Art and Fear - Art Life and Lives (Patreon)

In this installment of Art Life and Lives,  I’ll be talking about Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. 

It’s a book on "the perils and rewards of artmaking," as the subtitle of the book puts it. It's an exploration of the challenges and insecurities that artists face. 

It’s a very short book, Broken down into two parts. 

Part one is concerned with the fears and uncertainties of making art. 

Part two is concerned with the fears and uncertainties of navigating the world as an artist.

They lay out a lot of interesting problems that us artists face such as the uncertainties inherent in being an artist in the modern world, the difference between artists who quit and artists who don't, why words like "genius" and "talent" are unhelpful, the difference between imagination and execution, imposter syndrome, perfectionism,  the fears about making art vs. the fears of how other people will receive your art, being understood, being accepted, being appreciated, the primacy of making your own work and many more topics.

This book was a re-read for me and I really enjoyed it. Even though I had some critical things to say about it. 

Enjoy the video!

Have Fun

Goodnight Sweeties