Art that makes us.

In my opinion we all create art and are art. We all create different things and express ourselves in different formats but each of us are still artists and art. I think that this is important to preface because I want to talk a bit about my creative influences and people I look up to as artists. I think it is important to know who you look to for creative guidance and inspiration. I believe that we all feed off of each others art and creativity in a way. Without this sharing and accumulation of everyone else’s art then there would be no art or creativity for that matter. So, this is why I think it is so important to find people you get inspired by or people you look up to creatively. I do think there is a limit though and some do cross it. Having these people to look to doesn’t mean copying. That isn’t art. Art is the accumulation of experiences, feelings, and ideas whether that be from you or others melded into a new creation, at least that’s how I see art. And due to this outlook on art, I think it’s very important to reflect and look at the people you find inspiration in and why. I think that helps your creative process the most so that is what I want to do for this blog. This is going to be me looking at my influences and finding the why behind the inspiration. I love doing this as well. It helps me feel very creative and it often helps me get out of a rut if all else fails. So, let’s begin. (I also encourage you to do this as well if you want. I feel it’s a great exercise to add to your creative process.) 

Now first you have to identify the people you look up to. Just make a short list of who it is you have found to be inspiring or creative within the past month or two. They don’t have to be considered ‘Artists’. It just has to be people who you see art in. 

My current list : Dominic Fike, Jack white, Jack Wolfe, Noah Kahan, Tim Burton, Avril Lavigne, Parker Kendal, Billie Joe Armstrong, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Tyler the Creator, Jeff Buckley, Mac Miller, Johnny Depp, Lin Manuel Miranda, Kyrsten ritter, Angus cloud, Lil peep, thelastcoffeebean (YouTuber)

Now not everyone you think is creative has to go on this list. Mine is a little long but its okay because then after you make the list you choose a couple if it is longer and use them. You research them and their creative process and styles. You try to get into their headspace and see why you think they are creative and why you admire them and even why you think they are ‘role models’ in the creative world. 

So here are the three I am going to do in this blog, Dominic Fike, Noah Kahan, and Jack White. I decided on these three just solely on how recently I have felt that they have a creative spark that ignites mine. Sooooo now that I have picked the ones I am going to elaborate on I am going to write about each of them. And figure out why.  Now I can do this roughly with these people without having to do a lot of research because I have already done so much on each of these people but researching does help and I encourage it. 

1. Dominic Fike

Dominic Fike is a singer and musician. But I see him as an artist due to the way he goes about and sees making music. His favorite part of the process is writing lyrics. Everything musically he does he sees as an art and he sees a formula that most don’t see. I am able to see some of this formula myself. I like his writing style and how his lyrics flow together. I like how perfect yet imperfect his songs are. They are perfect in the sense of being music and being enjoyable and making people feel but they are imperfect due to the music standard and music theory. His music is abstract and that is what makes it so good. Its not only his music though that I admire creatively. The way he lives is very admirable and how I feel creativity breeds. He does what he does. He is obsessed with writing and writes constantly. Writing is who he is. He doesn’t like social media. He actually blames it for most of his issues. A lot of people hate on his use of autotune but in my opinion I think he uses it for vibe and vision not for distortion of his own voice to sound better. He uses his tools as tools not as aids or crutches. He also is very mindful. He tries to understand himself and he has self respect which I think many artists don’t have. I also feel that he uses his voice and position for good. Many think that music is useless and not a helpful profession but I disagree. I think it helps with feeling, empathy, self reflection, and a whole bunch of things that are needed. He is aware and present and that is so rare in todays society. 

2. Noah Kahan

I also see Noah Kahan as more of a writer than a musician. His lyrics are so impactful and well written. He writes to feel and for others to feel. He writes to reflect on himself and his past. He has a unique song style that is almost like diary entries which grabs a lot of people’s interests. His songs are raw and that is what people like. People admire how real he is in this world where everything is fake. He also focuses a lot on mental health and has a project called the busy head project to aid others in struggles with mental health. I think its very admirable that he writes for others and uses his platform to help others. He also writes all the time. He never quits writing songs. That is his hobby which i fine cool. I find it cool that he found a job within something he sees as enjoyable and as a hobby. 

3. Jack White

He was the lead singer of the white stripes and now makes his own music. He also has made his own record label called Third Man Records. He has been on SNL as a guest artist a hand full of times as well. He has spoken out about how in moderation technology is good and how if it has a purpose then it is okay but social media and things of that nature are useless and harmful to society. He is from an underground way of life and so he has an underground viewpoint on things. He voices political concerns when needed. He embraces creative process in every way possible. He understands music on a deeper level than most. He finds the process to be the most important part of music. He tries new things even if they aren’t new to everyone he sees it as new opportunity for himself. 
He is focused on his life and his art and his goals. He doesn’t care about others and I think that is important as an artist. I also think its nice to see someone with the point of view that art is reused. Creativity is reused art. It is taking someone else has done or an idea you get from someone else and making something completely different from that. I think that is interesting because most artists now days strive for everything new and everything ahs to be perfect and polished but that just isn’t the case. 

So now that you have written a paragraph for each, you read through them and really try and understand why you look up to each one and see if anything they do you would like to incorporate or mold to fit your process.

Since this is getting really long I won’t put that here but that is one of the ways I find creativity and really try to understand why I find some people creative.  

Art comes from art. Creativity comes from creative people. We gain these things from others that are creative. We gain creative ideas from art already made. We gain art from creative ideas made upon reflection of others art.