Theories of art and aesthetic philosophy

¶ … Art

The general tendency of general society is to view artists in a certain way. They are slightly "strange," or eccentric. Artists seem to live in a world of their own even while creating visions through which others may experience the world as they do. Certainly, being an artist does require a certain personality type in concomitance with certain abilities that predispose the person towards the artistic paradigm. Indeed, artists work from a basis not only of technical knowledge - although this is a necessity - but also of instinct. It is the particular combination of these in focusing on one profession that forms the "artistic" personality that seems so strange to non-artists.

In a general sense, artists need an in-depth knowledge of the visual world in order to communicate his or her message to the audience. As such, artists are very detail-oriented when observing forms, shapes, and lines, and how these interact with shadow and light to provide a collective visual image. The artist then either reproduces this in his or her work, or indeed uses the visual world as inspiration for something more abstract.

It should be noted that the word "artist" may entail a number of different orientations. The fine artist is the most common image attached to the concept of art. It is this artist who uses media such as paint, or sculpture to produce a creative work. These artists are also generally self-employed, selling their work by displaying them in museums, art galleries, collections, or homes. Craft artists are also mostly self-employed, but differ from fine artists by creating a more diverse collection of pieces. Fine artists tend to specialize in a single medium, while craft artists work with a variety of materials to create their work. Illustrators, multi-media artists and animators are usually employed by the industry. They often work in the popular media such as advertising or film.

The artist's disposition will depend upon and also dictate what type of art he or she chooses. Fine artists and craft artists will for example tend to work alone while producing their work. In this, they are perceived as reclusive and eccentric. Indeed, researchers such as Dr. Karen Hendricks have found that the artist's personality tendencies often match those of the schizotypal tendency. They see the world in detail, often rebel against the status quo, and attempt to provide the world with their unique ideas and thoughts. This tends to perpetuate the view of their personalities as slightly odd, or at least different from that of mainstream society.

Being self-employed, individuals in the fine and craft arts need not only perseverance, but also self-confidence. They need to trust that their art is good enough to provide them with an acceptable level of living.

The commercial group of artists mentioned above - the illustrators, multi-media artists and animators are more secure in their income and can focus their creative energies completely upon their work. As such, these artists need very technical knowledge of the media they are working in. Animators for example more often than not use computer software in their work. They therefore need to be fully aware of all the intricacies of this technology. As such, all artists need to understand the medium in which they work, its limitations and its potential so that this can be fully utilized.