Being An Artist Quotes - Page 6

• I went to Princeton High School, when I was very serious about being an artist. I was in a theatre family but I didn't want to become an actor.

  John Lithgow

  School, Artist, Theatre

  "John Lithgow on Process, His Past and Playing an Artist in Love Is Strange". Interview with Meredith Alloway, blogs.indiewire.com. July 17, 2014.

  15 Copy quote

  Show source

• There's just some dysfunctionalism with artists. There are good things and bad things about being an artist, and the good thing is, sometimes you get an inside line on what's really happening. You develop these strange antennae that clue you in to what's really going on.

  David Bowie

  Artist, Lines, Strange

  "David Bowie & Mos Def: The Style Council". Interview with Ben White, www.complex.com. August, 2003.

  14 Copy quote

  Show source

• Working a model liberated me from ever having to hold a day job. I transitioned from doing that to working full-time as an artist. If you're 19 and living cheap, being an artist model can sustain you. I dropped out of college at 21 and my illustration hadn't yet taken off. It is more than working in a store. It is a hard way to make a living but you earn more than in a similarly unskilled job.

  Molly Crabapple

  Taken, Artist, College

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I started blogging because I didn't know if I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to talk to other people online who were doing art, so I would post work and ask for feedback. I loved that an artist like James Jean would show his process on his blog. It became this open dialogue that, unfortunately, we don't have a lot in the fine-art world. People will say, "Wow, you share a lot." I'm like, "No, I make it a point to." Instagram is a great place for people to share failure. I don't want people to think that being an artist is some glamorous life.

  Toyin Odutola

  Art, Thinking, People

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• As a kid, I wanted to be an inventor and realizing that being an artist is like being an inventor because you create problems for yourself and you solve them and you create things that weren't there before. That's awfully simplified, but that's how it is.

  Michael C. McMillen

  Kids, Artist, Problem

  Source: www.aaa.si.edu

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Being an artist is two things. You accumulate experience and time, and if you have something that's interesting, you have to be persistent. That's very important. There's nothing instant about it. It's a way of life, actually, where you choose to spend your life doing this activity called making art.

  Michael C. McMillen

  Art, Interesting, Important

  Source: www.aaa.si.edu

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Back in the day, even if they were singing about the same things, each artist was unique. That's why I try to stay away from the big-name producers, so I can prove that it's not about the producer, it's about the artist. A lot of R&B artists have gotten away from being artists and are just chasing after the next hot producer and it all starts to sound the same.

  Sisqo

  Artist, Unique, Singing

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• So I don't think being an artist you can ever satisfy - the moment you do get satisfied is the moment you're done, really. I'm actually starting to bug out now, because it's not enough. I get joy and pleasure in the movies out there in the world that people are seeing, but for me, it's about making it. That's why I do it, is to make it, to deal with my life.

  Derek Cianfrance

  Artist, Thinking, People

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I never had any intention nor interest in being an artist, but when I made work I realized that this was my language. What I had to say needed to be said in this way. I always loved taking photographs - but never considered myself a photographer. I have tremendous respect for photographers. I do use a camera and a photo as a basis for a lot of my work, but I use it as a means to attain an image to work from. The actual photography in my work is a monochromatic photograph. I'll photograph something and extract a color that will then be the background for a painting.

  Paul Rusconi

  Photography, Mean, Artist

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Some people don't think that what I do is art - but for me art exists by definition. The beautiful and most liberating thing about being an artist is the ability to say that what I make is art. Art exists because the author says so.

  Paul Rusconi

  Beautiful, Art, Thinking

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• My mother really didn't come from artists. Her famous quote to me was, "The only artists I've ever heard of are dead." The pottery classes were meant to be a part of my overall uplift. I knew what it meant to be sent to art classes, but I still didn't know anything about being an artist.

  Glenn Ligon

  Uplifting, Mother, Art

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• If 5000 people bought my record, I would appreciate those 5000 people. I make music for them because music isn't supposed to be so money driven. I didn't get into the music game because I wanted to make money. I sing because that's a God given talent of mine and it's something I love to do. If it's 10,000 or a million people, I'm going to give people the music they like from me. That's what being an artist is. Whoever likes your work, that's who you do it for.

