I Didn't Choose Art

"So how did you become an artist?" - Almost everywhere I go, people ask me this question. Most of them seem to already know that I never attended art school and was establishing myself professionally in a totally different field. But in 2005 I quit my job in marketing to paint full-time and thus the question. Perhaps people find my career change interesting or even strange that I never studied art formally or never worked in the creative field before that. In response I usually tell them my story with a few anecdotes. However, in my mind there's an answer to the question that I can say in a few words: I just had to. Of course there was more to that simple answer but the bottom line is really this: I needed to create. I wanted to paint. I couldn't imagine living without creating.

So I won't give you a false impression that one day in 2005 I picked up a brush and decided to be a painter, I have to add that I engaged myself in creative activities almost all my life. Although they were hobbies I enjoyed occasionally, I particularly liked certain aspects of drawing and painting. But that simple enjoyment had turned into a kind of intense pressure to create (paint) in the early 2000s. So in 2005 I felt I had to respond to that mounting pressure inside me.

I haven't stopped painting since. I still don't know what is driving me and sometimes even wonder if this will last forever. Is this enthusiasm a momentary passion or is it more than that? At least now I feel just as strongly as in 2005 about creating and am certain that I would keep painting regardless even if art is not a job. I called it a job because it is for me now but unlike other jobs I held in the past, I didn't feel I chose this one. I feel it chose me and I am extremely happy with it.

- Join me on Facebook and follow my blog on NetworkedBlogs.

- Follow me on Google+.
- Follow me on Twitter.
- FASO Artist Websites - Easy, Professional Art Websites for Artists who Sell

Comments

11 Responses to I Didn't Choose Art

This seems to be, in a way, my life story as well. The only exception is that for a good part of my life, I tried to avoid being an artist, convinced it would take me nowhere. I tried having "normal" jobs and occupations, to no avail. I tried to run away from my artistic self only to fail each and every time. Today, I embrace this side of myself and try to live it in everything I do. It was not an easy choice for me, I did not choose to be an artist, the arts chose me instead. And today I know that following my true self is my way to long lasting and genuine happiness.

Posted by Sandra Hould Levesque · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

Love your work. I am an older guy starting out, and as you I have had no formal art training, but a real desire to do so. In being untutored I am interested in how you learned the technical aspects of proportion,perspective,and sketching preparation. I am getting better at mixing colors but I am struggling with the proportions of my subjects in the initial sketching stage on the page.

Perhaps you have an innate ability that most don't but if you have any clues as to how to be more efficient at initial sketches I would appreciate it. Also please advise if you have published any "how to " books that I can purchase. You bring wonderful paintings to this planet, keep up the great workâ€¦â€¦â€¦Joe

Posted by joe guglielmetti · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

lOVELY PICTURE DEAR KEIKO!!!
AND YOUR WORDS ARE SOME KIND OF PAINTING , TOO. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WHEN I RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER SOME MARVELOUS MOMENTS COME TO MY MIND AN D TO MY HEART. I FEEL RENOVATED AND I CAN STILL FEEL SOME OF THE JOY I FELT DURING THOSE ART VACATIONS!!
LITTLE PRECIOUS MOMENTS! I M SO GRATEFUL FOR THEM!
I HOPE THIS YEAR WE LL FIND AGAIN. BUT I M TRYNG TO MEET YOU IN THIS EXACT SCENERY: PROVENCE.
WISH ALL THE BEST !
BEST WARM WISHES!
ALDA

Posted by ALDA · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

Thank you all for visiting my blog and commenting! Sandra, I agree that one cannot be truly happy if one doesn't believe in him/herself. Great that you know where your heart is. I wish you all the best! Joe, I appreciate your kind words. I don't have any instructional books at the moment, but some time this year (the exact date to be announced) I will have my first DVD with several complete demonstrations of landscape/cityscape. I hope you will find it helpful. Learning how to see and draw accurately is a key to a successful representational painting. I learned (and am still learning) this skill basically by doing it all the time and learning from my own mistakes. It is important to me to find very basic shapes of and spatial relationships between objects in a scene by simplifying it. It may be hard to do that in the beginning but it gets easier with practice. Alda, it's so nice to hear from you. Your words always warm my heart. Looking forward to seeing you again later this year.

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

and here just the opposite, once upon a time, years back I had dreamt to paint like you and landed up with my brush strokes on greasing baking trays !

Now its a love affair with your delicate brushes, finest strokes and unbelievable reflexions on wet surfaces... I love sharing with like minded friends all over the world through FB. Wish I could collect all your unique paintings...at least some true images.

Pray you excel in your art to much greater height and keep sharing your Godgifted joy of painting with people worldwide.

Posted by Nivedita Patnaik · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

you are really God gifted Keiko we love your paintings do keep sharing thankyou so much for sharing and inspiring us

Posted by rubina qureshi · via ktanabefineart.com · 127 months ago

Nivedita, Rubina, I really appreciate your comments. I think it's wonderful that sharing art brings us together. I'm just grateful for that. Best wishes to you both.

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 126 months ago

Hello Keiko, please know how much I enjoyed and received from the your three days at ASW, thank you. I've been painting in watercolor since 2008 with great enthusiasm, after a break of 20 years. I can not ever take a break like that again. If I'm not out painting, I'm seeing in my mind how a scene might go down on the watercolor sheet, how that mood might be made with color. When I stopped painting, I continued to draw directly with dip pen and ink. That sustained me, along with my day job of graphic design. I love the first step of the value study and am so thrilled with the your introduction of using the W/C markers to do them. I also compliment you on your ability to work with students of all levels of experience in the workshop. I hope sometime to have the opportunity to see you in action painting again. Best of everything to you in your artist journey. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Jody Bryan

Posted by Jody · via ktanabefineart.com · 126 months ago

Hello Jody, I'm so glad to know that my workshop at ASW was helpful for you. Thank you very much for your trust in me to be your instructor and your continued interest. I look forward to having another opportunity to paint with you in the future. All my best to you, too.

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 126 months ago

feel very respectful and wow after knowing your life changing decision in painting. desire to know how you handle your crisis of money when you leave your professional and stable life to accept painting full time..or you never face any financial crisis period ??..

Posted by kanchan das · via ktanabefineart.com · 122 months ago

I think that any career change should require a reality check as its impact would be felt in almost every aspect of one's life. It's important to plan ahead to make the transition easier and smoother, especially in the financial aspect. If a career change means less income, it is extremely wise to wait for the right time so one can well prepare and avoid a crisis as you put it, not just for himself/herself but also for his/her family.

Posted by Keiko Tanabe · via ktanabefineart.com · 122 months ago

Name (required)

Email Address (required)

Website/Blog Address

Comments (required)

Remember Your Info
Check this box if you want email updates when people comment on this post

Blog