Letters to a Young Artist
Copyright 2005 Julia Cameron
164pp hardback by the Penguin Group
ISBN 1-58542-409-9
[revised 1/1/2019]
This book is a series of letters from an established artist/writer who is mentoring a young artist who had initiated the correspondence. It explores the interplay of life and work and the duality of the art and the artist. She corrects some misconceptions about artists and gently steers the budding artist to employ his talents in a way that’s best for him.
Just like writers do not all work the same way, artists, including calligraphers, don’t either. Some produce an amazing amount of output while others are more sporadic in their work. Some work on a regular basis while others work when they feel like it.
I write books more than I do calligraphy. I don’t write to make money (this is what all writers say whose books don’t sell). I write to learn. When I write, I explore. If what I write makes a lot of sense, then it’s because my learning has borne fruit; it is clear to me. A clear sentence comes from a clear idea. I should see my calligraphy in the same way. Explore and learn. When the idea is clear, then the piece can communicate well.
Though I write almost every day, the same can’t be said for my calligraphy. I’m puzzled by those who can spend time just playing with making marks with their calligraphy tools. That’s because I want to work toward a finished piece. When I think of something I want to make, then decide on the lettering that would suit it, then and only then do I practice that lettering. I work at it long enough (perhaps for weeks) until I’m satisfied it will work in the artwork. So it’s feast-and-famine work for me. I don’t exactly do calligraphy when the mood hits me, but it’s pretty close; more like when the inspiration comes.
So I was intrigued by how this artist/writer thinks. Thanks to this book, I have a healthier perspective on the artist’s mind. The insights are helping me in my own work, and getting me to the drawing board more often, and not just to create the next project. I am trying out something even if doesn’t apply to a finished piece. Playtime and exploration, if you will. I’m looking forward to reading some of her other art-related books. What other new experiences am I missing?
I found the following excerpts particularly important to me, and they have changed my approach to the calligraphic craft. See if any of these passages give you a new perspective on how you work.
p5
“I learned to answer the question ‘Am I a real artist?’ with ‘Did I made any art today?’ I began to learn that I didn’t need to be in the mood to make art in order to make some. Moods were elusive, misleading—and just plain hard to pin down. I exhausted myself waiting for inspiration when I could have simply been working.”
p11
“You write that you are ‘not in the mood’ to make art. What does mood have to do with it? And what is the ‘right’ mood to make art? Any mood can be entered, just like a room, and we can make art from the precise place we find ourselves.
“Anger fuels a lot of art—‘I’ll show them’—but so do joy, sorrow, tenderness, pity, even boredom.”
p17
“If you put making some art—even ten minutes of it—first, the other big and important things tend to fall into perspective. They suddenly do not seem quite as big or quite as important.
“To be blunt, there is always time to make art. The rest of life is what takes getting back to.”
p33
“I’ll tell you what I do for self-development—and it works. When I wake up, I do three pages of longhand writing just to see where I am and how I am and what I want to do with my day—which of course, more broadly, means my life. I suppose these pages are work, but they work for me and so I do them. …. You might want to think of them simply as journaling, or even a ‘time out.'”
[Steve’s note: Many writers do this in order to avoid the inner critic. They set the timer for a few minutes and write continuously until the time ends. It’s been called prewriting or a brain dump.]
p34
“You know the expression ‘was in a world of my own.’ When an artist gets stuck in their own world, work begins to become derivative. We draw on the ‘same old, same old.’ Our craft may serve us well in making something yet again out of the stocks that we have, but it is a little like making meals out of leftovers when what you need are some nice fresh ingredients.”
[Steve’s note: this is why I subscribe to a variety of Instagram accounts and peruse Pinterest artwork. They add a great deal of variety and give me fresh ideas of what to try.]
p39
“To my eye, creativity is an act of faith. Every time we move onto the page, the stage, the canvas, we are committing an act of faith, and that takes daring. ‘I don’t know what possessed me to try that,’ we say, and we are telling the truth. Something larger than ourselves—call it grace or inspiration—gave us the courage to become larger ourselves. Isn’t that what we’re all after?”