  Marcus Ramone Cooper

  Artist, People, Appreciate

  Source: youknowigotsoul.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• When you have a dream, you don't even want to tell yourself straight out that this is what you want. You try to hide it. I never told myself I wanted to be a tennis player. But being an artist, yes, this is what I wanted since I first sat down to draw or paint. I knew that . . . I had that vision.

  Rita Ackermann

  Dream, Player, Artist

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I think that the whole experience of living, breathing, thinking, and being lost in wonderment is, for me, that of being an artist. And the idea of identifying as someone who is just living and existing and making objects or paintings-somehow I moved away from that years and years ago.

  Tony Shafrazi

  Thinking, Artist, Moved

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• As much as I love being an artist, I love being a mom even more.

  Beth Grant

  Mom, Artist, Love Is

  Source: www.avclub.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Having people around you that are honest with you, and having a team around you that can actually track and communicate where things are working and where they're not working, is really an invaluable asset to an artist's career. I just see it time and again, people who have no clue about that stuff. It's frustrating, and I see the frustration for them. It's a weird thing being an artist, trying to navigate the music business with little to no help.

  Muneshine

  Team, Artist, Frustration

  Source: www.thecomeupshow.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I was worried that I, the artist Morimura, would have conflicts with the participating artists and develop a strenuous relationship with them. But the actual experience was completely the opposite. The artists accepted my requests rather positively, because it came from a fellow artist. I strongly feel that the fact that my being an artist avoided the usual curator vs artist tension, and led to creating a positive atmosphere as well as developing a solidarity amongst artists and building a community for artists.

  Yasumasa Morimura

  Artist, Opposites, Creating

  Source: u-in-u.com

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• The Illusionist is the storyteller in so many ways. Symbols become his obsession. It's not simply about creating plot - one must also grapple with theme. Nowadays we have a lot of characters and a lot of action but it's hard to sit still and really meditate on meaning, worldviews, concepts, ideologies even. I make my Illusionist do what I've had to do, often with copious amounts of stumbling and frustration. His real humanity comes from being an artist, I think - his creativity is what makes him a man.

  Porochista Khakpour

  Real, Creativity, Character

  Source: therumpus.net

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Practicality continues to be a challenge for me - it's at odds with being an artist. I actually had a career on stage in New York - not a brilliant career or I'd still be doing it - but I got enough work to keep my agent and my union health insurance.

  Debra Dean

  New York, Artist, Careers

  Source: therumpus.net

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Being a songwriter requires versatility while being an artist requires you to create a cohesive body of work. I truly enjoy both.

  Wendy Starland

  Artist, Body, Enjoy

  "A Conversation with Wendy Starland". Interview with Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com. March 1, 2015.

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• You really need to stop Googling yourself and start being an artist.

  Alan Palomo

  Artist, Needs

  Source: pitchfork.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Whether it's just the career path of doing independent music, being an artist, however you want to pigeon-hole it, it creates a certain type of character.

  Doseone

  Character, Independent, Artist

  Interview with Chris Dahlen, pitchfork.com. March 6, 2005.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• It's very interesting being an artist and a comedian, (because) you aim for jobs that will feed your ego, but when you get up to the precipice of them, you actually have to deliver. You actually have to understand that you're reaching a new level where there are way more eyes on you, way more expectations and way more pressure.

  Chris Gethard

  Jobs, Eye, Artist

  6 Copy quote

• I was at one point thinking about being an art historian, when I was in school. And not being an artist, but I decided I was going to be an artist but I'm really mad for art history and the masters mostly.

  Robert Barry

  Art, School, Thinking

  Source: www.aaa.si.edu

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Being an artist is not exactly the most universally respected, or secure thing to do with your life. It can be frightening and you can feel that you're taking a lot of risks just with your own life, and your family's security. But the rewards outweigh those things.

  Joan Osborne

  Artist, Risk, Rewards

  4 Copy quote