Modesty
December 11th, 2008 
I sometimes get people saying something along the lines of, “Ah, you’re modest, that means you’re a true artist!”. This is of course bullshit. Why do people think this? A true artist, if such a definition is even required, is shown through their artwork. They must think it makes them sound smart, but they are trying to be nice at the same time so i wouldn’t hold a grudge against them for it or anything. 
Modesty is a bit of a strange thing. When someone is being modest, you could get the feeling they are so because it results in the viewers perception of the artwork to seemingly improve. With low expectations, the ultimate result has more of an impact.
For example, you may have someone tell an artist that their piece is really good. But what if the artist had previously stated that it wasn’t very good? The viewer could as a result say, “No, it’s GREAT. Better than i could ever do,” and as a result the modesty is used in a negative way. It’s used to psychologically alter a viewers perceptions or reply. It’s used as an ego boost.
Being modest is fine, but i can’t help to have this idea in the back of my head - even when i am being modest myself. Actually agreeing with someone that your work is good i find is much more difficult, with fear of sounding arrogant. Saying, “i’m quite proud of myself,” seems to be the easy way round this. However it gives the impression that you weren’t proud of yourself for previous things, it actually makes the viewer sympathize on a very subtle level.
~Larwick.
Oliver Lee unless otherwise stated.
Please do not use my work without my prior written permission.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:57pm
‘I’m dumb’ - well what hope is there for the rest of us Larwick?!!???
I remember you use to get a bit annoyed at me whenever I would say things like ‘wow, your work is so much better than mine’ (yeh, don’t think I didn’t notice that impatient tone in your voice
.. whenever i seem to say anything…).
Maybe I shouldn’t compare how good you are with me however it is my honest opinion that I perceive your work to be better.
It’s difficult for some artists to have confidence in their own work when there are so many extremely talented people out there and they can see all the flaws in their own work. For me it’s extremely difficult to have people judge my work when I’m not proud of that I’ve done (because I know that other artists can do better, or that I could do better in 10 years time). We just have to use that self doubt to strive to improve and inspire us to keep going.
But talking about this just makes me think of the stuff my dad says. ‘How’s your college work going’ ‘Badly, I hate working with oils and I’m not happy with my work’ ‘Oh that’s alright then, I’d be worried if you were happy with your work.’ Because he always thinks that artists are suppose to hate their work. He always reminds me that ‘Kurt Cobain wrote one of the arguably most greatest pieces of music artwork and he shot himself because he hated it so much’ [so it’s okay to hate my own art work as long as i don’t shoot myself]. DON’T DISAGREE WITH MY DAD COZ HES AWESUMMM!! So are you trying to say my dad says utter bullshit??? coz hes awesumm!! awesum I tells you!!
I personally think it’s good for artists to have some modestly with artwork, whilst having inner confidence then the artist doesn’t come of cocky to the viewers and the artwork can speak for itself. Obviously for interviews etc the artist has to fake their confidence which is okay since you have to appear professional.
But seriously, give us artists a break… people expect art to be free, we’re in a recession and we have lots of self doubt; many of us being introverted people. We have it tough dammit. WE HAVE IT TOUGH!!
It’s alright for illustrators and advertising artists; companies always need them. No one is going to want someone who just paints generic flowers and shizz. Blarghaafdsf *sobs*
AND GOD DAMMIT IT PISSES ME OFF WHEN YOU DON’T CAPITALISE YOUR Is!!
lol.
December 22nd, 2008 at 3:07pm
That comment at the end was a joke. :clown:
I think you may be taking this article a bit personally. It’s merely a musing, or a regurgitation of thoughts into a practical medium.
Whether your work is better or worse than mine is redundant for the topic.
I understand that an artist can feel their work is flawed in comparison to other people’s, but this should push you forward, not hold you back. If you don’t strive to better them, there’s no point in doing art for anything more than a monetary purpose.
Modesty is not showing boastfulness in their work, and being moderate in finding their own positive aspects of their work - not in finding all the negative aspects of their work. This is what the blog’s about, and i’m merely theorizing, nothing more.
Artists are not ’supposed’ to hate their work. That statement just undermines all artists who are actually happy with the work they produce. Kurt Cobain didn’t kill himself simply because he hated his work, he killed himself because he was depressed, was suffering from his use of drugs and had some severe medical problems.
Your dad’s point misinterprets the link between artists that dislike their work and artists who are good at art. The two are not ultimately linked. Picasso did not hate his work.
Modesty in moderation is fine. What i was getting at is that modesty for the purpose of psychologically altering a viewers perceptions isn’t so heroic, and you can’t deny that.
Your final paragraphs seem to be cutting at weak threads that have no relation to the topic at hand.
i i i i i i i i i i i i i
Heheh.
December 24th, 2008 at 9:46pm
Wtf.. am I retarded?? No i did not just accidently press the submit comment…AGAIN
Umm.. yes I agree with what you have to say. I was just putting forawrd my own thoughts on the matter. But modesty is an odd thing for artists. I would never hold it against an artist if they were very proud and happy with their work.. asumming that it was a good peice of art. Umm yeh I think I just went off on a crazy tangent.. I was having one of my artsy moody worry days. And don’t look at me like that.. we all have them!
I know about the whole Kurt Cobain thing. My father making a clever joke, since Kurt Cobain did not comit suisdie due to that… that’s the joke. My dad just says it to try and sound cool and in the loop. He thinks the music I listen to is what everyone else does…
:wtf:
and to correct your gammer:
*IIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIII
December 24th, 2008 at 9:47pm
lmao GAMMER…
Wow… im retarded