[Steve’s note: I’m well aware that I am changed by the work of art, then the work grows to reflect the new me. It’s not merely that new techniques are learned, though that is part of it. In the pursuit of my art, I discover my own limitations and my willingness or not to overcome them. An insight comes to me: I need to practice this aspect of the craft more to master it — will I do so, or choose the easy path? Therein lies the possibility of growth by faith. Inspiration is luring me on to greater things. Calligraphy is hard, but only because we want to become ever better at it.]
p41
“It strikes me that your critic might be the one to come up with a word like ‘boring.’ (And your inner artist might agree just as a defense mechanism.) All of us contain an inner critic, a killjoy, censorious part that it is difficult, even impossible, to please. This is our adult, sensible side and it can be death to creativity. To our adult—and dare I say calculating and even commercial–self, new directions had better look ‘promising,’ and what they promise had better be fame and fortune.”
[Steve’s note: my inner critic has been my greatest enemy, resulting in a significant lack of personal growth. Recognizing it and ignoring it has been a boon. My inner critic may base its observations on fears of time: “There’s no time for that! It’ll take too long to do or learn. If I work on that, I can’t do other things.” It may be the fear of losing money: “This is too unusual; I may be the only one who likes it. I doubt that I’ll be able to sell this. Only a fellow calligrapher will understand this.” It may be a fear of what others think: “But it will be too hard for my friends and family to read it if I do it that way.” It may speak from fear of our own limitations: “I don’t think I’m good enough. I need to practice more. The other calligraphers are better than me.”]
p47
“Walking moves us out of our minds and into our bodies. …. Walking, you will get what I call ‘alpha ideas,’ those ideas that point you toward your next work or breakthrough. ‘Why not paint about X?’ you will suddenly think, and your work will head in a new and promising direction. (Or you can talk on your cell phone and keep yourself locked squarely in the present.)”
[Steve’s note: I have walked away from my calligraphy and writing many times, and having done so, I find the “walk” to bring new ideas that completely transform the work. Since I don’t work at this like a graphic designer, eight hours a day, I have the luxury of walking away often without time constraints. However, too often what I think of as a luxury, though, is really a lack of self-discipline to keep butt in seat to work it through.]
p58
“If ours is a spiritual activity and we are all equally sourced in God, then that tells you both what you need to know and who you need to know: God, in the form of creativity itself. Try trusting your unfolding to God and you will be just a little less shattered when a particular someone doesn’t like your work. Believe that your gift comes from God and that using it is your gift back to God. Then you can see that it’s what you know, and who you know—in the human sense—that counts. ”
p83
“When we see our work as an extension of God’s work and not as an act of ego, it is easier to believe that there may be a plan of goodness for it. If we believe ‘Not I but the father doeth the works,’ then we really do not need to worry about the question of odds, do we?”
[Steve’s note: I am a Christian, and am constantly being amazed at how much God wants to be involved in our lives. This insight reminds me that God takes pride in the artwork I do; He gifted me to do this. I can picture Jesus nudging the Father after I finish a job and saying, “Father, see that? I created that artist!” Christians are invited to believe that when we are creating art and inviting Him into the process, God will work through us. This is an area of growth that is unique to the Christian.]
p99
“You write that you are growing impatient for your ‘big break.’ To my eye, there are two dangers in that concept: ‘big’ and ‘break.’ A career is not made by something large and sudden. It is made by many small daily actions adding up. This ‘adding up’ may take the form of sudden recognition, but the work itself has nothing sudden about it. Even ‘sudden breakthroughs’ require the years of work leading up to them. And look at that other word, ‘break.’ You don’t really want a ‘break,’ do you? You do not want your life and your personality to shatter under the impact of new visibility and velocity. Again, the very word ‘break’ carries a warning with it. People, just like things, do break, and the onslaught of attention, opportunity, and opportunism is enough to break many of us. There is a saying in 12-step programs, ‘Pray for a slow recovery.’ For artist, the thought might be ‘Pray for a slow success.’
“Notice I am not saying ‘no success.’ I am saying pray for a success you can handle. A ‘big break’ can lead to a ‘big break.’ I’d like to see you survive success and even thrive in it.”
[Steve’s note: I’m aware of my own prideful tendency to take the glory that belongs to God Himself. The above insight makes me appreciate “slow success” so that in the end He will get the glory. “Slow” is in order to give me time to discover and overcome the minute ways I steal God’s thunder. When I do not base my identity on my output or what others think of me, then I’ll be better positioned for true success.]
Did any of these quotes spark new thoughts in you?
