are we modelers ?

[Einion]

Roc, I don't think the two words are alternatives. We're all modellers, no matter what our level, the real question then is whether we're artists or craftsmen. For those who aren't painters (in the sense of what would hang in a gallery) they often speak of the craft of painting so there is often a distinction made between the physical act of creation and the creative force behind it. In sculpting the craft parts of making a finished marble or a bronze were often not done by the artist at all!

For those who aren't artists in their day jobs and only do the hobby as an artistic outlet I'm sure it's hard for you to think of yourselves as artists, for those who paint straight from the box it's perhaps natural to imagine you're a decorator or something like that - painting someone else's sculpting hardly seems to qualify as art, right? But then you look at a paintjob on the same kit from someone really good and wouldn't have much trouble thinking of that as art. That's the problem in a nutshell: the quality issue.

Janne's comment is so true! The whole meaning of the word art has been devalued in recent times for the average person. But humorous though it is it highlights this important fact: quality has nothing to do with something being art. What is or is not art is said to be in the eye of the beholder but if you sculpt or paint anything it's art, it's just that some art is better than others, some art hangs in galleries or is cared for in museums and some gathers dust on a shelf in a garage. And it's not necessarily the case that the stuff in the garage is of lesser quality than what's in a museum or gallery, I find it hard to really think of a Rothko as truly painting or a pile of dung as sculpture but they're both art.

Whether it's easy or difficult for the person isn't an issue, if you read painters' bios you'll see that for some they fought their medium for many years while others found painting came much more naturally. In the Russian technique thread I was going to raise a point about Michelangelo, definitely on the shortlist for Greatest Artist Who Ever Lived. He said something very pertinent on the question of effort and practice versus natural talent:
"If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."

Einion

P.S. Winslow Homer had this to say on the question of talent:
"There is no such thing as talent. What they call talent is nothing but the capacity for doing continuous work in the right way."

 

[callum]

Hi guys,

Interesting thread and what Enion and and some of you others said I agree with. I had a Art History teacher once say to me that as she knew nothing of 'model soldiers' and their creation then it must be a craft, funny thing is she also thought a unmade bed surrounded by barriers and placed in a big building was art. :angry:

Personally I feel that at the top end of our passion without doubt qualifies as art but standing inthe way of widely accepted reconition is ignorance of what they can be on the part of the greater public.

Take any one of the works put out by companies such as Poste Militaire etc and make it in bronze and art dealers would fall over themselves to sell it.

While on the subject of sculting it seems to me that the 'art world' as a whole fails to grasp the detail we sculpt and prefer something more 'spontaneous' and less exacting when judging what is art.

For myself if I like it then its art. If I don't then it probably isn't but might still be.

 

[Blind Pew]

Callum & Enion, I couldn't agree more fellas.

I reckon that as what we do has it's roots essentially in toys, which it does, then the so-called 'art world' will not really be taking us seriously.

Who needs them anyway?

Callum quite rightly mentions the level of detail in the kind of sculpting that we do, and that this is something that is largely ignored by the art world, whose sculptures tend to lean towards the emotion of the subject matter. If you look carefully at the best figures in town though - they will have both in equal measure. I reckon this is what sets apart the ordinary figures from the 'must haves.' That extra thing that grabs you....not always the action poses, but often the more quiet pieces .

 

[jjgurk]

An artistic modeller maybe?....I'd like to think that I am.

John

 

[Von Bock]

I think it's an art form. Heck if a guy turning out water color paintings makes millions on something I can't tell what it is then the guys and I mean all of you are artists to me. I my self don't believe I am but I'm trying. To all the PF guys well done to a true batch of artist. Brock

 

[pgarri27]

There are those in the hobby that I consider an artist. There are those that I do not. If I can copy a Rembrant, am I am artist? If I create a Rembrant, I am an artist. I have seen figures (stock figures) painted to the degree that I would consider art. I have seen the same figure at a lower level. The same goes for sculpting a figure. Where is the line? In the beholder's eye. Same with the bricks. To me, a pile of rubble. To another, a thing of beauty and wonder. I prefer to consider the product of the individual's efforts, and let my inner feelings tell me if it is art or model.